Jesus promises the Holy Spirit

January 10

Scripture Reading

Read John 14:25-31 and reflect on the passage.

There can be seasons in life where we just feel like we are barely getting by. This is where I was in January of 2006, but didn’t really want to say it out loud, as if uttering this to the world might wipe out my ability to care for my 4-year-old, my almost 2-year-old and our 4-month old baby.  For 10 days that January, Brodie left on a mission trip to Ghana. During that small time-frame my grandmother got sick, died, and we had her funeral.

I arrived at the funeral completely depleted from caregiving and heartbroken at my inability to contact Brodie to even share the news. That morning a woman, for whom I had babysat her children during my teenage years, heard from the Holy Spirit. She listened and obeyed, and opened up the nursery just for my children. She advocated for me to go into the service and grieve. As she swooped up my children she said to me with tears in her eyes, “God sees you and loves you and I am here this morning to remind you of this truth.” To this day, it is an unforgettable example of God’s love for me.

Questions

1.      How does the Holy Spirit want to minister to you today and remind you of the truth of God’s love and grace?

2.      How can you slow down today and listen to the Holy Spirit today so that you might be a conduit of his peace to someone in need?

Prayer

Holy Spirit, thank You for knowing my needs and being my advocate. Thank You for speaking peace into my heart. Remind me again today of God’s truth of who I am in Christ.

—Andrea Taphorn