Live Free with Josh Howerton - For God so loved the world… | Ep. 180 | Friday October 13, 2023

Episode Date: October 13, 2023

God loves you. You! Do you believe that? He does. That’s why He gave His one and only Son. The words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus at night are true for us today. Jesus died for our sins and came back to life so we can be forgiven when we believe in Him. No matter who you are or what you have done, come to Him and receive His love and forgiveness. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, Hope you're having a good week. I was just sitting on the back deck praying for you. I don't know most of you personally, but I really do pray for you all every day. I'm just blown away that so many of you are taking the time to seek after God and to get the knowing better. I'm trying to do the same thing myself. And if these few minutes every day helps you do that, man, it fills my heart with gratitude. My name is Mike. And while I'm here most days, next week, we're going to have a special guest that you will not want to miss. So tune in every day to see what God might want to be. to do in your heart. But this week we've been looking at a guy named Nicodemus who arranged a private late-night meeting with Jesus to get some questions answered. He was a highly

respected religious leader who was intrigued by this carpenter slash rabbi from Nazareth. And we saw through the Gospel of John how that conversation in the shadows would eventually change Nicodemus's life. We watched him move from doubter to defender to a fully devoted follower of Jesus. And again, you can trace his journey in John, chapter 3. 3, Chapter 7, and chapter 19. And I want to go back as we wrap up this week and look at those words that Jesus gave to him. They are life-changing words that have become some of the most famous words in the Bible. I mean, even if you never read the Bible, you've seen a reference somewhere to John 316. And this is what it says. Jesus in conversation with this intellectual seeker says

Nicodemus, for God so loved the world, that he gave as one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And then he adds, this, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. You know, a good portion of my growing up teen and young adult years. That's what I felt, condemned. You see, I knew what I thought. I knew what I did. I knew how I felt. I knew that even though most people thought I was a pretty good guy, I knew the real me, and I was certain that God wanted nothing to do with the real me. And I was afraid to die. I mean really afraid that I would go to hell eternally separated from anything good. Honestly, I was afraid of God. Seriously, I'm not scared to death.

Now there is a healthy fear of God that the Bible talks about, but it's a term of respect, honor, worship, wonder, love, amazement, and all. It's one thing to fear God in that way. It's quite another. to be afraid of him. And I was afraid of him. I mean, I used to see goddess as invisible creature out there who was almighty, and he seemed to be on this huge authoritative ego trip, so I did not want to tick him off. And I've learned that any way of relating to God that's predicated on fear, this throws you into this spin cycle of sin, shame, hide, fake it, promise to do better. Sin, shame, hide, fake it, promise to do better. I mean, you spend your life navigating the series of don't do this and don't do that. And instead of ever really getting to know God, your father, the lover of your soul,

you spend the lifetime living with the insecurity that you most likely have made him mad in some way. I feel like God wanted to drop the hammer on me. And honestly, I felt like I deserved it. Then I met Jesus. And honestly, it was a little like that Nicodemus encounter. I came to him in night by myself. I got real. I got honest. I stepped away from the crowd. I got one-on-one. And I heard him say those words to me. For the first time, John 316 was not a memory verse

or a sign that someone was holding up in the end zone of a football stadium. I heard him say to me personally, Mike, God so loved the world, including you, that he gave as one and only son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn you

but to save the world save you through him I told Jesus that night I believe I believe and I want to live forever and I want to be forgiven and I want to stop faking it I want to stop hiding

I want to stop the spin cycle of shame I really want to know you and I'm ready to follow you. It's been said the greatest spiritual truth you'll ever learn is contained in that little children's song. Jesus loves me. This I know. And man, it is. But this was also life-changing from me. Jesus knows me.

This I love. Jesus knew everything about me. And he still loved me. He still chose me. He still wanted me. And it started me on a long time. And it started me on a lifelong journey of getting to know him. And I began to know that I was loved, not despised.

I knew that I was forgiven, not condemned. I knew that I would be with him forever whenever my life was done here. I began to read things in his word like Isaiah 43.25, I even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 44, 22, said, I have swept away your sins. like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. So return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free. Psalm 10312, as far as the east is from the west, so far as he

removed our transgressions from us. Hebrews 10, 17, God says, I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. Romans 8.1, so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Oh, my prayer for you, is that you would let him love you. Begin to grasp how wide, how high, how long, how deep as love is for you. No matter what you've done, no matter how far you've run away, no matter what kind of darkness you may have wondered into, he loves you, gave his life for you, took the rap for you. He stood condemned instead of you.

And if you will believe, surrender to his love, his grace, his kindness, his leadership and follow after him, he will lead you to eternal life. Like Nicodemus, like me, like so many others, I pray that those life-giving words will change your life and your destiny. Praying for you today. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.combe.com slash daily drive.