Presence (John 14:16-17)

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Well, good morning. You can go and grab your bibles turn to John chapter 14. If you’re using one of the black pew Bibles there in front of you, there’ll be on page 875. If you have been to the to Washington to see and seeing the Washington Monument pretty much everywhere you can there you can look up and see the monument there, this large stone pillar. It was one time the largest building in the world just for a short time. But at nights if you’ve been there, it’s even more of an impressive structure as these 1000s of dollars worth of lights are pointing up. And at it, this stone pillar is very impressive. Now imagine you go there at night, and you take your phone your camera, and while all the tourists are taking pictures of the monument, you walk over to the lights and take pictures of the lights. Everyone’s gonna look at you like what are you doing? That’s not the reason we’re here. We’re here to see the structure. The lights are just showing us what this looks like. Nobody’s saying wow, those lights are awesome. The stone pillar is brilliant. It looks great at night with all these lights. So you wouldn’t do that. Because the lights if they’re working and their function is they’re supposed to you’re just supposed to illuminate the structure in front of it supposed to show off the brilliance of the monument. And that really is the role of the Holy Spirit. The whole Holy Spirit is there to illuminate to shine on who Jesus is to bring glory to Him. J I Packer calls it his floodlight ministry, quietly turning everyone’s attention away from himself and instead to the Savior. And so it’s important to have this background as we dive into looking at to the Spirit, because we’re here for three weeks, which means we cannot do a full theology on the Holy Spirit. So we’re going to touch on a lot of things, but we’re not gonna be able to fully develop everything. So it’s good to have that background. And he is pointing us to Jesus, Romans eight two calls in the spirit of life, which is where the series title is taken from. So we’re not going to do this full theology, the spirit, but as Brandon even just prayed, this is what we’re looking at, in this three week series, how the Holy Spirit mediates Christ’s presence with us. How he mediates Christ’s presence with us the personal fellowship that we can have with God through the Holy Spirit. And we’ll do this by looking this week at the presence of the Holy Spirit, the power next week, and finishing up a couple weeks with the promise of the Holy Spirit. So that’s kind of the big picture of where we are and where we’re going in this series. Now, for today, we’re in John 14. And John 14 through 17 gives us the largest, the biggest selection of teaching that Jesus has about the Holy Spirit in his ministry. And this section of Scripture, John 14 to 17 is called a farewell discourse. And it’s the farewell discourse because Jesus is preparing his disciples for what life without him will look like, at least life like they knew it. And what that looked like, you know, in youth group right now we’re doing a series called, he said, what we’re looking at the tough sayings of Jesus. And we looked at a lot of these in the Sermon on the Mount, if you’re here with us, for that series, a lot of these shocking statements that Jesus made, and I think, in John 14 through 17, some of the most shocking statements that Jesus ever makes are made to his disciples in these pages. Because the things that he says to the ears of the disciples are shocking, not what they expect. So let’s just look at a couple examples. Look up at John 14, verse 12, we’re not going to read it this morning. But look at John 1412 says, very, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing. And they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. So he tells his disciples, I’m leaving, and you’re going to do great things, you’re going to do greater things than me. To which point we’re like Have, have you seen what Jesus did? Later in chapter 16, verse seven, you’ll need to turn that I’ll just read it for us. He says what Very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I’m going away. It’s for your good. And this is causing a crisis in the hearts and the minds of the disciples. It’s shocking to them. Jesus is saying he’s leaving, and this is better for them. They’re thinking, No, Jesus, we need you here. I mean, we know the disciples, you studied the disciples, it seems like they need him with them. To continue this ministry. We don’t know what to do. We don’t know where to go. We don’t know how to respond or the things that they’re thinking, Jesus don’t leave us. Or maybe another question would be Jesus, why would you leave us? How is this possible that this could be good news to them? That Jesus is going? Well, we’ll see your big idea there. Today, what we’re gonna see in this passage is that the Spirit in you is better than the Jesus beside you. The spirit in you is better than the Jesus beside you. Do you think the disciples believe that? Do you believe that? I’m going to read John 1415 through 21, just to give us some context, and then we’re really going to focus in on verses 16 through 17. But let’s start in verse 15. If you love me, keep my commands. 