Holy Spirit-Emotional Support

 Holy Spirit

Emotional Support

John 14:15-30

Question: Who/what is your emotional support when you need comfort and advocacy?

Intro: If you walk into a public place it is not uncommon to see someone with a dog of some sort. Sadly, many of these people have dogs because they are dealing with some sort of emotional, physical, or mental issue. These support animals are there to provide help or assistance whenever the individual may need it. This support can lead to life saving action by the animals to find aid for their human. The Holy Spirit is our support system, our emotional and spiritual advocate to continue to push us towards the aid that God desires for our lives.

Read John 14:15-30 (For sake of space, I encourage you to use a physical copy of your Bible, online source, or application on your phone to aid your reading today.)

An Advocate

Each one of us desires to have an advocate, a person that is in your corner. As an educator I have found myself a witness to some pretty bizarre situations in which I have noticed a parent being an advocate for their child despite their child’s pretty poor behavior. These parents have been adamant that their child was the victim or in the right to act as they did in a particular situation. It honestly has been astonishing to see parents essentially condone terrible behavior and decision making for their child.

While Jesus is our stopgap, it is not so that we can continue to live and act in poor behavior. Jesus advocates for us through the Holy Spirit to press us towards living as a reflection of Himself. My wife and I are licensed foster care workers. In this we have found that we are advocates for the children that come into our home because they enter from a position of vulnerability into our care. We see them in ways that really no one else really does. The Holy Spirit is the one that continues to advocate for us due to His presence always being with us and pointing us towards the standards that God desires from us.

This advocacy is to ensure that we see ourselves as Jesus does, children that need the restoration and redemption of God. Though our sin separates from God, Jesus is always advocating for us through the Holy Spirit to stay in the atonement of His blood. Furthermore, Jesus acts as the advocate for us to remind God that His blood is the atonement of our sins.

A Gift

The Holy Spirit is a gift for us to utilize as a tool to strengthen our relationship with God. Everything that the Holy Spirit provides to us is meant to aid us in some capacity of our spiritual journey. In this portion of Scripture, Jesus is teaching us that the Holy Spirit is a gift that points to the love of God, His standards, peace of mind, and comfort of heart. If we utilize the Holy Spirit correctly in our individual lives, we will see that the Holy Spirit is always helping us to sustain a position of connectivity to God and the standards He has for us individually. 

Another essential of the Holy Spirit is that He provides us comfort in this life. There are many different things in this life that may cause us to feel stress and anxiety. The Holy Spirit is meant to comfort us and lead us in the wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit gives us peace of mind that though this world has various burdens and difficulties we can always find peace and rest in God. The Gift of the Holy Spirit is a reminder that God is working all things together for our good despite the trials and struggles we face in life. 

 

A Reminder

I do not know about you, but it would have been nice to have an expert whispering in my ear during a test to provide the correct answers. Now, I am grateful that God has blessed myself with a fairly strong memory so tests were not always that stressful. However, there are times it would be nice to not have to stress about anything on the test that we call this life. The Holy Spirit works as a reminder of all the things that we have been taught about the goodness and grace of God.

Growing up, I remember many times it was as if my father or mother was right there whispering to me a lesson that they had taught. It was in those moments that I was thankful for the memory that God has blessed me with because it definitely kept me out of more trouble than I could have easily gotten myself into growing up. I believe that the Holy Spirit is like my parents’ voices in my head, always pointing to do the right thing. Or in this case, always pointing to follow the standards that God has established. It is not about following the rules, but living by the fruit of the Spirit. In doing so, we are able to showcase that God is empowering us to live through the reflection of Christ.

The Holy Spirit led life is about living as a complete reflection of Christ. While doing so can be difficult, the more we remove the flesh and let the Holy Spirit live through us, the more we can live up to the standards God has for us. The standard that we are living up to is Jesus, and thankfully, Jesus has given us the gift of atonement and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Blessing,

Nick Engleman

If you have any questions about starting a relationship with Jesus, or about this devotional, please feel free to reach out to me at 417-808-1049, or at nengleman902@gmail.com.