Father, what a blessing to be called Your child! You are always there to direct me in the way I should go. You are a simple prayer away when temptation is near, and You help me stand strong! All praise to You!
John 16:6-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
When the pandemic began back in 2020, I signed up for a music subscription service. It was a free offering that I enjoyed. After several months of free service, I even agreed to an extension at a somewhat minimal cost. As time has gone on, I have come to the place where I am not using the service and decided to cancel my subscription. I prepared myself for the onslaught of sales pitch from one of their representatives when I called to do so. But at the beginning of the call, I quickly stated that I was not interested in any extension with discounted rates or whatever else they were offering to keep people from canceling. And much to my surprise, the representative got right to business canceling my subscription with just a couple of questions! It’s all said and done and I’m even getting a refund of what I haven’t used from this month’s payment!
Maybe I just got the right rep at the right time, but I think it does help to clearly lay things out so that they can be no misconstruing what the expectations are. (All those years of retail experience did benefit me!)
As Jesus continued to prepare His disciples for His pending departure, He made it very clear what the Holy Spirit (which they had yet to experience personally) would accomplish in His stead.
Jesus stated in verses 8-11,
…when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment: about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned. AMP
It is very clearly laid out and though we may make it all far too complicated, Jesus is simply saying that there are three important tasks of the Holy Spirit…
(1) convicting the world of its sin and calling it to repentance
(2) revealing the standard of God’s righteousness to anyone who believes, because Christ would no longer be physically present on earth
(3) demonstrating Christ’s judgment over Satan.*
Following Christ is not easy, but it is also not complicated. The Holy Spirit can do what Jesus was unable to do in that as He was fully God, He was also fully man. And the very nature of our creation limits us to being in one place at a time. The Holy Spirit by the very nature of His being (He of course was not created but is an eternally existing being) can be anywhere at any time with anyone!
Lord Jesus, help us to daily rely on the Holy Spirit. He is there to help and guide us, we just need to be open and willing to be led! Amen!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Oct 4th, 2021, Mon, 7:01 pm
