What is our answer to the many confused persons who keep asking: "How can we know that we have come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ"" First, we stand together on the basic truth that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. A second fact is that men and women are saved by faith in Christ, alone; without works and without our merit. However, the fact that Christ came to save sinners is not enough-that fact in itself cannot save us. Now, in our day, the issues of believing faith and the gift of eternal life are clouded and confused by an "easy acceptance" that has been fatal to millions who may have stopped short in matters of faith and obedience. Faith is believing and receiving, as in Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved;" and as in John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name."

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE

For Reading and Meditation:      John 20:19-30Dr. W. E. Sangster tells the story of following three children out of church. One remarked to the others: "I can't understand all this 'Three in One and One in Three' business." "I can't either," said another child, "but I think of it like this: my mother is Mummy to me, she is Mabel to Daddy, and Mrs. Douglas to lots of other people." Is that the answer? Is it just a question of names? Are we right in finding the doctrine of the Trinity in the text we looked at three days ago (Matthew 28:19), where the word "name" is singular but three names are given - Father, Son and Holy Spirit? No, that is just part of it; there is much more to it than that. God, we know, is one God. But there stepped into the world one day someone who claimed also to be God. His name was Jesus. He forgave sins, claimed to have existence before Abraham, and accepted worship as His right. Worship, remember, is for God alone. After Jesus was resurrected and returned to heaven He sent back the Holy Spirit, who was also seen as God (2 Corinthians 13:14). He - the Holy Spirit - came into the disciples and brought with him the resources of the Godhead, breaking the sin in their nature, pleading in prayer, and exalting the Savior. Thus we see God is One but also Three in One: God above us, God among us, God within us. The Father in majesty, the Son in suffering, the Spirit in striving. This is the central mystery of our most holy faith. Together, and with all our hearts, let us adore the great triune God.Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, though I cannot comprehend Your essential oneness and unity, I can worship You nevertheless. This I do now, in humble adoration. Glory, honor, and power be unto Your Name forever and ever. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>John 1:1-14</li><li>John 8:58</li><li>John 10:30</li><li>John 17:5</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did John describe Jesus?</li><li>What did Jesus declare of Himself?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!' " (v. 28)

For Reading and Meditation:      1 John 2:28-3:11Peacemaking is a positive attitude that produces good spiritual and mental health, and the one who has this attitude, according to Jesus, is to be envied and congratulated. The promise of the seventh Beatitude is that peacemakers "will be called sons of God". Why called? Because they are sons of God. This is their lot in life. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it like this: "The meaning of being called the sons of God is that the peacemaker is a child of God and that he is like his Father." If I were to pick out the one verse that most perfectly expresses the meaning of the Christian gospel, it would be this: "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself ' and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19, RSV). Ever since man sinned, God has been engaged in the positive business of an outgoing love - seeking to reconcile those who did not want to be reconciled. God wants us to do what He does - He commits to us the same task of reconciliation. Those who are inwardly reconciled to God and seek to reconcile others to Him and to each other are the healthiest and the happiest people on earth. In two outstanding passages in the Bible, we are called sons of the Father - and for the same reason: Matthew 5:9 and Matthew 5:45. What do we conclude from this? We are most like God when we are bringing people together in reconciliation. And those who try to reconcile others are doing the work of heaven - for it is heaven's work to reconcile us. O God my Father, I pray that You will help me become more and more like You. You are a Father who reconciles - make me into Your own divine image. Help me to breathe "peace" upon all I meet. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Galatians 4:1-7</li><li>John 1:12</li><li>Romans 8:14</li><li>Hebrews 2:10</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>As sons, what have we become?</li><li>How are we led?</li></ul></div></div>

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (3:1)

