Flow Spirit Flow

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FLOW SPIRIT FLOW

John 3:31-36

31 "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."  

NIV

These are the continuing words or responses of John the Baptist to the comments of certain Jews about Jesus now baptizing more people than John. There is no question that men of the earth, we humans can only speak of what we know about the earth and the things which happen on the earth, either from the personal experiences of others or of our own experiences. Certainly, we have more ways in our modern culture, with its many-faceted methods of communication, we can share and know far more about the things of this earth than the people of that era in which Jesus walked the earth. Still, with all our new methods of communication, we can only speak of the things of earth. Jesus, on the other hand, was before the beginning of time, in fact, nothing was made that was not made by him. Jesus speaks from that perspective and thus he speaks of heaven, earth and all else that has ever and will ever exist for all eternity. So when it comes to accepting the words, or the testimony of either man or Jesus, it makes perfect sense to accept the testimony of Jesus. Who else can truly speak of eternal matters? It is for certain some men, if not all, makeup things or testify falsely about things, but Jesus is always truthful as he is the truth, the light, and the way. He is the only source of life eternal, the only way we will ever see the kingdom of God, wherever that is. There is some discussion among theologians of different denominations as to what the kingdom of God means. Is it a physical place, much like the Garden of Eden, or it is a spiritual place in which we can now reside as children of God? Is it the place that Jesus went to prepare for us so that where he is, we too will be? Is that place the kingdom of God? Jesus spoke much about the kingdom of God, making comparisons to things we know on the earth. He always was saying, “The kingdom of God is like” then talked about something here. He also said the kingdom of God is near, and the kingdom of God has come to you. What we do know is that our citizenship is in the kingdom of God, and that gives us something else. John makes it clear that God gives the Spirit without limit. This would mean the Spirit has no limits, he has all the power of God, as the Spirit is God. However, what appears is that we attempt to limit the power of the Spirit, by our unbelief. The Spirit comes to dwell within us, as Jesus said he would, that we would be baptized with fire, meaning the Spirit, as he was manifested in those in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. The point is the Spirit, who dwells within us, brings all his fruit and gifts with him without limits. He has no governor or restrictions on him, except what we impose by our unbelief or refusal to accept all his power. Some theologians or churches have made determinations or testify certain aspects of the Spirit are no longer valid in our culture and time, thus they have refused his unlimited power. What we have to come to terms with is whether we are going to accept the testimony of men, or of God. It would seem this is a no-brainer. We have to accept the testimony of God and thus allow the Spirit full access to our lives and do and work as he will within us. This is not a matter of theology or theological discussion. This is the Word of God and he has given the Spirit, both without any measure, which is God has given the total fullness of the Spirit, not holding any of the Spirit back, giving him or making him available to all men, and given the Spirit, not withholding any of his power. So we pray, Flow Spirit flow, fall fresh on me!