MONDAY, May 26th, 2008

Well hello, thank you for coming to our devotional on this BEAUTIFUL Memorial Day! I must tell you about my incredible night!! So, last night after church... Me, My Dad, My Sister and Her Husband all went out in the boat to go tarpon fishing!! We got out to the water at about 8:30pm and it was really dark by 9:15pm. I experienced the most unbelievable waves in my life. (I know what Gilligan and the skipper felt like when they were shipwrecked) We were trying to get out to the pass for about an hour and a half when we realized that if we did get to the pass, we would have died. The waves where we were, were about 10 feet tall. and They would come up over the boat and DRENCH us all... Finally by 12:00 we found a little cove that we could hide from the huge waves until it passed over. We waited in that cove until about 1:30am; then we made our way back to the marina, and we got home by 3:00 am. It was an incredibly adventerous night! I will tell you about it in person the next time we are together!!

A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Josh: Congrats man!! You won... Now did you copy and paste or are all of those legit? Awesome Job!
Jonathan: You definitely get an honorable mention for your efforts! Great job man!
Rachel: You are once again... Funny! We missed you all day yesterday! where where you?
Everyone: Hey guys!! What happened last night? I wanted all of you to be there to meet my sister, and it seems like there were less tenagers there last night than have ever been!! Where were you all?? I am going to DOG PILE every one of you the VERY NEXT time I see you... I dont care if we are in the middle of Winn Dixie! Watch Out!

John 3:1-8
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

What a great passage that proves the COMMON SENSE of the Bible. Jesus is hanging out with a man named Ncodemus and Jesus tells him: To go to Heaven you must be born again... Nicodemus thinks the exact same thing that anyone would think if they did not know the Bible... They would think: "BORN AGAIN??????????????? WHAT?????? That doesnt make any sense!!!" And that is exactly what Nicodemus was saying! He said: What? How can a man be born again? I mean seriously. Does He enter back into his mothers womb and get "born again"?

That is a fair question! Jesus explains to him, what it means to be "born again". Jesus says, you must be born of water (Which we all were... ever heard the term "her water broke"?? That means you were born of water!) to be alive physically, and we must be born of the spirit (by accepting Christ as your savior) to enter into a new life with Christ.

When Christ explains it, it makes sense. There are two applications here that I want to share:

1. If you have not been "born again" then accept Christ today! You can only experience the wonderful life God has planned for you by trusting Him and being "Born in the Spirit".

2. We must be careful as Christians not to use terms that other people dont understand: For example: sometimes in youth group, I have said do your devotions and many teenagers have come to me saying: What in the world are "do devotions"... We must remember that not everyone understands the terms in the Bible and if they dont know the Bible, they may not understand what some of the words we are talking about mean either..


Have a great day Everyone!!! Love Ya's!! :)