Brain, Hands & Butt

Yesterday we went for another ultrasound and we saw the brain, hands and butt of our baby. God’s creations are awesome!

Shopping

I am in a mall right now shopping for my niece and my wife’s nieces. I was thinking how much I like to shop for kids. And I see cute children running around the mall. Some look mischievous and some look sweet.

Heartbeat 2

Today I saw the heartbeat and I also heard it. The doc was scanning my wife and let us hear it. One heartbeat inside another heartbeat. Truly amazing!

Heartbeat

Today I saw an embryo’s heartbeat. That was an amazing scene. A small heart for a small embryo.

Fatherhood

This fatherhood thing is getting on to my head. Now all I think is about that. Can I be a good father. Is it a boy or a girl. Will I treat them the same. I like a baby girl. So how will I behave if it is a boy. Is the baby going to look like me. Is it going to be cute. All these questions are there in my mind.

Do people change..

Do people change when they become a father. If they change then is it permanent or a temporary one.

11.11.11

On 11.11.11 my wife told me that she thinks she is pregnant. She tested using a strip and she said she see a plus sign in it. She wanted me to check it and she gave it to me. I was just awake from sleep and was still lying on bed. I couldn’t focus my eyes clearly but I still tried.

I only saw one line but there was a second line crossing it very faintly. So I thought she was misreading it.

The very next day she tested again and she said the cross lines are brighter today. She gave it to me and it looked the same as the day before for me. So I just said, I don’t see anything. But she looked like she was confirmed. I didn’t want to give her false hope and then be sad later.

So on Saturday she went out to buy a strip which shows either ‘Pregnant’ or ‘Not Pregnant’ in written words. She tested and it showed ‘Pregnant’.

I think I was still a skeptic. She went to show it to my mom and she was excited. I was still reluctant to accept it. We both had lots of fights because of the child issue and there were times when we were at the brink of our relationship. So I just didn’t want another drama. I think that’s why I was a skeptic.

John the Baptist – A Fallen Angel.

Angels are messengers of God. Angels should obey the commands of God and have to fulfill the missions given to them without questioning God but there are fallen angels.

Fallen Angels are angels who were banished or exiled from the Heaven because they disobeyed or rebelled against God.

As we all know John the Baptist was not an angel but he was considered as a prophet. Then why I am calling him a fallen Angel. Let’s take a look at the story of John the Baptist and his relationship with Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel according to St. John 5: 34, Jesus says, “But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.”

Jesus is mentioning that he does not need the testimony of a man Is he referring to all humans or a particular man? And about what witness was he talking? In order to find out the answer to these questions, we need to take a look at the verses that is above and below this sentence.

In John 5:32-33 Jesus says, “There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.“

In these verses Jesus is mentioning about the testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus. And he also assures the people around him that John’s testimony about Jesus is fully true. Yet in the very next sentence Jesus said that he does not need the testimony of a human, which is John.

Why Jesus says that John’s testimony is true but he does not need it? Did John do anything wrong? Is there any love lost between the two? We have answers for all these questions right in the Bible.

To understand why Jesus said he does not need John’s testimony we need to look at John’s testimony and analyze it.

The next part of my writing is for people with an open mind because I am going to tell some truths from the Bible and many may not be able to digest the truth. The truth was right in front of our eyes but it was easy for us to ignore it and keep a blind eye on it. But someone should tell the truth and it may shatter many of our existing believes.

John had a mission on this earth and he had to testify something. What was his mission and what was he supposed to testify? Let’s go to the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

Here we see John the Baptist conducting baptism in the Jordan river. Many Jews were coming to get baptized by John. In order to find out who is John and why is he conducting baptism, Pharisees sent out a team to examine him. They came and questioned John whether he is the Christ or not!

John confessed that he was not the Christ. He also denied that he was not Elias or a certain prophet whom the Jews were expecting at that time. Then they asked John, “why baptizes thou then, if thou be not that Christ, no Elias, neither that prophet?”

They wanted to know why John was conducting the baptism if he was not any of the ones that they asked him about. He didn’t tell them why he was baptizing with water, but he told them that he was only baptizing with water, but there is someone else who is powerful than him. But on the very next day John saw Jesus coming to him and then he told to his disciples the reason why he was conducting baptism.

He saw Jesus and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29), “And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.”

