February 2026 Reflections From Dave's Corner Of The World

We Can Tell Where The Wind Bloweth

              Joh 3:1  “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:  2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him.  3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?  5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into 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  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.  9  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?” [BOLD EMPHASIS ADDED].

 Nicodemus could see the outward miracles of God, but he could not understand the miracles of God because he was not born again;  or should I say, he had not received Jesus as his Savior and Lord, which is necessary to receive the Holy Spirit.  This is what it takes to “see” beyond our natural sight, to really see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus wanted to see and understand, yet his natural thinking and understanding wouldn’t get him there.

I love this passage. I believe Nicodemus came to Jesus by night out of fear that his fellow “ruler of the Jews” might see him talking to Jesus.  Jesus didn’t fit the mold of the rulers of the Jews:  He rebuked their tradition and lived God’s Word, and they didn’t.  He preached and lived love and conviction, did miracles that only God could do, and His light exposed their dark hearts.  The people were drawn to Jesus- to His hope and His love- while the rulers of the Jews couldn’t validate Jesus for fear of losing the following of the people.  In short:  they were envious.  Envy is a powerful and controlling emotion.  Jesus truly is God:  He is the real deal and people are drawn to Him!

However, I praise the courage of Nicodemus for seeking out the Lord and having interest in examining His beliefs and walk.  This is something we should all be doing.  Even as a born again believer, I try to look beyond my sight and beliefs and ask the Lord to enlighten me as Nicodemus did with Jesus that night.  God’s Spirit-filled ways and thoughts are Kingdom of God ways and thoughts- they are not natural and earthly.  At birth, we are born of the flesh and, upon receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are born again of His Spirit.  Nonetheless, I spent the first thirty years of my life living in the flesh, so to become transformed to think and see as Jesus thinks and sees takes much time and familiarity with God- a lifetime of it, in fact! The fleshly focus comes naturally and easily and is right there every day before our eyes, but the ways of God are only seen in His Spirit and Truth and are contrary to those fleshly desires.  So, even when we become born again, we can have difficulty seeing the Kingdom of God due to the distractions and familiarity of this life.

The time I waste focusing on the earthly cannot be retrieved once wasted.  While we’ll never get it perfect, we must be mindful of the desire of our Lord.  Nicodemus was drawn to this visit with Jesus because he saw in Jesus what he saw nowhere else.  One must be willing to surrender the loss of stature, power, following, and familiarity if it means truly encountering God.  God is found at the end of ourselves, at the end of flesh and sight, and the enticements of this world. Looking back over my own life, I see that the Lord has led me in totally different directions than I had planned or would have ever imagined, and yet I wouldn’t trade His plans back for the ones I had.  To taste and experience the Kingdom of God over the kingdom of Dave is of no comparison!  As Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus, God requires us to surrender that which is seen and familiar, embracing and taking up that which is unseen and unfamiliar, and surrendering our control and authority in order to take up His.  As we do this, we begin to experience that which drew Nicodemus to Jesus in the first place: miracles.  Miracles not only show us that God exists, they confirm His love and interaction with man.  As He did with Nicodemus, Jesus brings us to a place that requires action.  Faith is not just what we believe to be true;  the boundary of our faith is what we live.  Faith is coming to Jesus by day- not just by night- and boldly and openly living and loving Him.  It means crossing into the Kingdom of God in a surrender of our desires for His.  As this is lived and experienced, our faith and understanding grow.

Jesus went on to explain the supernatural relationship between God and man.  Verse 7-8 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth [WISHES], and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence [WHERE] it cometh, and whither [WHERE] it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”  Not only is it imperative for Jesus to be our Savior, He must also be our Lord.  The invisible things of God are directed by the invisible hand of God, which is communicated by the invisible Spirit of God.  This requires a deliberate effort to listen, surrender and obey our invisible God.  This is not easy, but the best things in life do not come easily.  The best things in life are not obtained through our beliefs, but the actions from our beliefs- our real faith is that which we act upon.  This is the test with God!

 Nicodemus witnessed miracles through Jesus which convinced him that God was “with” Jesus.  However, as Jesus tried to communicate how this supernatural process works between God and man, it appeared to be too much for Nicodemus to personally grasp and embrace, at least at that point in time.  To believe God is miraculous is one thing, but to believe that God’s miracles work in and through us was a foreign concept for Nicodemus.  The struggle is real, but God’s supernatural comes at the surrender of our natural.  That should be an easy trade, but it shows how much we trust ourselves over God.  God is here, merciful and powerful, and He so longs to perform the supernatural in us and through us; the question is before us as it was Nicodemus:  Do we believe?  Will we take God at His word?  Will we surrender the control that really doesn’t even belong to us?  Will we step over to the other “side”, God’s side, and choose to love Him and walk with Him and pursue His will over our own?

 It takes faith to step over to God’s side and it takes faith to walk on God’s side.  Faith is required to move forward, and moving forward strengthens our faith.  That was true for Nicodemus talking to God Himself and wrestling with the most important question a man can ask, and it is just as true today as I attempt to both walk with and trust Jesus over my own thinking.  Becoming born again brings us to a place where we can see in God’s Spirit, yet it is still so easy to think on the natural side, the easy side.  To know when, where, and how the wind blows and to then live it takes deliberate effort.  It also requires we overcome the same fears that Nicodemus had that night.  That’s a tall order, but we can do it, because the Lord says we can- and that is faith!  As with Nicodemus that pivotal night, others will take notice of the miracles God does in and through us.  Believe, my friend!

Amen?  Amen!  Dave.