Posts from — May 2010

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

In today’s reading, Jesus is speaking to His Followers and He is giving the Holy Spirit an introduction of sorts to mankind. He is kind of saying “Look, the Holy Spirit is going to take care of you once I am gone, and He is going to be speaking Truth to you, so listen up and know that what He speaks is straight from Father.”

Jesus begins this introduction by telling His followers that He has a lot to tell them, but they are not quite ready to hear it. How many times have I been unable to hear what I needed hear in order to see my way clear? How many times have I looked backwards and seen with such clarity what I was unable to see in a moment. Hindsight is 20-20 is a cliché because it is used so often, and it is used so often because it is…. well, true!

I know that in my parenting I sure could have used a little foreknowledge in order to make good decisions, but I guarantee that I would not have listened to that knowledge if it had been revealed to me. We humans like to make our own way.

I wonder, when Jesus said He has more things to tell His followers, in fact, more than they “can bear,” if He really meant “things you will refuse to listen me about.” I can think of many examples in my own life of choosing to ignore a still small voice that was urging me in one direction. I chose to go in MY direction instead. Only when it’s all over do I flop down in defeat and confess that I knew I was headed down a wrong path long before I finally stopped walking.

Another translation of the Bible, The Message, says the same passage like this:

I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.

When I listen to my prayers, I cringe. I wonder if I sound like a whiney 5-year-old to God. Instead of typical 5-year-old pleas such as, “But I wanna stay up later, I wanna eat all those sweets, I wanna watch a PG 13 movie,” I whine about my life in the same tone. “But I want everything to be better in my relationship, but I want you to give me more responsibility in ministry, but I want to know how this situation will turn out. How much more peaceful would my heart be if I just accepted that there was more truth than I see in a specific moment, and it will be revealed to me when I can better handle it.

He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.

The whole idea that I might know (on some level) what the Father knows is intriguing. I mean really, little ole me gets to have the Spirit of Truth pass on messages from the Father?

What I take away from this passage is this: If I can relax, and let the Holy Spirit reveal Truth to me, I will strengthen my connection with the Father. All truth flows from Him, and can come to me in His perfect timing.