Day 6

Day 6: The Spirit of Truth

When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, God expects us to live a life of truth, because it is one of His defining characteristics. In fact, Jesus declares in John 14:6 that truth is His middle name when He says, "....'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'". So if we are to be His children, the truth ought to be evident in everything we do. In direct opposition to God, who is the epitome of truth, the devil is called "...a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Whenever you tell a so-called white lie, or lie by omission, you are aligning yourself with evil.

The Spirit of Truth is at work when we counsel others with their problems. We, as human beings, don't have all the answers and we might not know what to say or how to advise someone. This is where the Holy Spirit of truth will give you the right words to say. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5.

The Spirit of truth is of great help when we read the Bible. It is sometimes difficult to understand Scripture, or we may be unclear as to what God wants to reveal to us with a specific piece of Scripture and how it applies to our circumstances. Then it is necessary to pray that God's Spirit of truth will open our minds and give us insight so that we may understand. The Psalmist had the same prayer in Psalm 25:5: "guide me in your truth and teach me..." The Bible also states time and again that God's Word is the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17. Thus if we keep our lives according to the Bible, we can be sure that the truth lives in us.

But the truth can hurt too. It is painful when the Spirit of truth confronts us with secret sin, or reveals to us our shortcomings. We may not want to face it, but if we accept the truth about ourselves, we can confess it and by doing so, the Spirit of truth, who is our guide to a life of righteousness, will bring us ever closer to God and His Holy fire in which all falseness will be burnt like straw. This is what Jesus means in John 8:32 when He says, "....you will know the truth and the truth will set you free".

Living in truth is more complicated that merely not telling lies. John 14:17 puts it in perspective: "the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." It is clear from this verse that living in truth means completely embracing it, leaving no room for exceptions. If you are in denial about any aspect of you life, you are not living in truth. If you pretend to be happily married, when your marriage is in fact on the edge of divorce, you are not living in truth. The sooner you face up to the problems in you marriage, the sooner you can seek help to sort them out. If you accept your friend's apology, but still remain angry with her, you are not walking in the truth. Until you acknowledge your true feelings of hurt, you'll never be able to forgive her and move past your anger. You can put on a brave face and fool everyone, but you cannot fool God's Spirit of truth. It will find you out on every falsehood and lie.

I thank God for His grace. Eph. 2:8 says that we are saved by grace, through faith. Without grace no one would be saved.

Grace is a difficult concept for modern man to grasp. We can't understand why an Almighty God would just forgive us our sins and accept us. It is proof of His love for an understanding people. His grace saves us from eternal death, it forgives our sin when we confess it, carries us through tough times and helps us to accomplish the things God wants to do through us.