John 3:22-36\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.\u00a023\u00a0Now John\u00a0also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.\u00a024\u00a0(This was before John was put in prison.)\u00a025\u00a0An argument developed between some of John\u2019s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.\u00a026\u00a0They came to John and said to him, \u201cRabbi,\u00a0that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan\u2014the one you testified\u00a0about\u2014look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.\u201d\u00a0 27\u00a0To this John replied, \u201cA person can receive only what is given them from heaven.\u00a028\u00a0You yourselves can testify that I said, \u2018I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.\u2019\u00a029\u00a0The bride belongs to the bridegroom.\u00a0The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom\u2019s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.\u00a030\u00a0He must become greater; I must become less.\u201d\u00a0 31\u00a0The one who comes from above\u00a0is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.\u00a0The one who comes from heaven is above all.\u00a032\u00a0He testifies to what he has seen and heard,\u00a0but no one accepts his testimony.\u00a033\u00a0Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.\u00a034\u00a0For the one whom God has sent\u00a0speaks the words of God, for God\u00a0gives the Spirit\u00a0without limit. 35\u00a0The\u00a0Father loves the Son\u00a0and has placed everything in his hands.\u00a036\u00a0Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,\u00a0but\u00a0whoever rejects the Son will not see life,\u00a0for God\u2019s wrath\u00a0remains\u00a0on them.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThe one who comes from above\u00a0is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.\u00a0The one who comes from heaven is above all.<\/i><\/span>\u00a032\u00a0He testifies to what he has seen and heard,\u00a0but no one accepts his testimony.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0It is astounding to me how proud the un-redeemed can be, and even more so, how shamefully proud we can be.\u00a0\u00a0Shameful is the pride of the one who would doubt God\u2019s motivation, His goodness, or His knowledge and wisdom.\u00a0\u00a0Once an unbeliever (who thought himself wise) and enjoyed attacking the faith of Believers, told me that He thought God had wrongly treated Job.\u00a0\u00a0I admit, his grotesque hubris deeply shocked me, which may have been his intention.\u00a0\u00a0To me the thought that someone would consider himself worthy to challenge God in such a way was startling.\u00a0\u00a0What would make this non-believer think that he had the intellect or wisdom to challenge God?\u00a0\u00a0His pride blinded him.\u00a0\u00a0Okay, I was somewhat na\u00efve at the time.\u00a0\u00a0His statement set me back for a moment.\u00a0\u00a0Do you know what is worse than his statement is when self-professing Christians will listen to such a person spew such trash and even consider if the statement is true.\u00a0\u00a0How could believers\u00a0<\/span>\u201cwho have once been enlightened,\u00a0who have tasted the heavenly gift,\u00a0who have shared in the Holy Spirit,\u00a05\u00a0who have tasted the goodness\u00a0of the word of God\u00a0and the powers of the coming age,\u201d\u00a0<\/i>who personally and deeply know and love God listen to such an egotist and consider such blather?\u00a0\u00a0If someone expressed the thought that my wife hated her granddaughters I would immediately and completely reject the statement as error and an evil thing to say.\u00a0\u00a0I would not be pleased with anyone who said such a thing.\u00a0\u00a0Even more so, how could one who loves Christ entertain such a challenge to the goodness of God?\u00a0\u00a0If we shall rise to defend the honor of anyone, should not Jesus be the first and foremost of whom we would do so?\u00a0\u00a0Why entertain trash?\u00a0\u00a0We must witness to everyone but we have no need to entertain the profane.\u00a0\u00a0Live your faith received through the Spirit and the Word, and block devilish lies from entering your thoughts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Corinthians 15:33<\/b>\u00a0\u201cDo not be deceived: \u201cBad company corrupts good morals.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Worldly people want to talk about the things of the world.\u00a0\u00a0It is what they were born into, raised in, studied and enjoyed.\u00a0\u00a0But we, by the might of Jesus Himself, have been plucked from the way of the world to think and live as the beloved of God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Unbelievers think and live out the errant ways of the world.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s all they know. (1 John 2:15<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0But Jesus is the Son of God who has forever been and will forever be with God.\u00a0\u00a0He came to earth from Heaven and so what He speaks about is the place and the ones He came from.\u00a0\u00a0Most immigrants have fond memories from their homeland.\u00a0\u00a0With a faraway look on their face they talk about their country and the people there that they love. How much more so did Jesus do when speaking of the Father and Heaven!\u00a0\u00a0Oh to have seen the look in His eyes as He spoke of these things, not from knowledge from men or their books, but from loving memories and firsthand knowledge.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oh to have watched His eyes and heard His voice.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, as some do, we can and do see in the Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!\u00a0\u00a0Jesus spoke about eternal matters bearing eternal blessings.\u00a0\u00a0Hear and learn from Him and reject proud and foolish talk. How sad it is for all those who refuse to listen to Him and to obey.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.\u00a034\u00a0For the one whom God has sent\u00a0speaks the words of God, for God\u00a0gives the Spirit\u00a0without limit.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Jesus came speaking the message of God to us.\u00a0\u00a0He quoted scriptures to reveal who He was.\u00a0\u00a0He did signs to reveal the Messiah was here.\u00a0\u00a0What He said and what He did were what the Father sent Him to say and do.\u00a0\u00a0So to refuse what Jesus said and did is to refuse God the Father.\u00a0\u00a0To blaspheme Jesus is to blaspheme God.\u00a0\u00a0To blaspheme Jesus and the Father reveals an errant heart.\u00a0\u00a0For such as these Jesus died to save.\u00a0\u00a0But this person must become humble, repent, and obey or that person will eternally be perished. (1 Corinthians 1:18, John 3:36<\/b>)<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0Father loves the Son\u00a0and has placed everything in his hands.\u00a036\u00a0Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,\u00a0but\u00a0whoever rejects the Son will not see life,\u00a0for God\u2019s wrath\u00a0remains\u00a0on them.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0We love our children.\u00a0\u00a0If someone hates them they cannot be our friends.\u00a0\u00a0But those who love our children also show that they love us.\u00a0\u00a0To hate Jesus is to remain under the curse and those under the curse cannot know God.\u00a0\u00a0Not for nothing is it written\u00a0\u201cKiss His son, or He will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0(Psalm 2:12<\/b>) Yes, in gratitude bow before the Son and in doing so, God Himself is bowed to.\u00a0\u00a0Give glory to God and live eternally.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God because we love Him.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, give glory and honor to God!\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear\u00a0me.<\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/p>\n Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John 3:22-36\u00a0–\u00a0After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.\u00a023\u00a0Now John\u00a0also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.\u00a024\u00a0(This was before John was put in prison.)\u00a025\u00a0An argument developed between some of John\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[129,100,94,1874,17],"class_list":["post-2717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-corinthians","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2718,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717\/revisions\/2718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}