Jesus was preparing His followers for His exit. He knew the cross was just over the next sunrise and He wanted them to understand that they would not be alone or separated from God’s goodness.
He shared with them that in time, God would come to them in Spirit, unlike Himself who was there in flesh. They could see Jesus and touch Him, but the Spirit who was coming? They would experience Him as He lived within each one.
This Spirit of God wasn’t just a feeling, though. He would be their Comforter, Advocate, Helper, Intercessor, Strengthener, and Standby. He would be sent in Jesus’ place, to represent Him, to act on His behalf for all believers, including you and me.
The Spirit of Almighty God would teach believers all things. He would help them (us) recall all the things Jesus said. All to help them live the life Jesus wants them (us) to live.
The same thing happens today when a person chooses to accept the free gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross—the salvation born of His death, burial, and resurrection. Upon that choice to surrender self to God, the Holy Spirit enters in and begins teaching us. No, that’s not like a teacher sitting in front of a classroom.
That’s THE Teacher, pulling back the curtain on scripture that you couldn’t understand in your natural, pre-salvation state, showing you what it means and how it applies to your life here and now.
We have this incredible resource living in us, but far too often we don’t understand Him, so we move on as if He doesn’t exist or we drown out His teaching, correction, and conviction.
We need to be tuning in to hear Him speak to our hearts, to guide our steps, to reveal our purpose, and to teach us the deep truths of the Creator.
Let’s try this today. Let’s take some time to get quiet and ask the Holy Spirit to show us Himself, to speak to our hearts of the things He wants us to know. Let’s be obedient to all He says, then stay tuned to Him so that we can walk in obedience to God daily.
A few extra thoughts…
I confess, growing up in the church I didn’t hear a whole lot about the Holy Spirit, about the day-by-day workings of the Holy Spirit. But to know that God is with me, not just an entity that’s somewhere, but to know that his very spirit lives within me? It’s a crazy notion, isn’t it? It’s an amazing thought. His living in me does not make me like him. Right? It doesn’t make us God. It doesn’t elevate us to his level. It is simply His Spirit in us so that we have that constant, intentional teacher, reminding us of what Jesus said. And reminding us that, Oh, that’s not the best idea. You need to try something different. Or you didn’t try something different. We need to make this right.
He is also our advocate before the throne, he is the one who pleads our case at the throne of God and he prays for us You know those times when you know that something is going on, and you might know the situation, but there’s something going on. And you, you cannot even consider words to speak. They’re just not there. You don’t have to have them. The Holy Spirit has them for you. And he is praying to the Father for you. And it’s amazing because he is God, so he is praying God’s will over you, for you, on your behalf.
Let’s learn to tune into him. Let’s learn to listen to him. Let’s learn to accept the guidance, the correction, the discipline when he says, rather than just brushing it off, or saying, Oh, that’s not real or whatever. Let’s accept this part of God in the way he intended for us to.
There’s no better time to start than right here, right now. You can do this. You can slow down enough today. And tomorrow, and the day after, to stop a moment and listen and seek God by listening to his spirit, this spirit that lives within you. And the more that you consult him, the more you’ll hear his voice, the more you’ll know it when you hear him speak to you. Oh, wow. How amazing would that be? I’m all for missing the mistakes because I’ve listened to him instead of getting the discipline after I’ve made the wrong choices. Yeah. I’d rather hear about it up front. How about you?
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
