One morning as we got together, I said to Stan, “Do you ever have trouble understanding what you read in the Bible?”
“You might just have well asked me if I like blueberry pancakes,” he replied with a smile.
“Yes,” he continued, “I think that’s what Bible study is all about. Studying. And I also think that is what God intends for me. To study and to dig deep into all He has for me.”
“It’s not unlike the early disciples,” Stan continued. “Jesus spent much of His time talking to His disciples, telling them all sorts of things they didn’t really understand.”
“They didn’t understand?” I asked.
“That’s right,” Stan replied. “Over and over it can be seen that the disciples simply didn’t get the meaning of what Jesus was telling them. Same thing with me. Sometimes I just don’t get what God is trying to tell me.”
“So what do you do about that?” I asked.
“I rely on what Jesus told the disciples He was going to do,” Stan replied.
“What’s that?”
“Jesus told His disciples,” Stan said, “that He was going to ask His Father to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help them understand. He did that for them, and He did that for me.”
“That,” he continued, “is part of the whole notion of having a personal relationship with God in and through Christ. The Holy Spirit is in me to help me understand all that God is telling me. That’s what the Helper does. He helps.”
“When I don’t understand what God says, what He means, or what He is doing in a particular instance,” Stan added, “I am to ask for help so I do understand.”
“As with everything else in my relationship with God,” Stan concluded, “it’s a choice for me to ask. I can either go forward without understanding, which is pretty foolish, or I can take advantage of why the Helper is here. To help. That’s what the Helper does!”
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These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. 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 said to you. John 14:25, 26.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for sending the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to live within me and to be an integral part of our personal relationship. Thank you He is available to help me in drawing ever closer to you in a deeper understanding of all you have for me to know about you. I confess that too often I do not turn to Him for His help, but I choose to go on my own understanding, rather than yours. Please forgive all of that foolishness. And please, Father, help me in following every step of your lead into an ever-closer relationship relying on all of the help the Helper has for me. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Think on this: What does it look like for you to turn completely to and trust the help of the indwelling Helper, the Holy Spirit, for everything you do not understand? What would it take for you to do that?
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Comments, questions, suggestions, and the like can be addressed to The Storyteller at: waiting4thetrain@gmail.com.
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