Guided into Truth

Many of us have taken this verse to mean that the Holy Spirit will tell us things. Then we have treated whatever came to us with strong feeling behind it as the Spirit speaking.

So it is worth seeing what the verse does not claim. It does not promise private information whenever we ask, and it does not say the Spirit will bring brand-new teaching. It says almost the opposite, and the words are right there in the middle: "for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." The next verse makes it even clearer: "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." What the Spirit gives is what belongs to Christ. Jesus defined it that way Himself, in the same breath as the promise.

Nor does the verse promise that all truth arrives at once. It says "he will guide you into all truth." A guide is someone who leads you along a road, and "into" points in a direction. Jesus first made this promise to the eleven disciples, who would soon need to remember exactly what He had said. He had just told them, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."

Nor does the verse promise that you will never be confused. Two people you respect may tell you opposite things about the same decision, and both may quote Scripture to you. This verse does not settle that by giving you a feeling.

What it does give you is a test you can really use, and that is better than a feeling. Anything that pulls you away from what Christ has already said is not the Spirit of truth, however sure it feels. Anything that shows you more of Christ is. The Guide is real, and He is leading you somewhere. Which way He is going is no mystery: He is always leading you toward Jesus, the One He was sent to glorify.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 117 is Of Thine Own (1 Chronicles 29:14).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna