Who is there to help me?

Jesus spent three intensive years with his disciples training them in the ways of God’s Kingdom. But then his death was upon him. Judas had left the last supper. Jesus would die, would rise again, but would not be with them as before. Who would be there for the disciples now?

Who would guide them in the nitty gritty of day to day life in sinful yet wonderful Christian community? Who would be there for them when the intellectuals came and tried to tie them in knots with clever theologies that concealed their hypocrisy?

Who would be there to help these fishermen and tax collectors when the power people of the synagogue ganged up to show them how things ‘ought to be done’ in a respectable church?
Three years with Jesus would never be enough to prepare them. Who would be there to help them day by day? So Jesus said,

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate (paraclete) to help you and be with you forever— 17 the 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” John 14

The Holy Spirit would be there for the day to day nitty gritty of living the faith in a tough world.
Jesus gave them a personal coach who would live inside them and be there “coach” “mentor”, and encourager- that is some of the meanings that the Greek word ‘paraclete’ has. He is your ‘advocate’- the one who is always on your side. He is your coach who coaches you in Jesus’ values. Who annoys you when you get it wrong and who cheers for you when you get it right. He is the Spirit of Truth who is like an internal compass who always points toward the True Way of life.

But like any coach who builds you up to make you good, you must listen to him. You got to set aside time in your life to listen in prayer and wait for direction. You got to pause sometimes in the midst of an active life and ask the coach, “Have I got it right?”

If you stop listening, the coach will stop talking. And then what will happen?
Keep listening to the coach (paraclete) and God will use you.

Are you listening?

Graeme