He finally tells his disciples that the reason for baptizing with water was to manifest the Christ to Israel. John did know that his mission was to reveal the Christ to the people of Israel. The Jewish people were waiting for a Messiah for long time. And John was appointed by God to reveal the identity of Messiah to the people. But John had no idea who he is. And definitely John had no idea that his own cousin brother was the Christ.

Jesus and John were family. They were brothers. Jesus never revealed to John that he was the Christ that John was supposed to reveal to the people of Israel. And John never thought that his own cousin brother was the Messiah. And John is confessing it when he said, “ I knew him not.”

John was saying he came baptizing with water so that the Messiah should be made manifest to Israel. So was that the only purpose of baptizing with water? I believe so! Let’s confirm that by reading again.

In John 1:33 he says, “And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.”

Here we read that, God gave a mission to John and that is to baptize with water. Earlier we read that John’s mission was to reveal the identity of Messiah to the people. But he didn’t know who that was. And God didn’t even tell him who that Messiah is but God gave John a sign.

John was told to conduct baptism and during one of his baptism the Messiah will be revealed. And during one of his baptisms, the Messiah was revealed to him.

In John 1:32 and 34 we read that, “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.  And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

John’s mission is accomplished. The Messiah was revealed to him. He identified the Messiah. His sole mission in this world was to reveal the Messiah and he did that. Then what was he supposed to do next?

Before I tell you an answer to that question, let me tell you a parable.

There was a remote small town and a small Church there. The local priest was a very good priest who served the people there very well. One day he received a letter saying that the Archbishop of their National Church is visiting that local Church. The local priest was a new priest and he has never seen the Archbishop. This was such a remote village that very few even visited from the Diocese. There was also a note from the Diocesan Bishop in the letter. It said that the Archbishop was a pious person and therefore he only travelled by local transport and he only uses civilian clothes when he travel and the only way to identify him is to look for his white clergy collar. Now the priest was so nervous and anxious. This is the very first time a Bishop visiting his small parish. Even the Diocesan Bishop never visited the parish. So he had no idea how to handle the believers and how to treat the Archbishop. But somehow he taught the believers how to act in front of the Archbishop and how to treat him. He told them that he will wait at the door with a binocular and will look out and once he identify the Archbishop they should go out singing songs and should invite him to the Church.

So the young priest was standing at the door of the Church looking through a binocular at the people coming and going through the distant road. After an hour he spotted the person with a white clergy collar and shouted in joy at the believers saying, “The Archbishop is here, he is here!” And all the believers came out of the Church singing songs and they invited the Archbishop into the Church. But a strange incident happened.

The Archbishop came into the Church and changed into his official dress and started to take the service. But the priest remained at the door looking through the Binocular at the people who were walking on the distant street. The Archbishop said the prayers, spent a few minutes preaching, conducted a Confirmation service, and conducted the Holy Communion. Still the priest stood at the door looking at the people walking on the street. He still had the binoculars and he was looking for something. At last, he lost into what he was doing, and slipped on the step and fell down. His got some bruises and he got angry. He looked back into the Church and looked at the Archbishop. He frustratingly asked the Archbishop, “I fell here. I got some bruises. Why are you standing there? Can’t you help me? Are you the Archbishop or should I keep looking for someone else?”

And the Archbishop replied, “I came here, changed into my official clothes, I had to say all the prayers myself. I said the Sermon. I had to conduct the Holy Communion alone. I had to hold my staff while I conducted the Confirmation service. And yet you are asking me am I the Archbishop. Why you were not here? You were supposed to come and help me here. Yet you stood there. You were given the binocular to look for me. You found me. Yet you stood there looking through the binocular. You were fascinated with the binocular. Who were you looking for because you asked me am I the Archbishop or not!  You asked me whether I should look for another Archbishop or not! Don’t you know to whom you are speaking to? You asked me to come and help you after you fell down committing a mistake. You didn’t respect me nor helped me in my service. Then what good are you as a Priest? I am expelling you from this Church. You are being excommunicated. From now on, the least person in this Church is higher than you! You get out of my Church!”

The Priest stood there dumbfounded and the Church Wardens came out and escorted the Priest from the Church compound because the Priest disobeyed the Archbishop and rebelled against him.

Now based on this parable, let me ask you what should have John the Baptist done once the Messiah was revealed to him. My answer is, John the Baptist should have gone and asked the Messiah, the Son of God, “what should I do next, I am at your service!”

