Knowing truth…

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12–15)

Two young fellows came to the door to sell me their belief system. I shared my faith in Jesus Christ and how His death and resurrection changed my life. They asked me where I learned this, who taught it to me. When I told them “no one” and that I learned it from the Holy Spirit while reading the Bible, they shook their heads and told me no one learns about God like that. I had to be taught.

Thinking about it, it does seem like someone who hears voices has a mental problem. But Jesus says we can know truth by His Spirit without it being explained by another person. As my pastor often says, “Only God.”

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:9–15)

The power and activity of the Holy Spirit is ridiculed as nonsense by those who are without faith in Jesus Christ. For them, His work is unknown or unnamed or called anything else, from hunches to guesses, premonitions to a gut feeling. Even to Christians, this might be how it feels at times, yet Jesus said to those who questioned Him, 

“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:25–27)

When a friend or family member calls, they often identify themselves by “It’s me” because the person on the other end knows their voice. This is what hearing the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is like. Because His sheep know His voice, we recognize Him when He tells us the truth or gives us a command. And because we know and trust Him, we follow what He says.

Those two men at my door did not know what I was talking about because they were not His sheep. They didn’t know or follow Him, only their human teachers who didn’t tell them the truth because they didn’t know His voice either.

Being in the Bible helps. Listening to sound biblical teaching helps. Yet most of all, being His child (sheep) in a personal relationship makes the difference. 

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

Most of the time I feel clueless about what is going on, what I should do, etc. but by knowing Jesus, I can rely on Him to tell me all that I need to know, what to do next, how to think and pray, and what is true vs. what is false. Spiritual maturity is a progress totally depending on what Jesus reveals to me.

Jesus, the Holy Spirit speaks of You, glorifies You, gives me what You want me to know and do, and assures me of Your love and mercy, Your righteousness and faithfulness. Without You, I am at sea, but You are my guiding lighthouse and help — in all of life.