Monday, February 10, 2025
Revealer
. . these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:10
Please read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 today. Paul is making an amazing truth known to the Corinth church. There is a mystery. That mystery includes the secret things of God. It is a secret and hidden wisdom which God decreed before the ages for our glory (2:7). This mystery is the testimony of a crucified Christ. Through the sacrifice of Christ, we can take hold of that which God has prepared for those who love him. Paul does not specifically tell his readers what God has prepared, but he makes it clear that they are revealed through the Spirit. Many have thought of the glories of heaven as being that which we cannot even begin to imagine. I believe that is definitely part of this! But also, it seems there is an unimaginable fullness and abundance of life that waits for the true follower of Jesus who truly love God as shown by their life of obedience. The Spirit is the revealer of this unimaginable relationship with God. The Spirit knows God and knows the intimacy of relationship between the Father, Son, and Himself and he searches the depths of that relationship. It is the Spirit who is the revealer of the deep things of God. As we continue our look into the Spirit, we will see the ways that he reveals God to the world. God makes himself known and reveals the mystery of his plan for redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. Take some time today to think about what you know to be true about God and his love for you and his plan for you. Think about how the Spirit has revealed that to you.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Truth
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17
Please read John 14:15-31, 15:26-16:15 today. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took time to share deep truth with his disciples. He loved them deeply and he knew he was going to leave them. But he also knew the plan of God. That plan was for God’s presence to continue to be with them in the Person of the Spirit—the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth will not just be with them, he will be in them. God will dwell in the lives of the followers of Jesus! We will look at that more closely in the weeks to come. For now, notice that John records Jesus calling the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth will guide the disciples into all the truth (16:13). One of the great “I AM” statements of Jesus recorded in John is that Jesus is the truth (14:6). The depths of the implications found in Jesus as the truth is what the Spirit of truth will reveal to those in whom he dwells. He will reveal the truth to them. The Spirit of truth cannot be received by the world because it cannot see or know him. This is not to say that the Spirit is not working in the world, but he is not seen or known by the world. As such, the world does not, cannot know the truth of God. Therefore, the world makes its own truth, which is no real truth at all. Think about the truth of God that you know. Do you realize it is the Spirit of truth within you that has made that known to you? Is there someone in your life who needs to hear about the Spirit of truth today?
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Truth (part 2)
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13
Please read John 16:12-15 today. As you read these verses, look for the Trinity. Notice the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in these verses and notice what it says about the relationship within the Trinity. What do you notice? John records several times when Jesus made it clear that he did not act or speak on his own initiative but followed the will of the Father (3:34-35; 5:19-20; 7:16-18; 8:26-29; 12:47-50). In the same way, the truth the Spirit reveals is also that of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit speaks what he hears in his oneness with the Father and Son. It is the truth of God that is given to us. We can be certain that it is the truth of God since it is rooted in the truth of the Son. This passage gives us a glimpse into the Trinity. The Spirit is the one who reveals this truth to us. It is this truth that allows him to guide us into all truth. Consider the intimacy of relationship within the Trinity and how that allows us to trust the truth that has been revealed to us by God in the Spirit. Consider also that we have been invited into that type of intimacy. How have you been able to know that relationship with God?
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Truth (part 3)
. . knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21
Please read 2 Peter 1:16-21 today. These verses help us understand that the Spirit of truth made the truth of God known in the Scripture. The Holy Spirit is the divine author and the producer of Scripture. He is the one who carried along the men who spoke the very words of God. This includes the words of the Old Testament as well as the New. Peter is declaring that the words he has spoken, as well as the other apostles (3:15-16), is true because of the Spirit of truth guiding them and leading them into all truth as they taught and recorded. It was not their own thoughts or myths they were declaring; it was and is the truth of God, just as it had been for the Old Testament writers. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). God used human authors to record his truth as he moved in their lives. This is how we can trust that the word of the Bible is the word of truth, because it is the word of God as revealed by the Spirit of truth. This truth is indeed a lamp that shines into a dark place. The murkiness of the chaos of this world is dispelled by the word of truth (Psalm 119:105). It is the light that holds us until the moment of the Lord’s return! Praise God for his truth revealed in his word. What are the truths of his word that light your path? How can you shine that light for others?
Friday, February 14, 2025
Son
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. John 15:26-27
Please read John 15:26-27 today. The Trinity is once again exposed in these verses. Once again we see the inseparable work of God comes from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the message. The good news of the gospel of the kingdom which came in the Person of the Son. The disciples will be called to be witnesses (Acts 1:8) once they receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. Followers of Jesus are called to reveal him to a lost world (1 Peter 3:15). We are called to be his witnesses. We can only do that with the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals the Son. In fact, the Spirit points to the Son and deflects the attention away from himself. He makes Jesus known. Whatever we can know about the Son has been revealed by the Spirit. He makes the truth known. The Spirit will help the disciples to know more fully the things they saw as they walked with Jesus from the beginning. He guides them into the truth about Jesus and the truth of the gospel. He reveals that hope that is found in Christ alone and his atoning sacrifice. Jesus sends the Spirit of truth into our lives so that we can know him more fully and so that we can have the power to make him more fully known! How are you revealing the Son to those around you with the power of the Spirit?
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Understand
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 2 Corinthians 2:12-13
Please read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 today. The Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter, and the Helper sent from God. He is sent that we might understand the things that are freely given to us by God. This is given to those who are spiritual. Who are those who are spiritual? Those who have the Spirit. Without the Spirit it is impossible to understand the things of the Spirit—those things freely given by God. But the natural man—the man without the Spirit (the unbeliever) does not accept the wisdom of God. Rather he sees the wisdom taught by the Spirit as folly. This allows us to see that apart from the work of the Spirit, a person cannot understand the things of God. This means the Spirit is working in the life of a believer before he believes so that he can believe. Apart from the Spirit we cannot understand the truth of God. We will see his wisdom as folly. In this world, those who believe the truth of God are seen as foolish. God uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise (1:27). In other words, the wisdom of this world is shamed by the wisdom of God which the world cannot understand. If you have understood the truth of the gospel take some time today to thank God for making it known to you. Embrace the Spirit of truth in your life and seek to understand even more fully his spiritual truths! Pray for those in your life who do not yet know the truth.