Good morning…
At 9:46 am yesterday, he texted me, “Reading through John this morning. Checkout John 14:16-17 and let me know what you think.”
So I googled the passage on Biblegateway.com and perused five different translations of these two verses. I settled in on the most detailed one, the Amplified Bible version, a translation hosting the heading “Role of the Spirit.”
Jesus says: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever— the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.”
“I actually love this passage,” I texted back. “God gives us Jesus and God gives us “another Helper,” the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, Intercessor, the Counselor, the Strengthener, the Spirit of Truth. The challenge is that the Holy Spirit is invisible and the world loves tangible, measurable, stuff we see with our eyes, so those focused on worldly knowing cannot take to heart the benefits of God’s indwelling Spirit. I believe the Spirit of God gives breath to us all (as evidenced by the amazing twin girls I witnessed breathing outside of their mom’s belly for the first time this week), but, over a lifetime, some of us access more and more of the power that raised Jesus from the dead and some of us do not. We who sense the power of the Spirit of God inside our hearts see, know, and witness the LORD at work in our ordinary lives, in mind-blowing ways. Those who do not feel God’s fingerprints today, may be awakened within another day, to sense the Spirit of God at work everywhere, at all times. I believe this living, breathing Guide remains with us all continually, whether or not we fully access this life-giving power, hour by hour.”
“That’s what I think,” I concluded. “As you know, I could be wrong. Please call me if you want to talk about this. I would love to hear your thoughts.”
When he did not call me, I dove in more deeply, researching into the footnote for John 14:16. In Greek, the word used is paráklētos, a combination of pará which means “from close-beside” and kaléō which means to “make a call.” When used properly, the word means a legal advocate who makes the right judgment-call because he or she is close enough to the situation, someone giving eye-witness evidence that stands up securely in court, one called alongside to help or to advise in critical matters.
Life is hard. Life is really hard sometimes. Before leaving this earth, Jesus asks God to give us forever a Helper, a Comforter, an Advocate, an Intercessor, a Counselor, a Strengthener, a Standby who is the Spirit of Truth. Jesus knows we need the ever-presence of a Paráklētos. Each moment every day, we can access the inner power of God’s Holy Spirit or we can deny our Intercessor’s help and comfort, counsel and strength, gifts implanted within us by the Father of all. Because we do not see Him or know Him, we can pretend this inner Eye-witness is not close-beside. We can struggle severely, swept up in the lie that we can handle life’s heartaches alone, without Help.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV).
…Sue…
