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.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Meditation:
- Ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance for today’s devotion. Make the reading a prayer in itself.
- The Holy Spirit is the most neglected personhood of God. Yet Jesus promises to leave His disciples (and us as his followers) with this important Friend. What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in vv 16-17, and 25-27?
- What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit in you and guiding you throughout your day, as this passage says: “But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you”? Is it comforting? Discomforting? Frustrating? Hard to understand? Awesome? How can you grow today in the awareness that the Friend lives in you?
- As you drive, walk, work, study, and interact with others today, call on your Friend for his guidance with your thoughts, your words, and the decisions you make.
Suggestion for Family Devotional Time: Refer to the Meditation questions for today’s family devotion.
Prayer & Journaling: On your prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.
Proverbs for Today 11:5-7
5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust. 7 When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.