For Reading and Meditation:      John 1:1-14We ended yesterday by saying that the first step toward mental and spiritual health is self-renunciation and receptivity. I must be willing to acknowledge my need of Christ, stop striving to find happiness and instead receive Him into my life then, like the disciples we talked about the other day, I have reached the shore where I was going. It should not be considered strange that entrance into the kingdom of God begins with receptivity - isn't that where all life begins? Our scientists tell us that the ovum and the sperm have to receive each other before they can begin the positive business of producing active life. The seed in the ground receives moisture and nutrition from the earth before it can begin to give forth in flower and fruit. If it doesn't begin with receptivity, it doesn't begin. The scientist who doesn't sit down before the facts as a little child and who is not prepared to give up every preconceived notion and follow to whatever end nature will lead him will know nothing. The first law of life is receptivity, and that is also the first law of the kingdom of God. Look at our text once again: "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." How do we get power? First by receptivity: "as many as received him". At the very threshold of Christ's kingdom, then, we are met with the demand for self-emptying and receptivity. Have you made your own personal response to this demand? If not, I urge you to do so today. If you are not willing to do this, then nothing else can follow; if you are willing, then everything else follows. O God, You wrap me around as the atmosphere wraps itself around my body. Help me to respond to You as my physical body responds to its environment and lives. Through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Matthew 13:1-23</li><li>Acts 17:11</li><li>1 Thessalonians 2:13</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>To what must we be receptive?</li><li>What was said of the Bereans?</li></ul></div></div>

"' as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God '" (v. 12, AV)

For Reading and Meditation:      Mark 10:13-31Today we ask ourselves: If happiness is not something we can create but something we receive, how do we go about receiving it? Listen again to the words of Jesus: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What does it mean to be "poor in spirit"? There are those who tell us that the words should read, "Blessed in spirit are the poor" - an idea derived from Luke 6:20, which reads: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Our Lord, however, is not thinking here of material poverty, but spiritual poverty: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The word for "poor" in the Greek is ptochos and refers to a chosen poverty. It implies a voluntary emptying of the inner being and is used of those who by choice are so poor that they become poor enough to receive. One translation puts it: "Blessed are those who are receptive in spirit" - those who are willing to empty their hands of their own possessions and have them filled with the riches of God. Jesus' first prescription for happiness, then, is a voluntary act of self-renunciation. This reverses the usual prescriptions for happiness, which begin with words such as "assert", "take", "release" or "affirm". The first step, therefore toward mental and spiritual health is self-renunciation. It is the decision we must take to reach out and receive Christ - with empty hands. Note that - with empty hands. The reason why so many fail to find Christ is because they are so unreceptive. Christ cannot give Himself to them because they do not give themselves to Him. O Father, help me to fling everything else away so that I might find You. I will take this first prescription: I will be humble enough to acknowledge my need and receive. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Mark 9:30-37</li><li>Matthew 10:40</li><li>Luke 8:40</li><li>John 1:12</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was the attitude of the disciples?</li><li>What was Jesus' response?</li></ul></div></div>

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (v. 15)

For Reading and Meditation:      Hebrews 6:1-20Out of all the aspects of truth that surround the fact of our Lord's ascension, one of the greatest is surely this - Christ is our Precursor. A precursor is really a forerunner - an advance runner - and that is precisely the term which our text for today applies to the climactic ministry of our ascended Lord. The NIV translates the word prodromos (forerunner) thus: "who went before us." That translation, in my opinion, is not nearly as appealing as that found in other versions, where the word forerunner is actually used. "Forerunner" brings to mind a picture of our Lord as a celestial outrider "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10), and reminds us of a petition in the great high priestly prayer: 'Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory ..." (John 17:24). Henry Longfellow, in his Golden Legend, put it like this: When Christ ascended Triumphantly, from star to star, He left the gates of heaven ajar! Much as I like Longfellow, I have to disagree. Our Lord left the gates of heaven not just "ajar" but wide open. One of the creeds expresses it more effectively: "When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers." Whatever the future holds for us, we who are Christ's can be sure of this: our Lord has ascended into heaven. And so, too, shall we.O Father, I see that not only was there an ascension in the life of Your Son, but there is to be one in mine too. According to Your Word, I am to be "caught up in the clouds" and to be with You forever. Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>John 17:1-26</li><li>John 1:12</li><li>Galatians 4:7</li><li>1 Corinthians 15:39-44</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What does being sons make us?</li><li>What do we enter into through death?</li></ul></div></div>