Jesus is not a simple person. He is the creator of this Universe. He is the Son of God. He is the second in command in the Kingdom of Heaven. He only reports to God and everyone else should obey him. But John the Baptist did not obey Jesus. His sole mission was to conduct the water baptism until he finds the Messiah. Once the Messiah was revealed then what is the purpose of baptism with water again. Why should John continue the baptism with water? Instead of obeying the Son of God, his master, he continued to disobey Jesus and through his actions he disobeyed him.

Now, some of you may argue that should John really go after Jesus and serve him in his ministry. Let us take a look at the Bible for an answer to it.

In John 1:29 he says, ”Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Again in John 1:36 he say, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

Now something happened when he said it the second time. Both times he was telling it to his disciples. When they heard it the second time as a confirmation to his first statement, two of his disciples left him. What did they do?

Read John 1:37, “And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” When they heard from John’s own mouth that Jesus was the Messiah, they realized that they should go and follow the Messiah and not the Prophet. They did the right thing. They followed Jesus. And not only they followed Jesus, they also told others that they found the Messiah. And through them more people began to follow Jesus.

And John did the wrong thing. He didn’t follow Jesus. Something stopped him from following Jesus. We do not know what stopped him from following Jesus. It could be because he couldn’t digest the fact that his brother is the Christ. Or it could be anything else. But we know for sure that he didn’t follow Jesus. And he even doubted Jesus as the Christ. This we can conclude from his question later in his life.

In Mathew chapter 11 we read that John was imprisoned and he sent his two disciples to Jesus and asked him, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”

John is doubtful!

John, to whom God revealed his son for the very first time, is asking ‘Should I look for another Messiah!’

What a shame! John doubts Jesus!

John witnessed the Spirit coming down from heaven on Jesus and he witnessed this event to the Israel saying ‘Behold the Lamb of God’. But here we see John doubting Jesus! Why does he doubt Jesus as the Christ? It is because he did not believe in Jesus as the Christ. That is why he did not follow Jesus. That is why he continued his baptism with water even after the mission and objective of baptism with water was accomplished. That is why he sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he should wait for another one.

John the Baptist did not believe that Jesus was the Christ.

And what did Jesus reply to John’s disciples. He told John’s disciples to go and tell John what they see around them. The blinds are receiving the sight, the lame are walking, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf are hearing and most importantly the dead are raised up and the poor is having the Gospel preached to them.

And Jesus also says one more thing, “And blessed is (he), whosoever shall not be offended in me.” That means one and only one thing and that is that John is not blessed! (Mat 11:6)

John is not blessed because he did not believe in Jesus.

Once John’s disciples left Jesus, he witnessed about John to his followers and this is how he said it: “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Mat 11:11)

Usually I use King James Version but just to clarify the above sentence I like to use the NLT version of the same verse and it reads like this, “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!”

Jesus here is saying that John the Baptist is the greatest person who ever lived on this earth. He is the greatest ever born of a woman. Does this mean that Jesus sees himself beneath John the Baptist. Jesus was also born of a woman. If you ask any believer they will say the greatest person who ever lived on earth was Jesus Christ. Even Jesus knew that he was the greatest person who was ever born of a woman. If that is the case, then was Jesus just being sarcastic.

Was Jesus sarcastically saying that John the Baptist was the greatest ever born of woman. We may think Jesus said a positive sentence and so it should have a positive meaning. But in language usage, we can use a positive sentence to say sarcasm.

For example, “Thank you. We’re all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.” This is a sarcasm, but for those who do not know English language usage very well, this could mean a positive sentence.

Jesus also may mean that John the Baptist indeed was the greatest man because God revealed Messiah only to John. He was the very first person to know the identity of Messiah. We could argue on this but we cannot argue on what he said next.

His very next words were, “Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!”

Is there anyone in heaven who is lesser than the least person in heaven? There is only one answer and that is ‘No’!

There is no one lesser than the least in the Kingdom of Heaven and that does mean that John the Baptist is not in the heaven.

Why John the Baptist is not in the heaven? It is because he disobeyed Jesus the Christ. He did not follow Jesus like his disciples did. Even after Messiah was revealed he continued to do baptism with water just like the Priest with the binocular in the parable. John rebelled against Christ, the Son of God, when he asked him about whether he should look for another Messiah.

