John 14:15-17, Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 

Jesus is speaking to his disciples of a new intimacy between God and his people that was unknown before. He tells his disciples that love and obedience cannot be separated. If they do indeed love him, they will listen to and follow his commandments. And as God knew Adam needed a helpmate so as not to be alone, Jesus will send a helpmate to his disciples: the Spirit of truth. This intimacy is new because the Spirit will dwell in his disciples, making them distinctive from the world. 

In the history of God with his people, his Spirit dwelt in specific people for specific tasks for specific periods of time. Now the Spirit will be with God’s people forever, fulfilling the great prophecies of the giving of the Holy Spirit in Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:27. The Holy Spirit will lead God’s people because of his proactive move to write his commands of love on our hearts. What more could troubled hearts ask for? 

Spend time enjoying the living presence of God’s Holy Spirit within you today, considering how his Spirit leads you into truth, into peace, into intimacy with God.