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. Before long the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me because I live you also will live on that day you will realize that I am in the Father and you are in Me and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them as the one who loves me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. In verses 16 through 17 Jesus tells the disciples a holy spear is coming. It’s why it’s better that he goes, there also spirit will not come. But what do we learn about the Spirit who is coming? That should bring comfort to the disciples in this moment? What do we see in this passage? Because the Spirit could actually encourage the disciples here, this, this coming of the Spirit can encourage them that and actually maybe start to think like maybe this is better if Jesus goes, so what do we learn about the spirit in this passage? First, in your notes, there’s the Spirit helps us. The Spirit helps us. So Jesus is going to the Father, He says, and he’s going to give him another advocate, he’s going to pray to the Father, and he’s going to give them another advocate. Now, if you aren’t sure who the advocate is, later, in John 14, verse 26, it says this, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, so we get it here in the same chapter, Jesus is making sure very clear, the other advocate that’s coming is the Holy Spirit. This is who he is. And so we get a little bit of Trinitarian theology here. So we did the Catechism question which is kind of that that big thing that we believe about the Holy Spirit. And here we see something interesting about the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the spirit. So here, Jesus says, The Father is going to send the Spirit when I go. And just like in early earlier in John three who sent the Son, the Father sent the Son, so the Father sends the Son and the Father sends the spirit. But elsewhere in John, chapter 15, verse 26, we see Jesus say this, he says, When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And so we have here the Father sends the Son, and the Son and the Father send the Spirit. This is part of that relationship that the Trinity has. And you can see the floodlight ministry in this passage of the Holy Spirit. Because what does it say? At the end, it says that the Spirit will testify about me. That’s why he is coming to shine a light on who Jesus is and what Jesus has come to do. So another advocate will come and it’s, it’s easy for us to look at that word, advocate and skip over the word right before it. The word right before it is another. This is in our passage today. In verse 60, he he’s gonna send another advocate, this is extremely important, this word because this word would mean another, like me, another of the same kind. So this helps us understand a little bit about the Holy Spirit’s ministry that his ministry is going to be like Jesus’s ministry, because he’s coming as another kind of at the same kind of advocate as Jesus is. So this is really important. So think about it this way, when Jesus says this, it’s like, when you were growing up, and the substitute teacher came in, that wasn’t a teacher, right? I taught I was a sub for a little while, too, I can say this. But you know, you sat there and the substitute would come in and get the lesson plan, which is usually pop in a movie, or give us some busy work, possibly. And so you’d have this and you just you treated the substitute a little bit different than you. It just wasn’t the same thing as having the teacher in the room. That’s not who the father is sending.
What the father is sending is a co teacher that teaches with your teacher who will come in that classroom with the lesson plan, all ready to go, knows exactly who you are, knows your name, knows the discipline, the policies and procedures of the school is going to lead you like the teacher was there because they are the same kind. That’s what Jesus is saying, I’m not sending you a substitute some second rate person, I’m sending you my spirit, he will do exactly what I have done with you. That is what he’s talking about another advocate. So the advocate is going to be just like him, which means when we look at Jesus’s ministry, we say that’s what the Spirit is going to do. So when the disciples are thinking, what are we going to do in this moment? Well, what did Jesus do? He encouraged us with these words, the Holy Spirit will encourage them with those words, that the Jesus prays for them, the spirit will pray for them. You see, anything we see in Jesus’s ministry, the spirit is going to continue to do because he’s another advocate. So Jesus saying, Take heart, be comforted by this truth, because it’s better that I go, then stay, because you will receive the Spirit. So another advocate the same kind, now, what is an advocate? Chances are some of you have a different translation than the NIV, which we’re using here. And so you might see words like helper, comforter, counselor, and all of these are fine words to use to explain the word parakeet. We don’t get this word a whole lot. And it’s not one that we necessarily have a great match for in English. So that’s why you get some different translation. shins, but all of them are trying to say the same thing. An advocate comes alongside someone and helps them in trouble. So think help her advocate, counselor comfort her. That’s what’s happening here. So it’s more important to see how does this advocate function. This is what the Spirit does. This is who spirit is. There’s one other time this word advocate is used in the New Testament, and it’s used in John’s letter, First John chapter two verse one where he says this, My dear children, I write this use that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He goes on to say, actually, in verse two, he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. What does this advocate do? He comes alongside of us, and he actually gives his life for us. He’s the perfect representative to talk and speak to God the Father on our behalf. And now we have the Spirit, who will do the same thing, he will be another advocate. So what other functions then do we see this advocate have what? How does he come alongside of us? And we can go through all the old New Testament and look at these, but I want to just focus in John 14 through 17. Because that’s again, where we find our passage today. So here’s