John the Baptist disobeyed and rebelled against God and his Son. And his punishment was that he got expelled from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God refers to a place that we can be a part of if we are righteous. Some people argue that Kingdom of Heaven is different from Kingdom of God. But it is not! Both refer to the same thing.

Let’s compare some sentences to clarify it.

Mat 11:11 “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

Luke 7:28 “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Mathew and Luke are mentioning the same thing when they refer it as Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God respectively. And most importantly only Mathew uses the name ‘Kingdom of Heaven’.

Compare Matthew 13:11 with Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10; Matthew 13:24 with Mark 4:26; Matthew 13:31 with Mark 4:30 and Luke 13:18; Matthew 13:33 with Luke 13:20; Matthew 18:3 with Mark 10:14 and Luke 18:16; and Matthew 22:2 with Luke 13:29.

In each of the above comparisons, Mathew uses ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ and other gospels uses ‘Kingdom of God’ for the very same thing. That means it is interchangeable.

Now no one can say that John the Baptist was only expelled from Kingdom of Heaven but he is in Kingdom of God.

John the Baptist was expelled from the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. And according to Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven is within us or among us. In Luke 17:21 Jesus says, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

It is important to know that the Kingdom of God is within us. That means, the Spirit of God is not in John the Baptist. It means John is against God and against Christ. It means John the Baptist is an anti-Christ.

In Mat 11:12 Jesus says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

It means that, from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent people are attacking it.

How are they attacking the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. So by attacking our faith, by not letting us to follow Jesus, by asking us to go with baptism with water, by making us question whether we should wait for another Messiah, the violent forces are attacking the Kingdom of God.

And through his work and preaching John the Baptist was also attacking the Kingdom of God and that is why Jesus said that the least person in the Kingdom of God is higher than John the Baptist.

It is because of this I compared John the Baptist to a fallen angel. John had a message to deliver to mankind just like an angel. And when some angels rebelled or disobeyed God, they were expelled from heaven and they were called the fallen angels. Just like that when John disobeyed and rebelled against Christ, he also fell from heaven, like a fallen angel.

John the Baptist is a fallen angel!

Born Again!

Jesus, the Messiah, has created a lot of confusion in this world which still keeps the Christian world divided, more fiercely than keeping it united.

One of Christ’s most controversial statement was to be born again so that a person can enter into the Kingdom of God. In the Gospel according to John, in Chapter 3, it says “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.” (John 3:3)

Jesus was answering to a statement by a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Pharisees were one of the most powerful groups that controlled the Sanhedrin, which was the most powerful Jewish council. Pharisees had different roles in the Jewish society. They were a political party, a social movement, and a religious school of thought. Pharisees believed in life after death and that is the reason why Nicodemus said to Jesus “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.” (John 3:2)

But Jesus’ reply only confused Nicodemus. He asked Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” (John 3:4). The doubt of Nicodemus was very genuine. How is it possible for a person to be born again? Is it possible for a person to reenter their mother’s womb? These were genuine doubts and even now people ask this question. Is it really possible?

If we look at Jesus’ answer to that question, he reasserted his statement by saying ‘Amen Amen’. The word Amen means ‘so be it’ in Greek translations. The word literally means ‘sure’. So Jesus’ reply was, “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.”

Jesus just created more confusion now. First he said, you have to be born again. Now he said you have to be born of water and of the Spirit. Only and only then one can enter into the kingdom of God.

If we take Jesus’ words literally, it is not just nearly impossible, it is impossible to be born again. So that does mean that he was referring to something else by saying water and Spirit.What was he meaning when he said, to be born of water and of the Spirit? To find an answer to that question we need to take a closer look into history. What is water representing and what is the Spirit representing?

In the previous Chapter of John, we learn about a miracle that happened in Galilee. Jesus and his mother, Mary, and his disciples were attending a marriage and the wine ran out. When Mary heard about it, she asked the servants to tell Jesus about it. And the first miracle of Jesus happened there. Jesus asked the servants to fill six water pots of stone with water. These water pots were used only for one purpose and that was for the purification ritual according to the Jewish law. That means that, those stone pots were never used for keeping wine. And therefore, there were no sediments of wine in there. These were clean stone pots and most probably they were empty because Jesus asked the servants to fill it.

