When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. (John 16:13)
The Holy Spirit has full access to God because the Spirit is God himself. God has chosen humanity to be the recipients of his truth. Yesterday we learned that Jesus will teach us through the Spirit according to our ability. Today we see that the goal of the Spirit’s teaching is that we will be guided into all the truth (emphasis on the word “all”).
Truth is more than mere fact; it is the way things are from God’s perspective. By the Spirit, we can see the world the way God sees it. We can learn to discern right from wrong not by social or cultural norms that twist the truth according to social or political expediency. We can discern right from wrong and truth from falsehood according to the wisdom of our Creator who has designed human life and gifted us with purpose. We can also see our individual lives the way that God sees them. By the Spirit, we can sense the real love of God, and also discern the areas of our lives that are out of alignment with God’s loving purposes. The Spirit will hide nothing from us, but guide us into all the truth; that is, all the truth about God, all the truth about the world, and all the truth about ourselves.
Now this may be hard to hear, and you may not at first agree, but the reason the Spirit has to guide you into the truth is that you have been living by lies. Our enemy, the Devil, is called “The Father of Lies,” and he is very skilled at his craft. Some of his lies we know to be lies, but we live by them anyway. Other lies, the most clever and damaging ones, are the ones that appear to be most like the truth. And the closer a lie is to the truth, the harder we will hold on to it and even defend it with all our might. But the Spirit has come to deliver us from the lies of the Enemy, both the lies that are obvious as well as the lies that are subtle. Much of the success of the Spirit’s work depends on your willingness to admit that you’ve been deceived by the lies of the enemy. But the Spirit is patient and gracious. He knows how hard it is to admit to ourselves that we’ve been living under the influence of lies, but your progress depends on it. So just pay attention to the Spirit’s prompting and listen to his voice. You don’t need to find the truth yourself; it is his role to guide you there.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, I am ready to admit that I’ve been living under the influence of the lies of the enemy. I also confess that some of his lies I’ve known to be lies, yet have lived by them anyway. But I can also sense that there are areas of my life that are out of alignment, but I don’t know why. I am ready for you to guide me into the way of all truth. And by “all,” I mean “all” and not merely “some.” I know that I cannot have full victory if I merely live by some of the truth. I must have it all. So I invite you to fulfill the promise of Christ in me. Guide me into the way of all truth, and I will gladly follow your leading.