It’s wonderful to know that, as believers in Christ, we can live in close fellowship with God. Jesus said in John 16:7 (AMP), “I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].”
When Jesus walked the earth, He could be in one place at a time, and He could be with the disciples. But the Holy Spirit can be everywhere, all the time, and He lives in those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. Being with Jesus is good, but having the Holy Spirit in us is even better. We don’t have to go looking for God because He’s as close as close can get!
See, when we receive Christ and we’re born again, it literally means that God—through the power of the Holy Spirit—comes to live inside us. He makes us new on the inside, and as He works in us, the fruit of what He’s doing is seen in the way we live and does some good for the people in the world around us. (See 2 Cor. 5:17, 21; John 14:17, 26; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23.)
The Many Roles of the Holy Spirit in Your Life
John 16:7 tells us who the Holy Spirit is: Helper, Comforter, advocate, intercessor, Counselor, strengthener and standby. John 14:26 says, “He will teach you all things.” The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and He guides us into all truth.
Think of this from the standpoint of recovering from things in the past that have hurt you. Many people come to God because their life is messed up, and they don’t know what to do to fix it. They’ve tried everything they know to do, and nothing is working. So finally, in their desperation, they ask for His help.
Thankfully, God wants to help us and heal us—spirit, soul and body. He wants to bring restoration to us, so we won’t live in a state of recovery forever. He wants us to be whole in Christ, so we can help someone else. We need the Holy Spirit to lead us to truth one step at a time, and we need His strength to confront things that are hard to face so we can get victory over them.
How the Truth Healed Me and Set Me Free
In my journey with Christ, He’s brought so much healing and restoration to my soul—my mind, will and emotions. My father sexually abused me throughout my childhood. When I left home at 18, I thought, “That’s over! I’m putting that problem behind me.” But I took the problem with me because the wounds of the abuse were still in my soul.
The pain of my past affected my thinking, how I operated emotionally, all of my relationships and even my will. I was rebellious and stubborn and promised myself no one would ever hurt me or push me around again.
I was born again at this time but didn’t know that I could have the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life. It was years later, after I started seriously studying the Word of God, that I realized the Holy Spirit could heal me.
It’s so important to understand that we cannot do this on our own, but as we lean on the Holy Spirit for the strength to face our problems, we can overcome them.
If you have hurts from abuse, disappointments, an injustice or any other kind of mistreatment, you will have to face them with the help of the Holy Spirit to be healed of them. Anything you run from has a certain amount of power over you, and until you face it, every time it raises its ugly head, you have to run some more. Thank God you don’t have to do it alone!
As I began my journey to wholeness in Christ, I had to face some painful things I had been avoiding and, at times, running from. I had to face the fact that my parents didn’t know how to love me … that I had been abused … that there was a lot of pain in my life because of it all … that my dysfunctional behavior was rooted in the mistreatment I had experienced, and I couldn’t blame it on the people in my life now. I had to take responsibility for my wrong attitudes, mindsets and behavior and lean on God for the wisdom and strength to change.
Recovery and restoration of our souls take time, so be patient with yourself in the process. I want to encourage you today to trust God’s love for you and that He wants to help you and heal you. The truth is you can’t heal yourself, but you can be completely healed and whole in Christ because all things are possible with God. {eoa}
