The Spirit of Truth part 4
I think this memory verse kind of says what I think I've been trying to say: "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). You can't trust something you don't know, or haven't heard. This idea of a blind leap of faith doesn't work with me. Because faith is the substance, the evidence. Faith is knowing something is true because you've experienced it. Not head knowledge, but heart knowledge. You have heard that Word of truth. The gospel of salvation. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (Jesus, love) of God. AFTER hearing... we believe. Sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. I guess what I'm trying to say, in a nutshell, is that seeing is believing. Experiencing the love of God is what equips and empowers us to love with the love of God. Receiving and releasing it. We hear it, we trust it, we believe it, we share it. That's the Divine Order of things. Knowing and believing. Because you can't believe something you don't know. How could you? So when we're talking about the Spirit of Truth--the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of promise, the love receptor--we're talking about listening to the still, small voice of God. That little voice deep inside that says, "I love you, I love you, I love you," with every beat of God's heart in our chests. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that its (that HE'S) in there. Love is the Word of God. Love is the thought that He thinks toward us. Let me say it kind of boldly like this: Love is all God's got. Because love is all God is. Love isn't just what God does. Love is who God is. He is a Spirit, a consuming fire, a light... love. All pictures of love. The Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of love. Because love IS the truth. The ultimate truth of the universe. Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Which means LOVE is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We have to start looking at everything through the lens of love. Rose colored glasses, if I can say it that way. Looking at the Bible cross-eyed. Seeing everything through the finished work of the cross. Seeing (and believing) that we don't have to be someone we're not... because we are already exactly who we need to be. That's the truth of the matter. God made you exactly how He wanted you to be. You are perfect. Just the way you are. God loves you... just the way you are. He has never loved you any less than He does right now. Even at your lowest. His love is unconditional. Its not about what you do. Its about who you are. And who HE is. You can trust His love because it never waivers. Never fails. His love endures. No matter what. He always has and always will love you. That's what love is. And that's what the Holy Spirit shows us as He leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that we are loved. The truth that we can love. The truth that we ARE love! Hear it, know it, trust it, believe it. Receive it and release it!