Your Name at a Party

March 7

Read: John 16:1-15

Your Name at a Party

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” - Jesus, v.13,14

Can you imagine being at a party and overhearing someone say your name in another conversation? It is unsettling isn’t it? You wonder what they are saying about you. Maybe you are more confident than I am, but I always presume it is something critical or bad. I fill the gap with doubt and fear. It is almost instinctual to call out, “what did you say? I heard my name… what are you talking about?” Maybe you have had someone come up to you and say, “I heard so and so talking about you the other day.” How would that make you feel?

Jesus says something wild about the Holy Spirit; he says, “he (the Holy Spirit) will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak…” (v.13) The Holy Spirit only says what he overhears the Father and the Son saying. He only speaks to us the words that the Father and the Son are saying about us. How does that make you feel? How often do we bring our own human experiences to bear upon or relationship with the Lord? Are we afraid to hear what the Father and the Son are saying to each other about us? What is it like to have the Holy Spirit say to you, “hey, I overheard the Father and the Son talking about you the other day, do you want to hear what they said?” Would we respond in fear? Would we respond in shame? Would we say, “yeah, for sure! Tell me what they said.” Here is the truth - we need not be afraid to hear what the Father and the Son say about us through the Spirit!

The Father and the Son (Jesus) love us deeply. We are clothed in the righteousness and person of Jesus Christ. (cf. Gal. 3:27, Eph. 4:24, Col. 3:1-14) Our sins have been forgiven and removed from us as far as the east is from the west. (cf. Ps. 103:12) We have been made “new creations” in Christ. (cf. Gal. 2:20, Eph. 2:10, Rom. 6, 2 Cor. 5:17, etc.) WE NEED NOT BE SHY AWAY FROM WHAT THE FATHER AND SON ARE SAYING ABOUT US. The words that the Father and Son speak will be words that bring “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. (cf. Gal. 5:22) These words are delivered by the Spirit and therefore bring the fruits of the Spirit to bear upon us!

For too long the people of God have been fearful to listen to what the Lord is saying to them. Out of shame and guilt they ignore or run away from what the Spirit has to say. The enemy has made the people of God self-conscience… the devil has duped us into dealing with God in human terms… as if he is someone at a dinner party or around the office cooler. This is simply not true. When the Holy Spirit calls you near to tell you what the Father and the Son have to say about you… lean in! The words that he will speak to you WILL BRING LIFE! Stop missing out on what the Lord is telling you. The Holy Spirit will “declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (v.14) There are good things to come… trust me… and trust the word of God! I want you to take time today to ask the Spirit what the Father and Son are saying about you… who they are saying you are. I want you to write down what you sense/ feel / hear after you ask the question: “Spirit, I want to know what the Heavenly Father and my big Brother Jesus are saying about me. Will you please tell me?” If you are really brave - you can share with someone else what you hear… you can even reply to this text if you want to! I am so eager for the people of God to know who God truly says that they are and how HE sees them. Love you guys. - JDP