a few different ways that this floodlight ministry of the Spirit continues in chapter 15, verses 26 through 27, Jesus says, The Spirit will testify about him. In John 16, eight through 11, it says that the Spirit will convict the world of sin. Chapter 16, verses 12 through 13, it says the Spirit will come and guide them into all truth. And chapter 16, verse 14, the spirit will glorify Jesus. That’s the spirit has come to do. So the spirit is sent by the Father to come alongside of us. He continues the ministry that Jesus started not as a second rate substitute, but as the same kind of advocate. Now I skipped over one function of the Spirit in John 14, it’s right here in verse 17. If you look at it there, it says, The Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. So the spirits also teaches us. That’s the second thing we see the Spirit also teaches us. So he’s the spirit of truth. And he’s another advocate, the same kind. So what did Jesus just say about himself in John 14, verse six, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Same kind because now we say, well, the spirit is the truth. So which is it? That Jesus is the truth, the spirit is the truth. And so they are of the same kind, this advocate that is coming is going to continue to teach. Now one reason that disciples are nervous about Jesus leaving is because their rabbi, their teacher is leaving. I don’t know how many of you guys have dropped off a kid at camp, or college, or maybe took your kid to their first apartment in a new city with a new job. And usually, that’s a very hard thing for who the parents, lots of tears, lots of I’m not gonna leave yet a lot of that kind of stuff goes on. But we don’t often think about is what’s happening to the child, the college student or that that kid that goes off that young adult with the first job in a new city. After the initial like, Yay, Freedom wears off. What happens? It settles in quickly of like, my teachers are gone. Like the people that have told me how life works, the people that have instructed me and told me how to do these things are not here anymore. And that’s what the disciples are thinking about here. But for us, what we think about is like, I’ll just I’ll call them, I’ll call them I’ll talk to him. But the disciples like Jesus says, he’s leaving, like, he’s gone. Their teacher is going, but it’s better that he goes, because the ministry of the Spirit has continued teaching to be the spirit of truth to them. So who’s gonna explain what Jesus taught them? The spirit will. Like Jesus spent a lot of time with the disciples explaining his parables explaining his teaching, away from the crowds, the spirit will continue to do that for them. That how can they possibly remember everything? Is that really what the Spirit is going to do? Well, look down in John 14, verse 26, explains more about what the Spirit of Truth will do. We looked at just the first part of it, let’s look at all of it. But the advocate the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything. I have said to you. How much comfort with that bring the disciples in this moment our teacher is leaving, but the spirits can remind us of everything he taught us. So the disciples are going to go out, they’re going to take the message of the gospel of who Jesus is to the entire world so that they can hear about Jesus. And it’s clear that the Holy Spirit’s role is to remind them that everything that Jesus said, that’s one reason why we can’t have such confidence in this book. Because they didn’t make it up. God, the Spirit reminded them of everything that Jesus taught, the apostles could pass this on to the next generation and on to us. So we can have this in our hands, we can say this is the word of God. Because the Spirit is the one who made sure it happened. So Jesus wasn’t leaving the disciples without a teacher, he was sending another teacher like him, to be with them to remind them of everything he had taught them. Okay, so that’s the New Testament. What about the Old Testament? Well, Peter talks about this in his book. In his letter, Second Peter, chapter one says, For prophecy never had its origin in the human will. But prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So Peter saying know everything we have, the Holy Spirit is the author of it all. Jen Wilkin and JT English. In their book, you are a theologian, which we actually are looking at in a class right now, wrote this, every biblical text has two authors, a human author, and a divine author. It is both human and divine. Who else is that true of? Jesus, right? He is human, and he is divine. He is the living word, the written word is also human, and divine. Paul has this confidence in God’s word to when he’s talking to Ephesians. And he’s describing what they have in Jesus Christ, what they can use in the armor of God. And he says, you have one offensive weapon Ephesians 617, you have the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Now, what does all this mean? Taking all this into account? We have the Spirit of God, another advocate dwelling in us. And we have the book that he wrote for us. So we have the Spirit in us, he wrote this and we have it here. So his ministry of teaching continues, the spirits floodlight ministry continues he What is he doing here other than saying everything in here is about Jesus. So let me shine that light and illuminate that. So you see that in the text. So whether you’re in the Old Testament, you’re in the New Testament, you’re in Leviticus, you’re in Matthew doesn’t matter. It’s all pointing back to Jesus. That’s what the Spirit is doing. So when we give the word to somebody, we’re not saying this is good information that you should know, we’re saying this is transformational news that you need to know. And we pray that the Spirit illuminates that so that they understand and respond to it.
