| The Holy Spirit, Part 12, The Holy Spirit as Our Constant Companion |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, August 02 2010 00:00 |
|
We return to Jesus’ original promise to send another Counselor. Some translations render it Comforter. It comes from the Greek word meaning “to call along side.” The Paraclete is thus our constant companion through life. The Holy Spirit first intersects our lives at the point of our regeneration. As we have seen, He becomes a guarantee of our eternal redemption. He is with us to intercede when we pray, He guides us along the path of Christian life in sanctification, working in our desires and enabling us to obey God so that the image of Christ may continually be renewed in us, and He assures us that we are children of God and eternally saved. We shall turn to that subject in our final devotional. The words of John 14:16-17 are the most comforting: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” I once heard that people fear loneliness more than any other deprivation of life. We can bear with the loss of loved ones, with sickness, with impending death, with loss of job and poverty, with all kinds of trouble as long as there is someone alongside to share the burden with us. Families should be there for each other, and families should let nothing sever the ties, for the loss of the love of family is never worth winning an argument. In the same way, brothers and sisters in churches should not let personal differences or even doctrinal differences divide and alienate them. As Barbra Streisand sang, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” It’s a human truth. We need each other, and we should be there for each other as family, as friends, and as Christian brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit is not just a back-up plan in case people in our lives let us down, yet the Holy Spirit will never depart from us nor let us down, ever! Ideally the scenario that results in the greatest of joy finds the Christian with people in his life (family, friends, and church members) and those relationships intensified by the ever-present indwelling Holy Spirit who continually takes from Jesus and gives to us, all to the glory of God. Nothing takes the place of the Spirit, and the world (those outside Christ) can never know nor understand. The Holy Spirit makes life complete. That is not an elitist statement, but it is truth that we wish we could share with all people everywhere, for people who have constant companionship (and we never want for the companionship of the Spirit) are the most blessed people in the world! |
Join our Devo Mailing List
We'd be honored to send you our devotionals via email. To be included on our list please visit our Contact page and write us a request.