“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever”

Background
Before Jesus came, God only spoke through the prophets and access to God was through the priests.  God was loving, but it was easy to misunderstand God and perceive Him as a harsh authoritarian.

What it meant to the original audience
The idea that God wanted to be our personal loving and wise Father had never been seen — anywhere!  It changed everything.  The perceived difference was like going from being under the authority of a drill sergeant to being under wing of a loving a wise parent.  And having the Holy Spirit there to help us communicate made it that much better.

For us today
Today, we have the tendency to approach God with an attitude of “Here is the problem and how it needs to be fixed.  Please make it happen God.”  But God knew and understood the root of the problem before we even knew it existed.  We need to be seeking God’s loving and wise solution rather than telling Him what needs to be done.  Most commonly, the Holy Spirit gives us that guidance though us listening while in the Word, but can come in a variety of ways.  It might come through Christian music, podcasts, sermons, believers, etc.  The more these are filling our ears, the quicker we are likely to hear.

The guidance of the Holy Spirit, combined with the Word, is our most valuable resource, yet often our last resort.  Let’s change that!!!