"... Jesus, who went before us ..." (v. 20)

For Reading and Meditation:      John 1:1-18We continue meditating on the fact that the Christian faith is unique in that it is the Word not of a prophet but of the Son of God Himself. And when I refer to the Son of God I mean also God the Son. The Son is as much God as God Himself. One commentator says of the verse before us today: "If I were to put my finger on the most important verse in Scripture I would unhesitatingly put my finger on this one: 'And the Word became flesh.' " This verse has been described as "The Great Divide," because no other religion can claim that the word they received from God became flesh. In all other religions the essential element is a word become word - a philosophy, a moralistic system, and so on. Only in Christianity does God appear in human form; the Word become flesh. Early in my career as a minister I found that whenever I tried to present the Christian gospel to people of other faiths, everything I said brought the bland reply: "Yes, what you say is good, but we have the same teaching in our sacred books also." The Sermon on the Mount? Muslims have something similar in the Qur'an. Turning the other cheek? Hindus would reply: "Our sacred books tell us the same." Caring and sensitivity to the needs of others? Buddhists would respond: "We believe in that too, perhaps even more than you." Every issue I raised had its parallel. I was puzzled. Where was Christianity's uniqueness? Then it dawned upon me - the Incarnation. No other religion has anything like the Incarnation. O God our Father, just to reflect on the Incarnation is to be filled with amazement and joy. We are not knocking at the door of heaven. You are knocking at the lowly doors of our hearts. How can such a thing be true? Yet it is. I am so thankful. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Isaiah 9:1-6</li><li>Isaiah 7:14</li><li>Galatians 4:4</li><li>Luke 1:30-33</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Isaiah depict the Incarnation?</li><li>What was the message of the angel?</li></ul></div></div>

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (v. 14)

He was in the world. It was incredible grace that the Lord of life and glory would ever come to live on this tiny planet. It would not be newsworthy to say of anyone else, "He was in the world." That is something over which man has no control. But for Him, it was a deliberate choice, an act of wonderful compassion.and the world was made by Him. The wonder increases! The One who was in the world is the One who made the world. He who fills the universe compressed Himself into the body of a baby, a youth, a man, and in that body dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead.and the world knew him not. This was a case of inexcusable ignorance. The creatures should have recognized their Creator. Sinners should have been struck by His sinlessness. They should have known by His words and works that He was more than just a man.He came unto his own. Everything in the world belonged to Him. As Creator, He had inalienable rights to it all. He did not trespass on someone else's property.and his own received him not. Here was the ultimate insult. The Jewish people rejected Him. He had all the credentials of the Messiah, but they didn't want Him to rule over them.But as many as received him. An unrestricted invitation goes out. It is for Jews and Gentiles alike. The sole condition is that they must receive Him.to them gave he power to become the sons of God. What an undeserved honor - that rebel sinners should become children of God through a miracle of love and grace!even to them that believe on his name. The terms could not be simpler. Authority to become children of God is granted to all those who, by a definite act of faith, receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.So there is sad news and glad news. First the sad news: "the world knew him not" and "his own received him not." Then the glad news: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." If you have not already received him, why not believe on His Name today?

