God still with us
‘I did not tell you these things at the beginning, for I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me where I am going. And now that I have told you, your hearts are full of sadness. But I am telling you the truth: it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you.’
(verses 4b-7)
Read John 16:1-15
Wouldn’t be great if Jesus was still with us? We could actually see him and touch him and ask him all those questions we’ve got lined up. We could even have him around for tea.
Even though the flesh-and-blood person of Jesus is no longer with us, God is – in the person of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus returned to heaven he sent us, in his place, the Holy Spirit, whose presence on earth would be far more encompassing than Jesus’ presence was when he was a person on earth with a human’s limitations. Through the presence of the Holy Spirit God remains today with his people around the globe.
Unseen but real, the Holy Spirit is now the one doing the Work of God here on earth just as Jesus once did. The teaching, the healing, the comforting, the guiding, the empowering are still being carried out.
Thank God that he is still very much among us today.
Thank you, Jesus, for sending the Holy Spirit into the world. Thank you for the Spirit’s presence within me. Amen.
by Grace Simpson, in ‘New Strength for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1998)
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