The word that the Spirit inspired is there to teach us, rebuke us, correct us and train us for righteousness. It will equip us for every good work. That’s what Second Timothy three says. So we can be confident that what we have is God’s word, and it is sufficient. It is enough. And we say in this church, that God is still speaking. What we mean by that is you open this book, and you read it, and he’s speaking to you. It isn’t a new revelation, is it a new truth, it is the old, timeless truth. So when we open this up, yes, he is still speaking. And he won’t say anything that’s not in here. He won’t say anything to contradict what’s in here. That’s what we mean when we say God is still speaking, because we can open his word read it and be changed by it. There is enough in here for us to know Him, to know ourselves to know the way to to be saved. enough for us to know how to live a godly life. Now there is a danger here, it’s a danger to fall to one side or the other with the Spirit and the Word. So we can have a tendency to emphasize the spirit, the work of the Spirit without the word. And what this becomes our the phrase that’s often said in the church, which is actually a pretty dangerous thing to say, or we at least need to step back and make sure that we’re saying is actually God’s word. When we say things like the Spirit said to me, or the Spirit told me to tell you. When we say that we’re saying thus saith the Lord. If it’s not in here, that’s a really hard thing to say. I’m not saying the spirit doesn’t speak to you and prompt us and have these inward longings in our lives to do something. But we have to be very careful that if we can’t find it in here first and how that’s gonna work itself out in our life, we need to be careful saying that phrase. Okay? We need to make sure that we’re not emphasizing the work of the Spirit without the word because this is his word. So it So start here, that’s the foundation. Now the other one that’s probably more likely for us in this church, in this culture and context is we can emphasize the word without the Spirit. We can be so good at Bible study. Like we love Bible study. Like we know the words, we know the contacts, we know how to interpret it, we know how to apply it, and all those different types of things, but it doesn’t have any power. So the book becomes more inspirational than transformational. Like, I can take some good things from here and try to live my life. And maybe that’s a good thing, maybe, maybe not, but it’s not transformational. Well, we’re not letting the Spirit do the work of what he wants to do in our hearts. So we can emphasize the word and not the Spirit. We need to be careful both of those. We have the Spirit and the Word always. JD Greer, in his book, Jesus continued, which is talking about the Holy Spirit. Continuing the ministry of Jesus says it this way. It’s like riding a bicycle. The spirit’s guidance is like steering the bike. But it only works if you get up, start moving, start pedaling in obedience, and then he starts directing. Right. That’s our cooperation with the Spirit. We’re gonna talk a lot more about that next week with sanctification. One of the most important things we can do then is when we come to the Bible is to pray that the Spirit would illuminate the words in our hearts in our life. I love how Matt Smith who says this in his book before you open the Bible, he’s Chapter One is you must pray before coming to the Bible. He says the Spirit loves bringing God’s word to life day after day in the hearts of those blinded by the tyranny of worthless things. Ask the spirit to unblind you to the beauty that’s staring you right in the face. Right in the face, it’s right there in the spirits with you. Let’s pray and see spirit illuminate this text, this truth for me. Now, according to verse 17, he talks about those who are blind. Verse 17, it talks about the fact that the world cannot accept him the Spirit of truth, because it neither sees him nor knows him. So if you’re here this morning, and you don’t know the spirit, you don’t know Jesus, you’re investigating the claims of Scripture, the claims of Christ I am praying for you have been praying this week. And I hope you would pray with me that the spirit would illuminate the truth of the gospel in your heart today, that you would know who Jesus is. And then you’d see the spirit in the spirit, just say, just look to him, just look to him. He would give your life to following Him so that you would know him, you would know the Savior. So the spirit is also our teacher. Lastly, the third thing you see here in the text is that the Spirit indwells us verses 16 and 17, we see that the spirit is coming to be with the disciples, He will be with them, he will be in them. And it also says he will be with them forever. So when we believe in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit in that moment, the Spirit indwells us and he takes up residence in her life, he is not renting or leasing space. Forever. He’s taken residents up in our hearts in our life. Romans eight says He is the Spirit of Christ. Listen to Ephesians 113 through 14. