There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. John 3:1
SCRIPTURE: JOHN 3:1-8 “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.”
COMMENTS: Nicodemus was a Pharisee unlike most Jesus encountered in the temple. Nicodemus was sincerely seeking God and open to hearing and receiving Jesus’ teaching. He witnessed Jesus’ teaching and miracles and was convinced that Jesus’ was sent by God and taught truth but still didn’t understand the truth Jesus was giving.
Nicodemus not only was a Pharisee but had a coveted position in the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. He was a devout man as well as a wealthy man and gifted teacher. He was well respected by his peers on the Sanhedrin and among the Jewish people who knew him and listened to his teaching. Jesus called him “the teacher of Israel” in John 3:10, but there was still more he needed to learn and, to his credit, was willing to listen and learn. Remember, in their eyes Jesus was just a common man and unlearned or without formal education other than what his parents and teachers had given him as a youth. But, even at age 12, the priests and scribes who taught him in the temple at Jerusalem were impressed with his understanding and knowledge. So, no wonder Nicodemus was impressed years later with Jesus as an adult. But Nicodemus went one step further and was open to discover Jesus as not only a prophet sent by God but more. He would discover soon that Jesus was God incarnate too and not just worthy of his attention but His worship. But in today’s story Nicodemus hadn’t made that leap of faith yet but was willing to listen with an open mind.
Nicodemus arranged a private meeting with Jesus in darkness and their conversation is recorded in the above scripture found in John 3. Nicodemus didn’t understand Jesus’ words “you must be born again”, but pride didn’t prevent him from asking Jesus to explain that statement. Jesus didn’t insult Nicodemus for lacking understanding. Afterall, Nicodemus was a learned man and had been a devout Jew and teacher for many years. Instead, Jesus recognized his honesty and desire to learn and hunger for something lacking in his life and took the opportunity to listen. TO LISTEN TO JESUS!
Nicodemus is mentioned twice in John’s Gospel. In chapter 7 he defended Jesus before the Sanhedrin and in chapter 19 he gained possession of Jesus’ crucified body and arranged His burial. Nicodemus became one of the first born-again Christians and discovered by experience the new birth and forgiveness Jesus died to provide.
We are not told if any other members of the Sanhedrin were persuaded by Jesus or by Nicodemus, but I can’t help but think Nicodemus had a powerful legacy from that day forward. It maybe he was rejected and removed from the Sanhedrin because of his new faith in Jesus, or it maybe he remained on the Sanhedrin and continued to influence their thinking. I can believe it was very difficult for him, as is increasingly today for believers.
The result of Nicodemus taking the opportunity to listen to and receive Jesus’ teaching and instruction made an eternal difference to him and am sure his family and likely to many others he then shared this new insight and teaching to.
We don’t have letters that became scripture written by him for us to read and receive, like Paul’s. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t later contribute much to spreading the gospel and lead many to be “Born Again” too.
How God uses us after we accept His forgiveness and Grace and become “Born Again” is unique and tailored by God to our gifts and abilities and personality. How He equips and provides and calls varies but the eternal difference and impact each believer has does and will make an eternal difference whether each believer leads one to Christ or millions like Billy Graham did.
A young boy saw a large number of starfish washed up on the shore as far as could see and started throwing starfish back into the ocean. An old man noticed what he was doing and told the boy it was useless, there were too many to throw them all back. They both knew the hot sun would kill them soon. The old man tried to help the boy understand there were too many to help. But the boy had more wisdom and discernment than the old man in this story. As the young boy bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean, he smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one.”
You and I are not able to save the world, but even if we are instrumental in leading one to Christ, it will make an eternal difference for that one. The even bigger point is God desires to partner with each of us and institute His math which isn’t simple addition but multiplication and calculus, which means multiplying results of our labors by the compounding affect of His ways of adding others to help in work too.
“He went from darkness to light…. When we first meet Nicodemus, he is in the dark; but the last time we see him in Scripture, it is midafternoon and he is openly giving witness of his faith in Christ.” Warren W. Wiersbe
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 536 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.
My hope and prayer are, my blog and devotional materials will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
Published by donsdevotions
Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
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