[Jesus said to His disciples,] “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going.6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you.7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment…
There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’” John 16:5-8, 12-15 (NLT)
I have continued to soak in John’s gospel this week. When I read the Bible for the first time, I was told to start in John. I have passed the wisdom on to many first-time Bible readers. The prose is beautiful and the pages are filled with promises from our LORD and Savior.
There is no doubt that my salvation, the promise of eternal life with God, through the perfect Blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the greatest gift from my Father. There is nothing that I can do to deserve this. Father God gives it to me out of His great love. But He doesn’t stop there.
Jesus’ time on earth is quickly running out like sand through an hourglass. What He says must be important. His revelation about the Holy Spirit is definitely important!
The Holy Spirit is not an “it.” He is a person in the Trinity. Jesus says the world can’t accept him, not it (John 14:17).
The Spirit brings knowledge and truth to me from God (1 Corinthians 2:11). When I am uncertain or confused, if I call out for wisdom, the Spirit delivers.
The Spirit convicts me when I sin. That grip in my spirit, the remorse, the sadness when God steps back from whatever I have chosen over Him, is the Holy Spirit showing me the way back through repentance. He shows me path away from temptation and sin.
The Spirit comforts me. In the darkest moments of my life, I have felt the warmth of God’s Presence, the soft light of His Presence, the strength of Him surrounding and holding me ever so tenderly.
I can memorize pages of Scripture, and that is not a bad thing, unless I stop with that and believe I now have it all. That would be like having the lyrics to a beautiful song without any music. The Holy Spirit gives my faith expression and passion.
The power of the Holy Spirit brings wisdom when all the world brings is deception.
The power of the Holy Spirit brings conviction when all the world brings is condemnation.
The power of the Holy Spirit brings comfort when all the world brings is pain.
There is so much more for the Holy Spirit to bring to me if I will take the time to be still and know that God is right here, right now.
Draw Me Close to You written by Kelly Carpenter & sung by Michael W Smith