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And when you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who was a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of his glory. We are sealed forever by the Holy Spirit. He is with us and He is with us forever. Now, I thought about this this week, and maybe some of you are with me. And you’re thinking about this? Did we not just finished a three week series on the body and the importance of the physical body, and physical presence of real face to face conversation. So maybe you’re thinking how can it be true then that it’s better that the bodily presence of Jesus go and the spirit comes? It’s a great question. It’s actually a pretty simple answer. There’s no other relationship here there will ever see or have in our life where there’s a chance that person can indwell us. That’s not happening. So the best thing we have is that physical face to face, talk, conversation, relationships. We are talking now about the spirit into wellness is an entirely different category that we don’t even understand fully how this actually happens. So that’s why it’s better. That’s what we have promised for us that the Holy Spirit coming is better than Jesus beside us. Remember, the disciples would not have thought this was better. In this moment. When Jesus is saying this then it is not better to have the spirit with them that Jesus beside them. That is until it happened because we’ve happened to change You have everything. We need to look at the book of Acts before Jesus ascends to heaven. Now remember, Jesus left them and then came back from the dead. And then he says, I’m leaving again. Like now I’m ascending. Now I’m going, right. And so in Acts one, four through five, listen that says On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem. But wait for the gift my Father promised, which you’ve heard me speak about which we’ve looked at this morning, For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So we say don’t don’t go anywhere just yet. Why? Because they have the message. But they don’t have the power yet. They have the message, but they don’t have the power says you need to wait. chapter one, verse eight, he says, but you will receive power, you will when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The Spirit does come in Acts chapter two. The Spirit falls on them when they are together in the house, they received the Holy Spirit, they start speaking in tongues, people from all over the world are they’re hearing the good news of Jesus Christ in their own language, wondering what in the world is going on. And Peter stands up. Code of no testament quoting from Joel says, this is the Spirit of God, who is with them. Acts chapter two, says God has raised this Jesus to life. And we are witnesses of it already. We’re witnesses of it. We’ve seen him. He’s exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out what you now see and hear. God was faithful, He will send His Spirit and He pours the spirit out on them in this moment, that is what the people now see and hear. And from that point on the disciples go out and change the world, turn it upside down. Why not? Because Jesus was physically walking with them anymore. Because every single one of them had the spirit and dwelling them, and was taking him wherever they went. That’s why it’s better that Jesus leave so that the spirit could come the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of truth could go with them. So now they finally believe what Jesus told them. They finally believe it through their experience. It’s better that I go, because then the Spirit will come and be with you. Now, practically, what does this look like? Because I’ve been in the church long enough to feel this way. I’ve been in the church long enough to hear this from some of you, and in many others. I don’t feel close to the Lord. The Lord feels so far from me. Have you been there? Maybe you’re there this morning. Just hoping that you get that feeling that he is with you.
