News Flash…. You and I can not “MAKE” God do anything….But the “good news” is…. that because He loves you and me – He made a way for us to come to Him..and to connect with Him – if we choose to….

In John 3, we see a man who DID choose to…. Indeed, Nicodemus did want to know….He wanted to know so badly – that he risked losing his standing as a ruler among the religious crowd of his day – by coming to Jesus to inquire “Who” Jesus was –  and about the connection Jesus had with God….. (To be honest with you, there are many people today that ought to take a little bit of a risk – in order to inquire “Who Jesus Is” and about His connection to God….!)  It’s worth everything in the world to know the real answer to that…

But then – as it would be now – Jesus wasted no time in answering Nicodemus’s questions about the Kingdom of God and who He was….He began by letting Nicodemus (as well as you and me) – know that the natural man cannot understand the Kingdom of God…. “You must be born again,”  Jesus explained…” Except a man be born again, he cannot see/have knowledge of the Kingdom of God.”  (John 3:3)

When Jesus told Nicodemus “You must be born again” – Jesus was speaking of a SPIRITUAL BIRTH…. And until you and I can understand that, we will continue to equate “religion” in it’s various forms with “knowing God” – but yet not understanding God’s Kingdom or being born again into the family of God…..i.e. Being born of the Spirit – as Jesus told Nicodemus in the discourse between the two there in John 3:1-16 …. And as surely as Nicodemus had trouble seeing (v9-12) just what it was that Jesus was trying to tell him – so it always is with the natural mind of man… there is not in him the “capacity” to understand the things of the Kingdom of God –  because they are “spiritually discerned”…

The natural man neither sees or knows the things of the spirit….Those things are actually foolishness unto him…..Indeed,  the things of God knoweth no man  (I Corinthians 2:11-14)- But the moment we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are born again – a spiritual rebirth into the Kingdom of God…. And from that moment, we have the “capacity” to see and be taught the things of the Kingdom of God – and to truly  get to know who He is and what He has done for us to bring us into right relationship with Him……

That- in a nutshell- is what happens to us when we get born again….But that’s just the beginning…..We have our birth/ our beginning in the Kingdom of God in the spirit…. But as the Apostle Paul asked of and explained to the Christians in Galatians 3:3….”Having begun in the spirit, do you now think that you can fulfill your place and walk in the things of God by the flesh”?… The answer to that is obviously “no”…. But the born again spirit of a man is .. READY.. is WILLING… and even PREDISPOSED  to follow after God to know Him.  Indeed, that born again spirit cries after God the Father to know Him….. But as long as you’re still living in your “earth suit” – you WILL have choices to make.  Your born again spirit was designed by God to feed on the things of God – His Word, time apart from other things to worship God and taste His presence so that you can grow strong in the spirit.

The born again spirit  (YOUR born again spirit!) – has an amazing CAPACITY  to fellowship with and grow in knowing God – and in understanding the things of the spirit….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  FYI  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note:  I’m sharing this first of several very basic teachings about what the Word of God tells us happens when a person is born again… It was as I began to understand these things that I starting really growing in my relationship with the Lord….So I feel joy and anticipation at the thought of perhaps helping some other people who are hungry for more…Because when you understand what you are dealing with – and your capacity to walk it out – you’ll find it a lot easier and much more interesting to press in to get there.