After the servants filled the stone pots, Jesus didn’t perform any prayer or any other rituals to convert the water into wine. He just told them “Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.” (John 2:8)

Why is that statement important? What happened there?

The Creator asked the creation to change its form. That is what happened there. Jesus, the Son of God, created the Universe and everything in it. Water is a part of that creation. Water was created by God and Jesus and therefore, Jesus had authority over the water. Jesus the Creator only had to say, ‘Let there be light!’ to create light. Here he didn’t even utter a word, but his creation, water, obeyed him even without him saying a word. All he said was to the servants to draw the water out and serve.

The statement is important because it shows the relationship between Jesus the Messiah and water. It was the relationship between the Creator and his creation.

If water was his creation, how could Jesus say that to enter into the Kingdom of his Father, people needed to be born of water, which is his own creation. That would be giving more importance to a creation which were created for the sole purpose of sustaining his most important creation, the humans. That means, Jesus meant something else when he mentioned that we should be born of water.

But there are many people who would oppose the above statement. There are people who takes that statement literally and they believe that by immersing in water, they could be born again. They were people like that then and there are people like that now. If we read the events that happened after his famous statement we can learn that his disciples believed that they have to baptize people by immersing them in water or by sprinkling water over them so that they could give them a ticket to the Kingdom of God.

It could be argued that there was even a competition between John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus Christ in the matter of baptism. The next chapter of the Gospel according to John begins with the following event.

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. (John 4: 1-3)

The above verses perfectly and clearly states that Jesus didn’t perform any baptisms but his disciple were conducting baptism and that too more than what the John was doing. Jesus learned that Pharisees heard about it and Jesus left Judea. Why did he leave Judea to a farther place called Galilee? What prompted Jesus to do this? Most probably Jesus didn’t like what his disciples were doing. If he liked it, he would have been baptizing but he was not! He might have been frustrated with the action of disciples. We clearly do not know what caused his departure, but he departed.

On his way he had to pass through Samaria and he met a lady on his way. Samaria was part of Israel, the 10 tribes who separated from Judah to form a separate nation, which during the course of history got assimilated to the nearby tribes and their cultures. Samaritans worshiped Jehovah but they also worshiped other gods such as Baal. Therefore, Jewish people considered Samaritans as an out-caste.

Jesus asked a Samaritan woman some water to drink and she was surprised that a Jewish man asked her some water because it never happens. During their conversation, Jesus tells her that he could give her the ‘living water’.

Jesus is mentioning about the water here and he is also giving it a new meaning. He is saying the water he mentions is not an ordinary water, but it is the ‘living water’. Let us stop here for a minute and go to an incident that occurred later in his life.

In John 7:37 we read “In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”

Jesus is attending a festival called the Feast of Tabernacles. Jewish people celebrate this feast as a thanksgiving to their Lord for good harvest. It is a harvest festival and it is also a festival to remember how God delivered from the hands of the Egyptians. During this festival every Jewish person should stay in a Tabernacle so that the future generations will know about their plight from Egypt and that Jehovah is their God.

During the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish clergy performed a ritual of drawing water from the pool of Siloam to commemorate the refreshing stream that came out of the rock of Meribah (Exodus 17:1-7). The Jewish priests drew water from the pool of Siloam and poured it over the burnt offerings and that happened on the last and greatest day of the feast.

Here we see that the Son of God is standing in the midst of the people and crying out to them when the Priests are pouring the water from Siloam over the burnt offerings to please their God. And the son of the same God whom they try to please is crying out saying “if you really want water, then come to me and drink”. He was saying to the believers who believed in the ritual ceremony of pouring water from Siloam that if you seek water, then come to me and drink.

He also said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38). Here Jesus mentions about the Living Water again. He is saying, if anyone believes in Jesus Christ, then the living water will flow from them. Jesus is ready to give us the living water and he would not be pleased by the water of Siloam. Instead of seeking salvation in the water in the pool of Siloam, seek salvation by believing in Jesus and then he will give us the living water to drink and that living water will flow out of our belly as a river. Jesus is using a figurative speech here. Not even a senile person will believe that an actual river will flow from their belly if they believe in Jesus.

The Bible itself clarifies that in the very next verse, John 7:39, and it says, “(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet [given]; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) “

The Bible clearly tells us that when Jesus mentioned about the Living Water, he was only mentioning about the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to give to his disciples or believers. So when Jesus mentions about water, he was mentioning about Holy Spirit.