This way, I think AW Tozer is helpful. He says the approach to God to the soul, or of the soul to God is not to be thought of in spatial terms at all. There is no idea of physical distance involved in the concept. It is not a matter of miles, but of experience. When we know when we know who Jesus is what He has promised us through the Spirit, we can practice the presence of the Holy Spirit with us. He is with us. There’s no physical distance there. He’s not actually far away from you, He is with you. So what is happening? What is our experience? What’s getting in the way of our experience with the Holy Spirit? What’s getting in the way of our communion or fellowship with the Holy Spirit with the Triune God? And unfortunately, answer is us. We get in our own way, there’s nothing wrong with the Spirit inside of us. There’s nothing wrong with the Trinity. What’s wrong is us. Being in the presence of someone and growing in relationship takes time. It takes intentionality. It takes conversation is are those the things that define your life right now? Or, as I was looking at the last couple weeks of my life, is your life more like this reaction? A lack of time to busy, distracted, overwhelmed, overstimulated unrest, perfect storm, to missing real relationships. Perfect Storm, to not listening to the spirit, not being in the presence of the Spirit, not practicing the presence of the Spirit. And then you step back, you look at scripture, and you look at people in your life who you would say these people are Spirit lead like they are. They’re walking keeping in step with the Spirit, who are the ones that are practicing his presence truly communing with God? And what Tozer says and I think this is right, the difference between them and every But he else in the church who thinks God is far away, is their spiritual receptivity. Because they’re the ones who listen, respond and do something about it. When the Spirit does bring that long in your heart and prompt you to do something, the ones who are truly spirit ladder, the ones who say, I’m not gonna let that go until I do something about it. When you look at scripture, when you look at people in your life, you’re like, Why did? Why do they always seem like the spirit is, is speaking to them. He’s speaking to you, too, every time you open this book. But what happens is they say, oh, there’s something there, the Spirit wants me to do something. And so they do it. They go, they’re receptive to what the Spirit is saying. He goes on to say that these people have a spiritual awareness, and they went on to cultivate it. What does cultivation take? Time, intentionality they went on to cultivate until became the biggest thing in their lives, they different from the average person that when they felt the inward longing, they did something about it. If I could use a real common experience for most of us that I hope will make this spiritual truth more tangible. more concrete, is seen our experience of the Holy Spirit, our practice of presidents like the relationship that we have with our phones. So I don’t usually bring my phone up here, but I remembered because it was important. One, because I’ve been getting a bunch of notification in my pocket. That’s annoying. Which is why I don’t normally bring this up. But think about it, how often is your phone, not with you? They said 75% of people say their phone is always within five feet of them. Our phones are always communicating with us. There’s always a notification, something tells us to take a look. In fact, a lot of our phones are working in the background without even knowing it. And there’s these updates, and we hear the ding we feel the buzz and we have a choice to make. Do I respond or not? Do I take it out? Do I see it. And now I get in that downward spiral. That endless scroll. The difference is most of what comes through on this, we can ignore in the moment, we can let it go. But when the Spirit prompts us, the Spirit brings it along and in our heart. We can’t ignore that. And the more we ignore it, the harder it’s going to be for us to be sensitive to actually hear from the Spirit. So why do I use the phone as an example it is not to guilt and shame you. Though sometimes I think for some of us, we need to have healthier interactions with our phones. But what I want to show you is that I didn’t have to really explain much of this at all, I can just take it out and say the phone. And I think you get what presence means it’s a constant presence with us. Like that’s what we’re supposed to have with the Spirit, that constant presence. So when he says you should do this, you should go to this person, you should go serve in this way. We say yeah, I’m gonna respond, I’m gonna go, I’m going to do this. That’s what we should be doing those longings in our hearts. That’s what it means to live in the presence of the Spirit, we just have to shift our focus now to this to God. We just shift our focus and our priorities. Because the Spirit is going to bring long into art, I’m sure he’s got some today that he’s putting on your heart. So respond to them. He will convict He will testify about Jesus, He will teach. And we have a choice to make. Will we be the ones who are receptive to this and do something about it. If we do, then we’re practicing the presence of the Spirit. Because notifications are going to keep coming. The spirit is going to keep being there every time we read His word bringing something to us. And he is going to point us back to Jesus over and over and over again. That’s what His purpose is here. That’s what his role is. To show us Jesus is to point us back to him to get our eyes, our minds and our hearts back on him. So if we want to experience what it would be like to have Jesus beside us, we need to start communing with the Spirit who is in us. Let’s pray.
Holy Spirit, we pray that right now. You would be bringing things to our hearts. Things that maybe you’ve been bringing to us for a long time that we have just ignored. Bring them again. Give us the intentionality, the time, the drive to want to follow through to do something about these longings. These things that you’ve placed in our hearts and lives the people that you’ve placed in our lives. Spirit we thank you that you continue to point us to our perfect Savior Jesus Christ. We Thank you for continuing the ministry so that even though he’s not walking right beside us you are in US reminding us of His words reminding us of what he has done and help us to get on that bike and to start pedaling and then take your direction in where we need to go Lord we love you and we pray this in Jesus name, amen.