Daily Devotions

John 3:6-8 “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Here. Jesus is saying something simple: Be born of the Spirit. Love God and love your neighbour.

The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us, and who makes us children of God. Lord, may I heed your spirit, and live by the spirit.

I recently read that prayer moments are moments 'to be born from above'. In prayer we can allow cares, no matter how important to ourselves and others, to drift off for a while. We can leave aside the phone and messages, and allow God become real in our lives, for God already lives in our hearts. We can be born strong with God, and with God's grace being born in us, love is born too. Prayer is our daily time to rekindle love in our lives.

In this passage Jesus is saying that it is God's part to give, ours to receive. We need to ask how receptive am I as a learner? Is my heart open? What are my limits and conditions?

D. L. Moody, a famous American preacher of the nineteenth century, was once asked if he had been filled with the Spirit. ‘Yes’, he replied, ‘but I leak!’ He’s not the only one – we all do! We need to keep asking God to fill us with himself.

David Watson used to tell the story of the Sunday school class that had been learning the Creed and then one morning they came into church to recite it in front of the whole congregation. The teacher motioned to the first child who walked up to the microphone and said in a confident voice: ‘I believe in God the Father.’ The second child continued, ‘I believe in God the Son.’ Then there was an awkward and prolonged silence until eventually a small voice piped up from the back, ‘Please Miss, the boy who believes in the Holy Spirit isn’t here today.’ – This story sums up the current problem in many of our churches… the person who believes in the ministry of the Holy Spirit isn’t here today!

Blow, wind of God,

Blow away the tight rules that hold me back from trusting, risking, loving

Blow away my sin that stands in the way of encountering my neighbours

Ready me for birth

Prepare me for risk

Equip me with courage and vision for the new thing that waits around the corner

We cannot choose the stories we have inherited

But we can choose the stories that we become.

Amen