Now let’s go back to the story of the Samaritan woman. In John 4:14 Jesus says, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” He told the Samaritan woman that if anyone needs everlasting life, then they need to drink the water that he is offering. Everlasting life is only in the Kingdom of God. And the only way to enter into the Kingdom of God is by being born again in water and of Spirit. And we learned that the water he mentions is the living water and by mentioning living water he means the Holy Spirit.

This shows us that, the only way to enter the heaven is to be born again in Holy Spirit and also of Spirit. Now another confusion can occur. Why is Jesus mentioning about two spirits? What is this second spirit other than the Holy Spirit?

The answer to those questions is also in the Bible. In John 4:24 we see Jesus declaring to the Samaritan woman that “God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” Jesus reveals that God is a Spirit. So the Spirit he mentioned in John 3:5 is God himself.

Now we know how to translate the verse “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.”

We should read it as “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of the Holy Spirit and of the God, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Now there may be people who will still argue about the importance of water like the water from the pool of Siloam. Let us take one more mentioning of water from the Bible to clear their mind. In John 6:19 we read, “So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.”

Here we see Jesus walking over the water. What does this mean? This means that the creation is obeying the creator again. Water is just a creation of God. And God has authority over it. All his creations should obey him. And in that literal sense, the water is obeying the Creator when Jesus walks over the water. And if water is just a creation of God, how can water save us? How some sprinkle of water or immersing in water can save us? Water just cannot save us and water does not have the power to give us a ticket to the Kingdom of God.Here Jesus is showing an absolute authority over the water.

And if you are still in doubt about the power of water, let’s read one more verse from the Bible. In Exodus chapter 20 we learn about the Ten Commandments of God. And the second commandment is as follows:

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:”

God clearly gives a commandment that his believers must not worship or serve or bow down before any of his creations. And it includes water, because water is a part of the earth. By giving more importance to water, his creation, some people are doing idol worshiping.

When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman for the very first time he revealed himself as the Messiah or Christ and we read that in John 4:25,26: “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am [he].”

Why did Jesus reveal himself as the Messiah before a gentile woman? It is because no one was even willing to listen to him. None of his disciples was interested to grasp the real meaning of his message. Only this five time married outcast woman was ready to listen to him. The action of his disciples and the woman shows it clearly. His disciples came to him by then and when they saw him talking to a gentile woman, they were marveled. The disciples were in the city to buy food and they brought food for Jesus to eat. And what did the woman do? She left her water pot there itself and ran to her town and spread the words that she just heard from the mouth of Jesus.

The Samaritans believed in Jesus and pleaded him to live with them for two days and during those two days they came to believe that Jesus indeed is the Messah, the Savior of the World.

A gentile and outcast Samaritan woman did something that the eleven disciples couldn’t do. She converted a whole town even without giving them baptism. At the same time, his disciples who had the privilege to walk and live with him didn’t understand his words and they went after conducting baptism. They collected money through baptizing people and lived of that money.

Even today that same thing is happening. There are churches and religious leaders who study Bible and get graduate degree from Bible seminaries but they fail to realize the true meanings of the words of Christ. They carry on with water baptism and live out of the money that they receive from spreading their gospel.

And then there are those who are like the Samaritan woman, who believes in the true meanings of the words of Jesus. They may not be religious leaders or scholars; they may not have proper education or religious education; but they do know the true meaning of Christ’s message. But they were made as religious gentiles by the previously mentioned religious leaders.

Jesus wants us to worship God in truth and spirit and God is only seeking such people as his followers. So know the truth!

1. Proclamation!

1. I proclaim that there is a Supreme Power in the Universe!

2. And there is only one Supreme Power!

3. We call the Supreme Power in many names such as Yahweh, Allah, Shiva, Spirit and Energy.

4. Everything came from the Supreme Power and Everything will go back to it.

5. Everything was formed in one form and everything will go back in another form.

6. The Supreme Power does not have a form but it can take any form.

7. Everything was created by the Supreme Power and there is nothing that was not created.

8. The Supreme Power is in everything that exists and everything that exists is a part of the Supreme Power.

9. The Supreme Power does have both Good and Evil; Positive and Negative Energy; Light and Darkness; Male and Female.

10. The Supreme Power and we are One. It is in us and we are in it.