Monday 7 May 2012

Monday Reading: John 14:16-18

Key Verse: John 14:16
16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Devotion:
It is only really now, after the event, that we see just how special Jesus’ words were when we read them knowing what He has done and what He has achieved. Jesus is here speaking not as a prophet as some would have it but as Mediator, promising the disciples that He would step in and make sure that God would not leave them comfortless when it was His time to give up His life for us. He is speaking here as the man Jesus saying that He would ensure that we have the Holy Spirit with us after He, the man, no longer walks the earth. I like the choice of His words “another comforter” and not just “a comforter” after all He was a great comforter Himself.

The Holy Spirit is essentially a gift from God the Father to us because Jesus asked for it to be so. He was able to experience just how much we do need a constant companion, guide and comforter and He was willing to make sure that we got the very best! But these verses should not be taken by themselves but rather in context with those around because the Holy Spirit may be available to all but will only indwell those that firstly accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and all that He has done for us. The world cannot receive such a gift by itself because it is bound by sin and only released from that sin once we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour, whom alone is able to release us from that burden of sin.

There are going to be times when we tell some people about Christ and talk about Him until we are blue in the face and yet they will just not get it because they do not apply that knowledge directly into their own lives. We may be able to teach them everything that we know about Christ and they may learn more besides, but until each person accepts that truth into their own hearts, they will never know the Holy Spirit personally and Christ will be forced to say “I never knew you” in the end.

What an amazing comfort it is in itself to know that truth in our hearts. What an amazing peace we have just by knowing what Christ has done for us. Even if our earthly parents should die and be out of our lives, we still have our Father in Heaven, above all things, Jesus Christ our Mediator sitting by His right side and the Holy Spirit here with us keeping us company until that great day that we shall join then in Heaven! What a glorious day that will be…

Points to Ponder:
Do you get lonely?

Are you depending on the Holy Spirit?