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TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED CHALLENGE 7/1 THRU 12/30, 2013
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The Dieter's Prayer Book 3/24
Topic Started: Mar 24 2005, 04:12 AM (33 Views)
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From "The Dieter's Prayer Book," by Heather Harpham Kopp

On the Verge of a Breakthrough

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:1-3

Nicodemus came to Jesus for answers to spiritual questions he didn't even know he had. At first Jesus' words confused him. "'How can a man be born when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (John 3:4).

What Jesus was saying to Nicodemus is that we achieve spiritual regeneration from the inside out, not the outside in. Laws and self-will are futile. "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit" (John 3:6).

Sometimes it is when we are on the verge of a breakthrough, as Nicodemus was, that nothing makes sense. WHY CAN'T I CHANGE? WHY DO I KEEP STUMBLING INTO THE SAME STUPID MISTAKES?

We come to Jesus by night with doubts in hand, driven by hope. But rather than offering us a new list of shoulds, Jesus says, "You can't change by following rules, no matter how hard you try! Come to me, begin again, like a newborn baby with nothing to offer. Let go of your own efforts, and I will change you by my Spirit."

Food for Thought:

Breakthroughs are spiritual miracles.

A Prayer For Power:

Dear God, thank you that the answer to my sin and my failures is not a list of rules or a try-a-lot harder church program. No---the real answer is a spiritual miracle! You really do create something brand-new in me! I want to continue to experience the spiritual regeneration that You alone can give. Only You can bring new life out of deadness and sin. Let me be like Nicodemus and seek You out when I desperately need to make a breakthrough. Let me lay aside all my "wisdom" and my foolish striving in my own power. Let me come to You honestly, my doubts in hand, but my heart wide open to receive the presence of Your Spirit and the rebirth of mine. Amen.

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