◄ What Does John 7:17 Mean? ►

The time was getting closer to the day when the Lord Jesus would be betrayed and handed over to wicked men, who would crucify Him by nailing His sinless body to the Cross. Grace and truth came through Him and for three years, He spoke only those things that He heard from the Father. No one spoke the gracious words that Jesus spoke, and no one performed many mighty miracles that Jesus performed; prophetic signs that authenticated the Man Christ Jesus and His supernatural ministry of reconciliation.

But as the time for His death drew ever closer, the gulf between those that trusted His Word of truth and those that rejected His Messianic claims grew ever wider. The incarnate Word of God had come to tabernacle with His people and was walking in and out among the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but they did not receive Him. But as many as did receive Him, to them He gave the power to become sons of God.

And so it was that during the Jewish feast of Tabernacles, Christ stood up in the temple to call all those that were spiritually thirsty to come to Him. The crowds were astonished at the gracious words He spoke and the depth of His understanding: "My teaching is not my own," He told them, "It comes from the One Who sent me. And anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on My own."

The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a true believer, with a teachable spirit and a desire to know the will of God, is one that will be taught by Him. This is one who will grow in grace and in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the man or woman who chooses to take God at His Word and live their Christian life trusting all He says, no matter how much their emotions, feelings, or circumstances seem to scream the opposite, is the man or woman that will be taught by the Spirit of God and come to a deeper understanding, as He gently guides them into all truth.

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and spiritual understanding is the right of ALL born-again children of God. Those that do God's will by trusting His Word will understand, through Spirit to spirit communion, whether the teaching is from God, while those believers that choose to walk the way of the flesh, will be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine; eternally saved but without spiritual understanding.

Let us be those with a teachable spirit that will read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the truth of God's Word and believe it.

Loving Father, thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit and His ministry in the hearts of all those that are Your children. Give me a teachable spirit, I pray, and guide me into all truth. In Jesus' name, AMEN.