Daily Devotional For Tuesday, June 17, 2025
We have been looking at what it means to follow Jesus. In John 3, a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Why night? Maybe he did not want other Jewish religious leaders seeing him have a conversation with Jesus. But I would like to add another reason. In John’s Gospel, John uses the terms “dark, darkness, and light” as spiritual metaphors, Light refers to being able to see spiritually. Dark and darkness refers to those who cannot see spiritually. Jesus and Nicodemus have this opening conversation in John 3:3-8:
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.’ (4) ‘What do you mean?’ exclaimed Nicodemus. ‘How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?’ (5) Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. (6) Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. (7) So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit’” (NLT).
Of all people, Nicodemus should have understood Jesus’ analogy. Why? He was supposed to be an expert in the Old Testament. Jesus’ words resemble the words of the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:25-28:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. (26) And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. (27) And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations. (28) And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be My people, and I will be your God” (NLT).
So you see the parallels between these two passages? Jesus talks about a new heart in John 3 and Ezekiel through divine inspiration talks about a new heart in Ezekiel. Jesus talks about the Spirit in John 3 and Ezekiel through divine inspiration talks about the Spirit in Ezekiel 36. The pictures of God washing away our sins is all through the Bible. We see this in these passages:
- Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (NASB).
- Psalm 51:2, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin” (NASB).
- 1 Corinthians 6:11, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (NASB).
- 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (NASB).
Paul writing to Titus said this to him in Titus 3:4-5, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, (5) He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (NASV).
When you come home from work or school or both, eventually you get undressed. You take those dirty clothes and put them in a dirty clothes hamper. Why? You want to get cleaned through washing. Let’s say you have been working outside in your yard all day. It is 95 degrees with 95% humidity. You have been building new raised flower beds with decorative bricks. Through the day you have brought in dirt to fill those new raised brick flower beds. As a result, there is dirt and mud all over your clothes and you. You smell so badly you could stop a raging bull. Now, would you put on those same clothes to go to work or school the next day? Of course not. Why? They are filthy and need to go in a washing machine to get cleaned.
Yet, so many people think they can go day to day wearing the same old spiritual clothes without needing to be spiritually cleansed. Just like you need your clothes cleaned to wear them the next time, you need a new cleansed heart to enter heaven. And if you are not careful, you can wash your dirty clothes with either the wrong cleaner or bleach them until they literally fall apart. My point? Being in any church is not enough. You need to be in a Bible-based, Bible teaching church. Today, there is a false gospel out there that many are flocking to in droves. I call it the “health and wealth” theology. You will be deceived by so called Bible preachers and teachers such as false teachers such as Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, Kenneth Hagin, Robert Tilton, Joseph Prince, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Freddy Price, and in the Jim & Tammy Faye Baker (from 1974-1987). These are just a few.
Jesus NEVER said that if you follow Him, you would be healthy and wealthy. In fact, just the opposite. The Apostle Paul writes this in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (NASB). Suffering? Yes! Death? Yes! Paul writes this in Romans 5:3, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance” (NASB). The Bible has many verses about how our lives will suffer, have trials, tribulations, problems, persecution and even death by martyrdom.
The belief that all you have to do is trust in Christ, and your sicknesses will be gone and your bank account will be bursting is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is when Jesus calls you and saves you by giving you His life, He forgives you, cleanses you by giving you a new spiritual heart and nature. That’s the Gospel – not if you have enough faith God will reward you with health and wealth. So, the question is: have you let Jesus do a spiritual heart transplant on you? Or, are you the same person with the same heart but with a different coat of paint everyday?
Until we die to self, we can’t live for the Savior. When Jesus talked to Nicodemus, he said in John 3:5, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit” (NLT). Meaning when Jesus gives you His life, He also gives you His Spirit to live like Him. The Apostle Paul says this in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (NASB). In other words, “crucified” means you died spiritually. And when die spiritually, Christ puts His spirit in you that gives you your new life.
What was our greatest need? Not health and wealth as those pagan preachers and teachers advocate. Our greatest need was forgiveness for our sins through the grace, mercy and love of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for you so that He might live in and through you. Jesus does not just put new paint on the old you. He gives you a new you. This means that what was Christ’s passion becomes your passion. How would you rate yourself on having the same passions of Jesus Christ? How would He rate you?
I love what pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this in his book, The Grace Awakening:
“If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Savior!” (p. 275).
Assignment: Reflect for a moment. Having Christ’s passions are not about doing more, but being a whole new and different person. The only way to become that is through maturing and growing your relationship to Him on a daily basis through His word, the Bible and prayer. So, what commitments and lifestyle changes do you need to make in your relationship to Christ to become the person Jesus Christ saved you to become?
Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 8:10-11, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I do not want to be just another carnal Christian. I do not want to look like a Christian, I want to be one. I want to follow You, emulate You, have Your character become my character. I want to die to self every day so that I might live for You every day. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly