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Wonderful Counselor

Wonderful Counselor
Words of Faith 1-31-17
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2017
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 14
[15] "If you love me, you will obey what I command.
[16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Why is “obey” such a difficult four-letter word? Why does this word cause one’s neck to stiffen at least a little? One of the reasons we bristle at the word “obey” is that we have not learned to trust.
When John’s Gospel speaks of “believing” it is the word “trust”. We are often slow to trust because we have been commanded to obey other authorities or taskmasters who did not have our best at heart. That is not the case with the Lord. His commands proceed from the purest love. He calls us to obey, not to control or manage us, but precisely as an expression of His great love for us. All His commands and statutes are for our life and protection. We must learn to trust His love, hear His commands and walk in obedience. As we obey we learn to trust more fully.
To guide and empower us in this learning process, the Lord has left us the Holy Spirit. Praise God we are not alone in this journey of learning and obedience! The Holy Spirit is our Counselor. When we struggle to know exactly what to do, we have a Counselor. When we are not sure how to respond in a situation, we have a Counselor. When we are seeking to understand the meaning of Scripture, we have a Counselor. We do not need an appointment with this Counselor. He is with us forever. Forever is a very long time.
The Holy Spirit has now replaced Jesus’ physical presence with us on earth until His return. One of the creeds describes the Holy Spirit as “God present with us for guidance, comfort and strength.” The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He will reveal truth and guide us into truth. We are lost without Him.
He is invisible. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, yet He is real and active. One good example is that of radio waves. Without a radio “receiver”, radio waves go unnoticed. One does not even know that they are there. The Holy Spirit is unnoticed by those who have no “receiver”. The unsaved, who have no spiritual rebirth, have no receiver. The Holy Spirit dwells in every believer permanently (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13).
Obedience is not about gutting it out with clenched teeth. Obedience is not about servitude under a tough taskmaster. Obedience is about loving and being loved. It is about a living relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is about time spent with the most wonderful of all counselors. It is about learning day to day how to listen, trust, and walk.
Are you ready to listen, trust, and walk?

Lord, thank Your for the most wonderful gift of Your Holy Spirit. I desire to get to know You better. I am listening for the guidance of the Counselor. I am ready to learn. I am yearning to trust. I am walking by faith. In Jesus’ name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2017
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.