Greetings,
Today I am in Bellingham. I had a great week being home and teaching with the Christ Life Training group. I was looking forward to being in my home church yesterday, but a head cold kept me at home. This is a very unusual occurrence for me and I am looking forward to a week of renewed health. I did my early morning, four mile, run today to stir my body in the direction of health. Today is a another day.
Jesus wants to say things to us. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He guides us into all truth. Jesus in the room talking to us does not enable us to handle all the things God wants us to know, but Holy Spirit in our hearts causes us to change. He changes our ability to hear, to believe, and to handle the things we could not handle before. He tells us new things. I believe things today that forty years ago I would not have been able to handle. Holy Spirit is in my life guiding me. Some things I thought were true I found are not and some things I thought were a lie I have found they are not.
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
Jesus was talking to His friends; the ones He had walked with, talked with, ate with, and lived with on a daily basis for several years. He had been in the room with them, but now He promised them something even better. He would make a way for them to be one with by the same Spirit that made Him one with the Father. Holy Spirit is the Helper in us, with us, and even upon us to demonstrate that God is in us and we are in Him.
There is a difference between God’s love and God’s favor. Holy Spirit first shows us God’s love. But He also helps us in our ability to walk in the favor of God. My grandson is a very brave young man. He is an eager, willing, hungry young man. He wants to do all things. Sometimes he believes he can do all things. I love him with all my heart. He says the same to me. He tells me he loves me to the top of outer space. I tell him I love him the same. He would love to use a chain saw. He might even think that he could. I would love to teach him. I know how to build a house with one of those. I built a five bedroom, two story house with a chain saw. I would love to teach my grandson that skill. I can cut boards and I can cut logs. He would love to do the same. I am creative and so is my grandson. I have the ability to teach my grandson how to do that and if I do, it would me showing favor to him. I would be giving him a gift. I am not going to love him more when I do that. It would just be me giving him favor. Right now, he is only five. Not too long ago, my grandson asked his dad, “Dad, when do I get to drive the car?” Some day he will. It will be a matter of favor, but it won’t be a matter of love. His dad loves him now as much as he ever will. I love him now as much as I ever will. God cannot give us more love, but He wants to give us more favor because of His love. God’s favor involves our ability to handle something that He gives. It is not about us being blessed, but about us being a blessing. God’s favor doesn’t mean He loves us more, it means we are able to handle more responsibility because of our connection to His love. Giving a chain saw to my grandson at five years old would not be loving. He would hurt himself or someone else. Holy Spirit first reveals God’s love in our lives and then He reveals truth to us according to our ability to handle it. Truth is not head knowledge. Truth is becoming something for the sake of others. Being able to become something for the sake of others is the testimony of truth.
What does it meant to become something for the sake of others? When someone does something to us that requires us to forgive them, Holy Spirit will guide us into the place of becoming forgiving. There is only one place forgiveness can work, it is where forgiveness is needed. Until someone does something that requires us to forgive, we never know the truth in regard to forgiveness. For the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of forgiveness it requires that someone does something that needs forgiveness. God is going to allow someone to come into our lives that needs our forgiveness. How can we know mercy unless we have received mercy and we have also had to show mercy? The justice system of the kingdom of heaven is not a justice system of right and wrong. That is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The justice system of heaven is one of love. It is the tree of life. When someone does something wrong, the justice system of heaven declares; “I forgive you for being wrong.” Not only does it forgive someone for being wrong, it demonstrates the ability to change your character so you are never wrong again in that same way.
Holy Spirit guiding us into all truth doesn’t mean He is giving us all revelation of Scripture. It means He empowers us to become something. Revelation about something is not the same as becoming a revelation of something. Deep truth of information could simply be yogurt or cottage cheese, or some other form of ‘thick milk’. Truth involves reason of use. Meat, solid food, something of truth; is putting something to use. No one can do that for us. Only Holy Spirit can guide us into that truth. Holy Spirit is intimately involved in our lives to empower us to become something that enables us to do something. Intimacy with Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.
God is in me. I must cultivate my relationship with Him each day. I make myself aware that He is there. I stir up my spirit by His Spirit. Aaaahhh!!!! I speak in tongues. I allow my spirit to inspirit my soul as His Spirit inspires my spirit. I recognize that Holy Spirit is in me. I don’t know what my day is going to be. I make myself ready by being intimate with Holy Spirit. Someone may be coming to prick my flesh, to restrain me, restrict me, or try to stop me in some way. The most these things can do is prove that God’s grace is sufficient. When we are resisted, Holy Spirit helps us manifest the character of Christ. We may not get out of our circumstance, but we will find Christ in the midst of it.
One day I was driving down the road on my way into the city. My highway can be a little busy in the morning. I turned into traffic and a lady driver came speeding behind me and swerved to the side of me and gave me a look that could have killed. I didn’t get upset, but I did react a bit as she sped on her way. She continued forward in traffic and almost hit two more cars as she swerved in and out of lanes. I have to admit, I was talking out loud in critical way concerning her driving patterns. The Holy Spirit said to me, “you don’t know her story.” I realized that my quick conclusion was quite shallow. Who am I to speak out loud about her cutting in and out of traffic. I began to pray for her. I began to pray in tongues. I began to pray that God would keep her safe and help her with whatever she had going on in her life. Holy Spirit was guiding me into truth. He wants to bring us into truth. He wants us to become truth.
We may start our day feeling really good, but need to see the Holy Spirit guide us into truth as the day unfolds. In all things, the one who is good lives in us! This gives hope to each new day!
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
Lots of things are planned in this year for many places in the world. Please consider partnering with me in prayer and financial support.
We accomplished many things in 2017 with New Covenant life and Grace in the nations. We have many goals for 2018 and we are believing for God’s kingdom’s influence in many life-giving ways. Two new courses have been recorded in Portuguese and I will be taking them to Angola in the next couple of months.
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God Bless
Can I get an Amen?!!