May 2 – Promised Guidance

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”  - John 16:13 (NASB)

Here is another promise from Jesus given to His disciples during his last night with them before His crucifixion. Jesus taught them many things during the years of His ministry and this evening, the last Passover meal He would have on earth with them, was full of reassurance and loving promises. These promises and teaching were intended not only for the 11 disciples but also for all who have believed the Gospel and been born again. The promise of the Holy Spirit, sent from the Father in the name of the Son, was also a promise of guidance into all truth.  This is the subject of the inspired New Testament which many of the disciples were to write. This was also the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit. New inspired books of the Bible are not being written, instead we are proclaiming the truth God has given us in His Word. Not everything we read in the Bible is easily understood but we have the Spirit of Truth who guides us in all truth in the Bible. We have the Spirit of Truth dwelling in us, to guide our understanding of the Scriptures.

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April 21 – Not Of Human Origin

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  -2 Peter 1:20-21  (NIV)

We have a promise from the Apostle Peter in his second letter to all believers about our Bible.  The promise is this, the Scriptures come to us from God. They are trustworthy and true.  Peter is making it clear, Scripture is not of human origin, nor is it the result of human will. The emphasis is that no part of Scripture was ever at any time produced because men wanted it so.  So the Bible is not the product of human effort or origin.  In the OT alone, the human writers refer to their writings as the words of God over 3800 times. The prophets, in fact, sometimes wrote what they could not fully understand (1 Peter 1:10-11 NLT), but were nonetheless faithful to write what God revealed to them as they were carried along and moved by the Holy Spirit. We can therefore trust this promise that Scripture is the Word of God and written down by those who God inspired.  This same Holy Spirit dwells within in all believers to help us discern and understand this Word of God.  Let us seek His guidance to understand what has been given to us.

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January 6

“ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

When we accept Jesus as our Savior we enter into a new relationship with God, our Creator. When Jesus was here He explained this to His disciples. We believe that these words can be applied to us who are disciples of Jesus today. He wants us to know our Lord’s business, what God is doing, and what His purposes are. Jesus taught the disciples much about God’s business. We have the Holy Spirit to teach us and our Bibles to read. He calls us friends and wants to teach us. Let’s be sure we are listening.

January 3

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” Psalm 40:3 (NIV)

We know that many of the songs in our Bible were composed by David. Have you ever wondered where he got all the inspiration to write so many of the Psalms? If we had read the first verse of this psalm, we would have seen that David was telling what the Lord had done for him. So it was the Lord who put songs in his mouth. And each time David could say it was a new song that the Lord had put in his mouth. We may not be song writers, but we can experience a new song of praise in our hearts. God gives us songs. As we praise Him, let’s remember that He is the one that inspires it.

January 2

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14 (NIV)

Have you made any new resolutions? We do have this verse to think about today which expresses the attitude that the apostle Paul had toward the years ahead of him. It was very important for Paul to keep before him the goal which God had set for Him. He earnestly wanted to attain that goal. God has a goal for each of His children. Each of us can decide to press on during this year to reach that goal – to live a life pleasing to Him and to become what He wants us to be. Let’s tell our Lord that this is our desire now as this New Year begins.

January 1

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.” Psalm 73:23 (NIV)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We do know there is happiness in store for you during this coming year if you are trusting in the Lord. The psalmist who wrote these words was trusting Him. We can think of ourselves as the psalmist did, being led through coming days by the Lord, our hand in His. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the way the Lord leads His own? There is something very reassuring by the close contact this implies. And that is the way He wants to lead us to be sure we are near Him and responsive to the guidance he wants to give. Remember though, that for God to lead us by the hand we must put our hand into His by a voluntary decision. Let us say today with the psalmist: “Your hold me by my right hand.”