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." (Joh

John 1:1-18The first three Gospels begin on the earth ; the fourth Gospel begins back in eternity. There are no sublimer words in all language than the first words in John's prologue. They give us a glimpse of the eternal past and show us the Word existing then. In the beginning, before anything else was - He was. Genesis is the book of earthly beginnings, but this first verse of John's gospel carries us back far beyond Genesis. We find precious comfort in human friends when we can rest in their love and know that they are indeed ours, true to us and faithful. Yet all the while, as we lean upon them, we know, too, that they are only creatures of a day. They have not lived long, and their wisdom is only inexperience, their strength only weakness. Their love is liable to change and decay; their very life is only a breath, a mere comma in the great sentence of eternity. But in the friendship of Christ we know that we are in the clasp of One who is eternal - the same yesterday and today, yes, and forever.We are told also plainly who this divine Friend is. "The Word was God ." A word reveals thoughts. We cannot know what is in our friend's heart - until he speaks. We never could have known what God's thoughts about us are - if He had not spoken to us. Jesus Christ is the Word, that is, the revealer to us of the mind and heart of God. The Incarnation of Christ brings Him very close to us. In His human life He is one of ourselves, our brother, with feelings, affections and sympathies like ours. But when we can add to our thought and experience of Christ's humanity the wonderful truth that He is divine, it puts a marvelous element of strength and security into our trust. The Incarnation is God coming to us with a great heart of love, offering Himself to us. A great preacher says, "In the last analysis Christianity is nothing more or less than a great dear Figure, standing with outstretched arms." God is love, and He is love yearning, that comes to us in the Word.All divine revelation has been made to the world through the Word. "All things were made by him." One was showing an old watercolor picture which hung in his room. It was beautiful, but the good man said that nothing among his possessions was so precious to him as this faded bit of painting, because his mother had made it. Just so, everything in nature is made sacred and beautiful to one who loves Christ, when he remembers that his Savior made it. The sweet flowers by the wayside would be sweeter to us - if we remembered, as we looked upon them, that the hand of Christ painted them. This is Christ's world. His touch is on everything in it. Everything speaks of Him and of His love.Christ is also the source of all life. "In Him was life." He is the one fountain of life. No one in the world, except God, can produce life. With all his skill, man cannot make the smallest living seed, or create the most infinitesimal particle of matter. Science, with all its wondrous achievements, has never been able to produce life in even the lowest form. No man can make a blade of grass, or the tiniest flower, or the lowest insect. All life comes from Christ.Our lesson turns now to the revealing of the divine Word. First, preparation. "There was a man sent from God." He came as God's messenger, to prepare the way for the divine revealing. Each one of us is likewise "sent from God." We know what John's mission was. We may not know yet what our own mission is - but God will show it to us as we go on, if we are faithful. We may be sure, however, that we are here on no haphazard errand; we are really sent on some errand, some definite mission. There is some word that we were born to speak - and if we do not speak it, the world will be poorer, some life will not know God's message and will not know what God wants it to do.John came to tell men of the Messiah. "He came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all men through him might believe."Our highest duty in this world is to give honor to Christ, to show some phase of His glory. Some men in their self-conceit, think only of making a show of themselves, getting people to see them and praise them. The mission of every Christian is to bear witness of the Light, to point others to Christ, that men may believe. It was said of a great preacher, that wherever he went, people, when they saw his life, fell in love with Jesus Christ. They forgot the preacher - and thought only of the Master whom the preacher proclaimed, both in his words and in his life. John hid himself out of sight - and wanted people to see only Christ. We cannot save any soul - but we can point lost ones to Him who can save. We may bear witness of Christ in many ways. We may do it by our words, telling what He was and what He did for us; and by our life and character, showing what Christ can do for all who come to Him.It is strange that when the Son of God came to his world, He was not received. We would say that such a glorious being would have been hailed with highest honor. But there was not welcome for Him. "He came unto his own - and his own received him not." This was one of the saddest things about Christ's mission to the world. For ages He had been waited for and watched for - but when He came He was not recognized; He was even rejected and crucified. We say, "If He came now - He would find a warm welcome." But would He? He does come now as really as He came then. He comes to save us, to be our Friend, to help us in our need, and many of us turn our backs upon Him. He stands yet knocking before many a door which does not open to Him.There were some, however, who received Christ when He came, and to these He brought wondrous blessings. "As many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." Here we have the way of salvation made plain. We have only to accept Christ as He comes to us - and we are led into the household, among God's own children. We need not understand all about Christ, about His person or His work - there may be a great deal of unexplained mystery about Him. There cannot but be, for the Incarnation is the most profound mystery of all ages. But we do not need to understand everything - all we need to do is to accept Christ as our Savior, our Master, our Friend - and we are led by Him into the full light. Then some day we shall understand. In the experience of divine love - our joy will be so full that there shall be no question unanswered, no desire unsatisfied.The beginning of our passage tells us of the Word existing in the eternity past, the Word with God, the Word as God Himself; now we come to the revealing of the Word: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." It is not said that the Word was changed into flesh - He continued to be divine. He became flesh. It does not mean, either, that He took up His abode in a human body merely - He took upon Him the whole of human nature, body, soul and spirit. We cannot divide the activity of Christ into two sections and say, "This the divine nature did, and this His human nature did"; the human and the divine were inextricably blended into one. When we see Christ's compassion, His thoughtfulness, His mercy, His kindness, His gentleness, these are divine qualities, revealed in human ways, through human life. It was all divine, all glory.Christ is the only revelation of God. "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father - he has revealed him." We never can know God, except through His Son. There is no other possible revelation of Him. Christ came in lowly form, and appeared to His friends as a man; but when they learned to know Him, when their hearts had fixed their tendrils about Him, they found that He was divine, the Son of God. If we ever see God and know Him, and enter His family as His own - we must accept Christ. There is no other way. To reject Him is to shut ourselves away from God - in darkness unillumined by a beam of love from His face.

