By: Rev. Gerry Weesner, Maples United Methodist Church<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–\u00a0the 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.\u201d John 14:16-17 (NIV).<\/p>\n
As Jesus was preparing to face his death, he made a profound promise to his disciples. He said, \u201cI will not leave you orphaned.\u201d He promises those who faithfully follow him that he would not abandon them. He would ask God to send them a Spirit of Truth. What is the Spirit Christ gives? What is it like? Jesus gives us images of what this Spirit will be like, but not a clear definition.<\/p>\n
The comfort of that Spirit is what Christ promised his disciples. He was preparing them for life after he is gone. \u201cI will not leave you orphaned.\u201d Jesus called this Spirit the \u201cAdvocate.\u201d In Greek, that is also transliterated as \u201ccomforter,\u201d \u201cchampion,\u201d and \u201ccounselor,\u201d and it is derived from a verb meaning, \u201cto call to one\u2019s side.\u201d More than this, the Spirit indwells each of us when we are baptized as God\u2019s children and in this sense God is always with us.<\/p>\n
This gives us new insight into what God provides for us in the Holy Spirit, not only one who comforts us, but also one who is constantly with us, guiding us , and advocating for us in our times of need. When we face times of difficulty the Spirit of God is there for us, and with us. But God\u2019s Spirit isn\u2019t just there in times of tragedy and pain, the Spirit celebrates with us in joy as well. We turn to God in crises, in sorrow and pain, and we are so thankful in those tough times when we are able to sense God\u2019s presence in our lives. It gives us strength to go on.<\/p>\n
But God\u2019s spirit is also with us to celebrate the moments of great joy. We give God thanks when the doctor reads the test results, and they are good. We can sense the Spirit of God when that which has been lost is found. We can feel God\u2019s presence when we gather to celebrate an anniversary. God stands with us and beside us in times of joy and sorrow, when we are delighted and when we are distraught, when we jump for joy, and when we writhe in pain.<\/p>\n
We are not left as orphans; Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to be with us always. Let\u2019s be more open to sense the Spirit of God with us. Let\u2019s be more sensitive to the ways in which God touches our lives, for it is from the Spirit we receive God\u2019s comfort, guidance, and joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: Rev. Gerry Weesner, Maples United Methodist Church \u201c\u2026I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[5534,603,6659,6875,4392,6899,7172,7173],"class_list":["post-17813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-bible","tag-church","tag-gerry-weesner","tag-maples-united-methodist-church","tag-religion","tag-spiritual","tag-we-are-not-alone","tag-weesner"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t