Journey Through JohnSample

Scripture: John 7:39-40 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive….” Observation: Jesus predicts that one day, all who believe in Him would receive the Holy Spirit in such fullness that it would be like water flowing in a stream. Up until then, the Holy Spirit had only been given to certain people chosen by God to have the Spirit for a limited time in order to do a special task. But Jesus tells of a time when ALL believers could have Him in abundance – flowing out from within, like water pouring out of a sponge. Application: We now live in the time that Jesus predicted then. For centuries people had longed to be able to have God’s Spirit, and now, as a believer in Christ, I can have the Holy Spirit flowing out of my heart. I can be sure that the Holy Spirit is there within me, but how freely He can flow and fill me depends on how much room I give Him. Scriptures teach that it is possible to grieve the Spirit, hindering His flow and working. I want to give God’s Spirit full control over my life, so He can flow out of me and bless both me and others with living water. Prayer: Lord, may your Spirit have complete control over me. May the Spirit flow freely in my life and out of my heart. I want to live in the power of your Spirit today. Amen. Truths to notice: 7:1, 6-7 Jesus was willing to give up His life, but not until it was God’s timing. 7:5 Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him. (This suggests that Jesus was quite normal throughout His childhood and supports the idea that he was truly human.) 7:16 Jesus’ teaching came to Him through His Father. It wasn’t Jesus’ own divine wisdom and knowledge that He’d had before He came to earth. He had laid His own godly powers aside to become truly human with no special advantages over us. 7:39 The Holy Spirit would not be given in His fullness to all believers until after Jesus was again glorified with all His divine abilities back (after the resurrection and ascension). 7:41 People knew that Old Testament prophecy pointed to the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, but most were not aware that Jesus had been born there. They thought He had been born in Galilee. 7:45ff Jesus’ character and teaching pointed to Him being the Messiah, but the religious leaders pressured people not to believe this.