We Are Not AloneSample

The Spirit of Jesus

How should we think of the Holy Spirit today? With the benefit of the Gospels, the book of Acts and a little hindsight, perhaps it is best to see the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus.

Some might point to the Church’s mainstream Trinitarian faith and say that the Holy Spirit has a different role to that of Jesus; Jesus is Savior of the world and the Holy Spirit our personal advocate.

Of course, those designations are true. But Jesus himself made it clear that as Advocate, the Spirit personifies Jesus in our lives. In other words, the Holy Spirit brings Jesus alive in us; Jesus as Lord, Jesus as shepherd, Jesus as intercessor, Jesus as teacher, Jesus as our healer and Jesus as the eternal curer of our souls.

Speaking in Australia, General Lyndon Buckingham said, "The Holy Spirit’s power is not found with having Jesus present, or even prominent, but is poured out when Jesus is pre-eminent in our lives."

"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," were Jesus’ words from John 14:26. Earlier in the chapter he had said that the Holy Spirit will "help you and be with you forever," (John 14:16).

There is something beautiful about these words of Jesus spoken privately to the disciples, far away from the crowds of people that sought Jesus out. They were troubled by how he was starting to talk about leaving them; their journey with the Son of God might soon be over and they would be left alone. With deep love, Jesus shares with them a plan that they would not fully comprehend until Pentecost.

Two millennia later, we know the plan and we create our own disadvantage, our own lack of power and passion, if we fail to seek the full presence and partnership of the Holy Spirit in our lives, with Jesus at the centre.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your words and the assurance that I am not alone, but that, by your Spirit, we are journeying together. Like you did with your first disciples, please remind me daily of the reality of life lived ‘in the Spirit’, with all its potential. Amen.