John: The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
I live in Livingston, and the wind is often the topic of conversation. There is a brewery in the building next to my store/kitchen and their tagline is, "A beer town with a wind problem."
"The wind only blows from Halloween to Easter," said one old-timer.
My former brother-in-law once said that his best friend's father once said that his favorite thing in nature was the wind. When I told him I was moving to Livingston, he suggested I get used to the wind. They often close the Interstate because the wind will blow semis over in the blink of an eye.
It's also a very artsy town with many writers and artists. It has a good feel to it. Maybe it's time to look at the wind as John says, "...you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Maybe it's time to start appreciating the wind as a reminder of those born of the Spirit. That we are all children of God/Spirit, and that Spirit is within each of us. Maybe it's a call to recognize that Spirit in others and to love and accept them as they are?
March 8
Matthew: Bear fruit worthy of repentance.
Mark: hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon.
Luke: Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
John: The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Acts: Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Romans: And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
1 Corinthians: The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
2 Corinthians: how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?
Galatians: And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.”
Ephesians: Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,
Philippians: More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Colossians: But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.
1 Thessalonians: For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord.
2 Thessalonians: and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.
1 Timothy: Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money;
2 Timothy: As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth.
Titus: The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.
Hebrews: do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness,
James: but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
1 Peter: Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
2 Peter: But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
1 John: Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
Revelation: “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.