November 25, 2013
John 14:15-17
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
We have been looking at several blogs about Snuggling Up To God. And I often see myself snuggling close to the Father, especially because of what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms….” I can picture the Father holding me as a daddy might hold his young child, cradled in His arms. Paul tells us Romans 8:15, “…you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ ” And “abba” – as we saw in last Wednesday’s blog – can mean “papa” or “daddy”.
Then in last Friday’s blog we discussed how John, the beloved apostle, leaned back upon Jesus’ breast as they dined at the last supper. He asked Him, “Who is it, Lord? ” after Jesus told them one of the twelve would betray Him. So if John could Snuggle Up To God the Son, I can picture myself doing the same.
But when it comes to the third person of the Trinity, it seems hard to imagine myself Snuggling Up To God the Holy Spirit. In the King James version of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is referred to as “the Holy Ghost.” This term – familiar to many – may be one of the reasons why Christians don’t seem to want to draw close to this third person of the Trinity. How do you snuggle up to a ghost?!! But this is ironic, because of the three persons of the Trinity, you might say the Holy Spirit is the closest to us of them all! How so? Jesus told His disciples in John 14:15-17:
If you love Me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He
will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him
nor knows Him; but you know Him; for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Before Pentecost, when the Church was born – as recorded in Acts 2 – the Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell believers. He came upon them, or even filled them, for certain tasks. But – except in rare exceptions – He did not live within them. But since Jesus sent the Holy Spirit – called “…another Helper…” above, or “…another Comforter…” in the original King James – He dwells and abides within true believers permanently! These two words – dwell and abide – are translated from two Greek words:
• Dwell – oy-keh’-o – meaning to occupy a house, i.e. reside (figuratively inhabit, remain, inhere). This word is used in Romans 8:9 and 11 three times:
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of
God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he is not His….But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
• Abide – men’-o – meaning to stay. In I John 2:27 the word is used twice:
But the anointing [the Holy Spirit] which you have received from
Him [God] abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you;
but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is
true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in
Him.
And don’t forget this verse from our featured scripture – John 14:16:
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [the
Holy Spirit], that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of
truth.
I think this shows that the Holy Spirit is sent from God into every true Christian upon his or her reception of Jesus Christ as their Savior. And He is in you permanently!
Now, how much closer can you get to God than having the Holy Spirit indwell and abide in you permanently? Talk about Snuggling Up To God! Snuggle close, and let Him fill you, lead you and use you to further the Kingdom of God!