September 29, 2023
The Leading Of The Spirit Of God
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” John 16:13-15 (NASB)
I spoke to a person last night who was praying about placement for a mother in a care center. There were a lot of things that would have to come together financially first. The mother would need a lot of memory-related care. The mother also needed a large amount of money before she could be placed in a care center. The family intended to sell her car but would need to sell it quickly to raise the initial move-in fee. Then a monthly payment would need to be paid each month for her to remain. The person told me how amazed they were that God acted so quickly, and outside of their wildest expectation. Within days, the car was sold; for cash. A few weeks later the home the mother lived in (which needed a new roof and inside carpeting), another unexplainable thing happened. No money was available to conduct the improvements before selling the house. It would have to be sold as-is. A few days later, the realtor called and said they would front the money for the re-roofing project, and install vinyl flooring inside. The realtor said they could sell the house for a larger price, in which repair costs would be taken from the final sale price. It was as if things were a whole lot better than they could expect! The disciples were about to find this true about the Holy Spirit when He came…
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;” As Jesus told the disciples the three areas the Holy Spirit would operate on earth after He left (as mentioned in yesterday’s post), there would be even more offered by the Spirit. Jesus knew this. This is why He said in verse 12, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” So much was about to be added to their resources. Dongell says, “The teaching ministry of the Spirit would have impressive scope and purpose: … he will guide you into all truth.… and he will tell you what is yet to come (16:13). His instruction would convey not part of the truth, but all truth, addressing not only present things but things to come. His mode of teaching would be guidance: they would learn from Him as if on a journey, over time; they would learn by willingly cooperating with their guide; and they would learn at the rate determined by their guide. Furthermore, the Spirit’s guidance, as depicted here, seems more directed toward the disciples as a whole, rather than to the disciples individually.”[1] Just as Jesus led the disciples, the Spirit too would accompany them. With the Spirit of God within, they would have God with them all the time. They didn’t have this luxury while Jesus was with them. What a blessing! The Spirit of God within would continue to testify of those things that were in tandem with Jesus (because He too is God). This points to the interdependence of the Persons in the Trinity. The Father would tell the Spirit what to teach the apostles about the Son, and all would be in complete harmony.
Truth is a person. He is God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. You have been given all you need for this life. Follow the Spirit of God’s leading in your life to experience an exciting new life!
[1] Dongell, J. (1997). John: a Bible commentary in the Wesleyan tradition (pp. 193–194). Wesleyan Publishing House.