The Spirit Is Our Guide
Do you recognize your need for a guide?
Verse of the Day
‘When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.’
Today’s Devotional
This is our last of the three very similar verses that Jesus spoke to His disciples immediately before His arrest. It’s beautiful that the plan of God includes a daily Helper for us. Spiritual truth is very difficult for our human brains to comprehend, and God knows that we need assistance.
If the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, then does it stand to reason that living as a person of truth will help me to embody these qualities?
The thing that stands out to me about truth and the Holy Spirit is that we must participate. In John 14:17 , we are told that the Spirit leads, which means it is my choice whether or not to follow. In John 14:26 , Jesus tells us that the Spirit teaches us, which means it is my responsibility to learn and to practice what I am being taught. In that same verse, Jesus says that the Spirit reminds us of all that Jesus has said, which means that I must listen for these reminders. In John 15:26, Jesus says that the Spirit testifies about Him, which again means that I must be actively listening.
In today’s verse, Jesus says that the Spirit guides and speaks. So, am I listening and am I following the Spirit’s guidance? The Spirit can be actively guiding me and speaking to me, but if I am only interested in my own life and pursuits, I am likely to miss out.
The truth is available to us. It will likely not make sense to our humanness. Which means we need a guide if we want to be people of truth. It means we have a responsibility to be actively listening for the Spirit’s leading. It means we need to follow the Spirit as our guide, even when it’s scary or we have no idea what the outcome will be.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How have you heard or followed the Spirit in the past?
How do you think the Spirit teaches you?
How can you ask the Spirit to be more clear with you?
How can you be a better listener and follower of the Spirit today?
Is being a person of God’s truth important to you? What can you do about that?