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

John 1:1-18

Christ the Life and Light of Men

To those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, 
but born of God. (John 1:12,13 NIV)



What, in the thought of God do Christians exist for? What does the Church 
exist for? There is only one answer. The 
existence and the function is to be an expression of Christ. There is nothing 
less and nothing more than that. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the 
beginning and the end, and all between! Let that be the starting point; let that 
be the governing rule and reality in all 
matters of life and work, and 
see at once the nature and vocation of the Church. This vast, incomprehensible 
heavenly system, of which Christ is the personal embodiment, touches every 
detail of life, personally and collectively. But remember only the Holy Spirit 
sees and knows how it is so; hence, as at the beginning, there has to be an 
utter submission to and direction by the Lordship of the Holy Spirit. What the 
bloodstream is to the human body, the Divine Life is to and in "the Church 
which is His body." What the nerve system is in the physical realm, the Holy 
Spirit is in the spiritual. Understand all the workings of those two systems in 
the natural, and you begin to see how God has written His great heavenly 
principles, first in the person of His Son, and then in His corporate Body. 
As an individual believer is the result of a begetting, a conception, a 
formation, a birth and a likeness, so, in the New Testament, is a true local 
church. It is a reproduction of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Man cannot make, 
form, produce or "establish" this. Neither can anyone "join" or "enroll," or 
make himself or herself a member of this organism. First it is an embryo, and 
then a "formation" after Christ. So, all talk about "forming New Testament 
churches" is nonsense. The beginning is in a seeing of Christ.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

According to Christ - 1

 The Church According to Christ (part 1) 

As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. § By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him. Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.§ Christ … will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. § As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. 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. § Born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. § My Spirit remains among you; do not fear! § The battle is not yours, but God’s. The Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s.

 “Not by might nor by power, but by MySpirit,” says the Lord of hosts. 

The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. § I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men … As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. § For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Evening Daily Light

 For Your word has given me life. 

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed<cr>1</cr> in his name,<cr>2</cr> he gave the right to become children of God<cr>3</cr> —

John 1:12

children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.<cr>1</cr>

John 1:13

 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed  in his name,  he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:12-13 NIV

John 1:12-13 NIV

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