What You Need to Know and Where You Need to Go

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he promised his followers he’d send a helper, the Holy Spirit. This helper would always stay with God’s people—and that includes you and me!

The Holy Spirit fulfills many roles, including telling you what you need to know and revealing where you need to go.

The Holy Spirit teaches you a lot of the big things that you need to know in life—like letting you know what’s true and what’s not.

He also gives you insight moment by moment. As you learn to let the Spirit lead you, he tells you what you need to know just as you need it.

Have you ever read a Bible verse one morning and then, a few hours later, recalled that verse at a moment when you really needed it? That was the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says in John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth” (NCV).

Sometimes God does this for your benefit. But sometimes he does it for someone else’s benefit. God lets you share the truth he’s shown you.

God’s Spirit will also help you get where you need to go.

Has God put a dream in your heart that you could never achieve on your own? If you let the Holy Spirit guide you, you will go to places you never imagined.

The Bible is full of examples of people who followed God’s guidance.

Luke 2:27 says, “The Spirit led Simeon to the Temple” (NCV). When Simeon arrived at the temple that day, he had the highest privilege: He dedicated the baby Jesus to God.

In the book of Acts we encounter the story of another person who obeyed God’s Spirit. A man named Philip was walking down a dusty road one day when an Ethiopian leader rode by in a chariot. Acts 8:29 says, “The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot’” (ESV).

Philip obeyed the Spirit and found the man reading in the book of Isaiah about the Messiah. Philip told him that the Messiah had come. The man immediately asked to be baptized, and he took Christianity with him back to Ethiopia.

Because Philip listened to the Holy Spirit’s nudge, he got to be part of God’s work. When you listen to God’s Spirit, he’ll let you in on his work, too.

When you listen and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction, you’ll find your faith increasing because you’ll consistently see God at work in your life. You’ll learn you can count on him to tell you what you need to know and show you where you need to go.