If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17)
God Sent His Spirit
It is such a precious truth to absorb – God will live with us and He will live in us by the precious Holy Spirit.
It’s one thing to have someone with you. That’s great. Having someone to walk with you, to support you, to cheer you on, to stick around even when the going gets tough. That’s superb. It’s also good to have something on for a period of time, like a comfortable piece of clothing. Having that one can be hugely helpful, as it was for those who operated in line with what God put on them for a season. They lead to exhilarating episodes for sure.
Jesus’ promise to His disciples before His arrest was not to have something on and something with – this was something far greater that would fulfil what God had designed for man since the beginning. The presence of God would live among His people as He would live in them. The Spirit that hovered and enacted creation, the Spirit that empowered for great exploits, the Spirit that gave life in the first place and the Spirit that unifies people is not just an external reality. He is now an internal reality to those who believe. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is not just next to us to help; He takes up residence in us individually to help shape and guide us to become more like Christ, which means as we gather, there’s a great opportunity for us to experience Him working through us for the benefit of others as His desire is to live among us.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is remarkable and extraordinary. It now means we have access to someone within us who corrects, directs, teaches, inspires, counsels, provokes, and comforts, among a host of other actions, all from the inside out. This is the foretaste and the guarantor for the coming time when we will be with our Father and His only Son for eternity. The wondrous thing about the truth is that awesome and powerful though He is, He will not impose Himself on us and should our character and conduct continue to neglect Him. He will take the hint and leave us to it for us to realise that life was so much better learning from the Holy Spirit.
So God sends us the Spirit.
Here we are then, as the ones in whom the Holy Spirit chooses to dwell. He chooses us and He takes up residence for as long as we make Him welcome. Here we are as people who heard a message and, in the light of that, understand that we cannot live by ourselves and for ourselves any longer. Faith in the Father and following the Son means we fit in by allowing His Spirit to take control of the house so we can do what’s pleasing to Him. This is not about being easy, but it is about being holy. It is not about working to earn by our performance; now it’s all about highlighting what it means and what it looks like for people to be spirit-filled consistently.
We cooperate with the indwelling Spirit and take seriously His presence in us individually and among us as a collective. With greater appreciation for the Holy Spirit of God, we’re encouraged to rejoice in the Lord and review this truth with the answer to the question …
God, how can I glorify the Son by expressing the presence, power, purpose, provision and protection of the Holy Spirit that lives within?
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
Life With CD 