Jesus is Here

by Thomas Miles
Published May 26, 2005

Before reading this please read John 16:1-16.

When I think of Jesus and His compassion, I'm often reminded of Peter. Peter's the one who left everything to follow Jesus and then asked what was in it for him (Matthew 19:27). He also made a great confession of Christ and then rebuked Him (Matthew 16:16-22) and he refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet then asked Jesus to wash all of him (John 13:8-9). Peter also promised to be totally faithful and then a few hours later deserted Him (Mark 14:29-31, 50). Sounds like you and me sometimes, doesn't it?

Well, something happened to Peter. He found something, and as John 16:13 says, "But when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." What Peter found changed his life and will change yours also.

Think about this for a moment, Jesus, the disciple's leader says, "I'm going to leave you!" I think I would be a bit nervous, maybe even scared. I mean let's face it: What are the disciples supposed to do once Jesus is gone? He was to be their leader setting up a kingdom on earth and they were to rule with Him. We have hopes and dreams and I'm sure they did also!

How are they going to go on without Him? I think they might have felt betrayed, forsaken, and forgotten. Three years with Him and now He's going to leave them! How would you feel hearing that from one you trusted with your life?

They felt abandoned and alone, and I'm sure many of us have felt that way also. Jesus was going one way and they were going another.

A few years ago my son, Noah, was in the living room playing. I went to the basement to put some boxes away. I didn't tell him. He chose that exact moment to ask me something. He came to my office and I was not there.

He screamed out "DAD!"

I quickly ran upstairs to find him in tears, running to my arms. "I couldn't find you!"

To him I was gone, I was no longer there. Even though I was in the basement, I was out of sight. And to the disciples, Jesus was soon going to be out of sight.

Just as Noah was not really alone, the disciples would not be alone for Jesus was going to send them someone to be with them. He wanted them to know that even though He would be out of their sight they would not be alone, for His Spirit would be with them always.

To the disciples and all those believing in Jesus the Holy Spirit comes as our advocate, our counselor and our comforter. The Holy Spirit comes to lead us to righteousness, warn us of judgment and convict us of our sin.

The word used in verse seven to describe the Holy Spirit is such a beautiful word and it means "Paraclete," - The Counselor. This word is a compound word from the Greek: Para, which means "along side of," and kaleo, which means to call or to invite. The Holy Spirit comes alongside of you and teaches you, admonishes you, and comforts you, inviting you to receive from the abundance of God's house.

Jesus tells us that not only will He send a comforter, a guide, a counselor but He sends a promise of seeing Him face to face one day! As we look at the verses in the passage from John we can see that following Christ can and will cause us to meet with opposition just as Christ did. But we can face that opposition because we have the "Paraclete!"

Every Believer will be faced with a question and that question is: am I ready to give my all for Christ? I have some questions for you:

Am I ready to give my all for Christ?
Am I ready to face persecution for Christ?
Am I paying special attention to the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit in my life?
Am I living a totally obedient life for Christ?
Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to use me to glorify Christ?

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