Another Advocate

Psalm 103:13-14 “The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”

When Jesus was about to be taken, what was on His mind, was how we His disciples would be okay. How can His disciples continue to function? Your assignment is to

 read John chapters 13 to 17. Just five chapters of the Bible. Sit with God and let His Word breathe life into you. These five chapters contain the words of Jesus when He was about to be taken. He just had a few days left. And you will discover that one of the main things that Jesus spoke about in those five chapters is The Holy Spirit. Jesus would say, “I am going, but I will not leave you comfortless. I am going to take care of you. I am sending The Holy Spirit and He will do ABC things for you. Jesus was pouring His heart out to the disciples.

What Jesus was saying to the disciples and to us by extension is these are the Words to live by. These are the things that will sustain you when I am not around physically. We will look at four of the things Jesus said the Holy Spirit will do for us. The first thing Jesus said The Holy Spirit will do is Connect You To God’s Presence Forever. The Holy Spirit will connect me to God’s presence for how long? Forever! John 14:16-18 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 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. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (NIV, emphasis added).

As you can imagine, it was a very solemn time. Jesus was saying that He was going and they would miss Him. But He will not leave them as orphans. He will come to them, and the Person He was going to send will be another advocate. So, that means Jesus was an advocate when He was with the disciples. Yes, He was. I attended the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) conference some time ago. And the speaker before me was explaining the role of advocacy. He said an advocate is a lawyer, someone who speaks on behalf of another in a legal setting. 

He said that Jesus knew that we would need an advocate. So, He provided The Holy Spirit because an advocate is one who speaks on behalf of someone who is in trouble, someone who has messed up, or someone who needs to be cleared. He said that The Holy Spirit stays with us consistently, to plead our case consistently, because we mess up consistently!

Prayer: Father, I thank You for the gift of The Holy Spirit. Thank You Holy Spirit for always being with me, pleading my case consistently and never giving up in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!