March 28

Be Strong and Grow in Truth (Day 1)

 

When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the 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 glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.  ––John 16:13-15

 

When precious time is running out, we want to say and do things that matter. Nothing wasted. In His final words to His disciples, Jesus had this exact urgency and was trying to provide the most clarity He could regarding their path forward and what following Him would look like. He took great pains to assure them that while He might be physically absent, they would be in a process with Him every day through God’s Spirit, who had a specific purpose connected to their growth.

The process Jesus was describing in today’s verse is consistent with who He is and what spiritual dimension He operates in most powerfully: the dimension of truth. Jesus, in this same discussion, declared, “I am . . . the truth.”^[1] He meant that truth is God’s intrinsic nature—an indispensable quality that determines His character, which informs everything He touches and relates to, including us.

As His planted ones, we grow by taking into ourselves that essential force in God’s nature—truth. If you are secure in God’s love, the Bible says your relationship with truth will be growing. In fact, a growing comfort with truth develops where perhaps a previous fear of living in and working with truth existed.

Secure in God’s love, you can start to be more honest with God, more honest with yourself, and more truthful with others. Things that used to bring shame and that you used to hide no longer have power over you because of His love. Truth is not to be feared when you are secure in love. The scales have shifted; His truth outweighs the world’s lies. And because truth’s side of the scale has lifted you up, you now have perspective. You can more easily and see and confront the Deceiver.

Adam and Eve scrambled for the shade of the forest when they discovered they were naked. We do it too. Of course, our loving Father sees us; there’s no need to remain in the darkness. His light draws us out—know that His truth, in Christ, contains no condemnation.^[2]

 

Father, why do I hide in the shadows when You see me anyway? Help me step into Your light and embrace Your truth.

[1] John 14:6

[2] Romans 8:1