As Jesus was preparing His disciples for His crucifixion and His ultimate departure, He let them know that His Father will send them the Holy Spirit to guide them as He had during their three years together.
In John 14:15-17 15Jesus said to His disciples: If you love Me, you will do as I command. 16 Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. 17 The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know Him. But you know the Spirit who is with you and will keep on living in you.
In John 15:26-27 Jesus continued, 26 I will send you the Spirit who comes from the Father and shows what is true. The Spirit will help you and will tell you about Me. 27 Then you will also tell others about Me, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
Believers today, like you and me, are given the Holy Spirit when we first turn our life over to the Lordship of Jesus. He will “always be with you”, He will “show you what is true”, and He will, “keep on living in you”.
To help understand the Spirit living in us, I like the analogy Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 5:1 Paul said, “Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth.”
We are a spiritual being housed in a physical body while here on earth. Our physical body will die, but our spirit will live on for eternity. If the Holy Spirit will “always be with you” and “keep on living in you”, He is our “tent mate”. As He lives within us and speaks to us, we can decide if we listen to His advice or ignore Him, but He is always there guiding. He will continue to “show you what is true” in every situation we deal with, whether big or small.
We have probably all seen the cartoon characters of the angel and devil on someone’s shoulders. The idea is actually very real. What we need to realize is there are always two voices talking to us and we need to learn to discern which to listen to. If we realize that the Spirit talks in a loving, caring voice, even while correcting us and only wants to guide us on our Christian walk. And then if we realize the devil talks in a voice that creates confusion and shame and makes us feel like we are a failure. His goal is to get us off the path the Father has for us. Then we can then determine which voice is speaking for our good.
In Galatians 5 Paul helps us understand how to interpret the voices. He was showing the Galatians that following the Jewish laws and rituals are not the answer. We need to turn from our self-centered ways and follow the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16-25 guide us.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Therefore, when we have a question about direction in a situation, this passage gives us a type of measuring stick to help guide us. Is my thought guided by love or hate? Is the thought filled with kindness and goodness or jealousy and envy? Am I feeling rage or peace?
The gift of the Holy Spirit is our connection to the Father and our continuous help in living the Christian life. We need to remember the above are fruits of the Spirit, not of human nature. We are born with a bent to please ourselves. We need to listen to our “tent mate” to be all our Father wants us to be.
Christian Life Coach 