Learn From the Great Teacher of GOD's Great Love For Us!

     Jesus has always been called the ‘Great Teacher’.  If you can at least accept that, then you have a chance to learn from His Word, the Bible.  The Christian band, Burlap to Cashmere. wrote a song: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, B.I.B.L.E.  Such a simple message, but it encompases our whole faith.  The Bible is GOD’s instructions to us with stories of actual humans making good and not so good choices in our human sort of way.  He has been trying to tell us that without His wisdom and guidance in our lives we are going to make some really bad decisions for ourselves and the human race as a whole.  I have always said, and will always repeat, that we must read the Bible, GOD’s written word to us, from Genesis to Revelation if we want to know who GOD is, understand His wisdom, develop a relationship with Him, get spiritual growth, grow stronger in our convictions, you name it.  Preachers can preach until their vocal cords give up, tv evangelists will always get richer, people will continue to run around saying “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” and the lost will continue to call us hypocrites because we are.  We profess to believe in a loving GOD who wants to save the world from ourselves and we keep acting just as lost as the rest of the world because we are.  Because we don’t read the instruction manual for life.  But we read everything else:  history books, romance novels, science reports, newspapers, fiction novels, biographies, facebook, twitter, e-mail, ad nauseum. 

     If you want to know where to start reading, try the Gospel of John.  (The whole New Testament reveals GOD in various ways.)  John was written by Jesus’ best friend.  Not to be confused with John the Baptist.  They are two different people.  John reveals the great love that GOD has for us all, His plan for us all, and the history of Jesus from that point of view.  Read it slowly and savor every word.  You might miss something.  The New Testament can be read in one month.  But you will get more out of it if you read it slowly, only one or two pages a day.  Read it in the Amplified if you can because it expounds the words to more clearly translate the richness of the Greek.  For example conversation means much more than the words you say.  It means the words you say, the actions you do, your general behavior, your body language, and more.  For example, consider this passage:   Psalm 50;23 (KJV)  “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of GOD.”

The rebirth that Jesus talks about is the spiritual rebirth, the opening of the eyes of understanding by the Holy Spirit, the enlightenment, ‘seeing the light’ (the light bulb over your head), the revelation of the truth, wisdom, relationship with GOD.

     Read this part of John and learn of GOD’s great love for us!

John 3:1-21  (based on the Amplified)

      "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man was a ruler, a member of the Sanhedrin, among the Jews, who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, 'Rabbi (Teacher), we know without any doubt that You have come from GOD as a teacher; for no one can do these signs, these wonders, these attesting miracles that You do unless GOD is with him.'  Jesus answered him, 'I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again, that is reborn from above, spiritually transformed, renewed and sanctified, he cannot ever see and experience the Kingdom of GOD.'

     Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be form when he is old?  He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can He?  (Thinking only of the physical birth).'  Jesus answered, 'I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot ever enter the Kingdom of GOD.  That which is born of the flesh is merely physical, and that which is born of the Spirit is eternal spirit.  Do not be surprised that I have told you, "You must be reborn spiritually – transformed, renewed and sanctified."  The wind (which represents the Holy Spirit) blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from nor where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.'

     Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can these things be possible?'  Jesus replied, 'You are a great and well known teacher of Israel, and yet you do not know nor understand these things from Scripture?  I assure you and solemnly say to you, we speak only of what we absolutely know and testify about what we have actually seen as eye witnesses, and still you reject our evidence and do not accept our testimony.  If I told you earthly things that happen right here on earth and you do not believe, how will you trust and believe Me is I tell you heavenly things?  No one has gone up into heaven, but there is One who came down from heaven, the Son of Man whose home is in heaven.  Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert (to heal the people), so must the the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life after their physical death and will live forever.  For GOD so greatly loved and dearly prized the world (all people) that He gave His One and only begotten Son for a sacrifice, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him as the promised Savior will not perish, but have eternal life.  For GOD did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through and because of Him.  Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him as Savior is not judged, not rejected, and not condemned; but the one who does not believe has chosen to reject Him as Savior and is judged and sentenced because he has not believed in the name of the One and only begotten Son of GOD who is truly unique, the One who alone can save him.  This is the judgment – that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, and the basis for the sentence – the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light but shrinks from it for fear that his sinful and worthless activities will be exposed and condemned.  But whoever practices truth and does what is morally, ethically, and spiritually right, comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are – divinely prompted, accomplished with GOD’s help, in dependence on Him.' "

     I will continue to pray, share what I learn, and share scriptures online because I believe it is paramount to what I think and live.