Much More to Say

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But 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 16:12-15 NIV)

I think these are among the most important words Jesus ever said. If we ever get to believing that the Bible is the very last word, we only need to reread this passage. Jesus himself said that he couldn't tell us everything during his earthly life. Some of it, he said, we just weren't ready for. And that is why he sent the Holy Spirit... so that God could keep right on speaking and telling us things as we are ready to accept them into our hearts.

Before he accended, Jesus did not tell Peter it was okay to eat unkosher foods. The Holy Spirit made that clear to him in a vision. Jesus did not tell Paul that circumsision was no longer necessary. Paul figured that out with the help of the Holy Spirit. These were tremendous changes for the faithful of that time period. They were not made lightly or easily. I can only imagine the arguing and name-calling that most likely went on... much like when our own churches make difficult changes today.

When our churches face these difficult changes it is the right thing to do to go to scripture for help, but scripture is not always the final word. If Peter and Paul had been limited to their own scripture, we would not be eating bacon today... and evangelism would be a much more difficult task, especially with men!

I believe the Bible lives and breathes God's word. Anything that lives and breathes changes. Obviously the words themselves don't change, but our own perception of what those words mean can change a lot. When we are reading the Bible for spiritual guidance it is so important to pray as we read. If we just spout off isolated verses in order to back up what we already believe, we are not giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to teach us or change our hearts.

God is still speaking. Listen to him.

Father,
Keep our hearts open the the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit even as we read from your inspired word. Amen.

Joys: beautiful breezy sunshine this morning; so many sample books downloaded to Kindle... where to start?; inspiring photos... check this out: http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity