Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Available to God
Pastor Scott
Thursday, February 03, 2005
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"...He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."
(John 16:13)
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself..." (John 16:13). Why is that so important? If He will not speak of Himself, He sure won't be speaking about you. Most of us are so caught up into thinking that the Holy Ghost will always be talking about us--what I can do for God, what I should believe for this new job. "I feel the Lord is leading me to do this. I believe the Lord is going to bless me with this. I believe God wants me to teach this." There can be times when God will speak specifically concerning those issues in your life, but the Holy Spirit is primarily going to be emphasizing Jesus, not you. Does this bring glory to the Lord? Does this empower me to better step back and decrease that He might increase? Is it more about my obedience than it is my position?
As the Holy Spirit speaks, He will not speak of Himself, "But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come" (John 13:13). That is not an eschatological prophecy. The things that are to come are what Jesus was speaking of here to people who had not yet been breathed upon. Upon regeneration and being filled with the Spirit, we realize in things to come it is not about you but about you becoming part of Him, part of a whole, part of the Body of Christ. We are empowered to serve one another and to find our placement in the Body of Christ.
The main sin in Adam (and in all of us) was to get caught up in ourselves. We get caught up in so many different ways, whether vaunting ourselves or trying to be seen of other people. We have to very consciously ask, "Am I available to God?" Some of us are very timid and don't want to be seen. We can't let that keep us from being used. Others of us love to be seen, and we can't let that keep us from being used. How has God placed us in the Body? Are we here to be used of the Spirit of God to see a mutual edification of all of us, not only in our local assembly, but people we come into contact with who are part of the kingdom as we go out and minister?
Are you willing to be distracted from all of the daily cares, ambitions and noise that you are involved in and hear the voice of God's Spirit to bring light to a member of the Body of Christ? You can speak a word in season. You can become that instrument of edification that no one else may see. It won't be written in books and will never be remembered, but God is glorified. God is not glorified by people hearing what He has done; God is glorified by people appreciating what He has done. I'm referring to people who have really received and believed, as 1 John says, the love that God has to them. God has no needs. He doesn't need to feel better about Himself. He doesn't need promotion or any thing. What touches the heart of God is the recognition of our need and our thanksgiving to Him. That is what touches His heart.