January 28th

The Help of the Counselor

The words of Jesus:

¹⁵"If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- ¹⁷the 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.   John 14:15-17 NIV 

Jesus tells us that love for him means obedience to his commandments.  After receiving Jesus into our lives, the next step is to make him Lord over every area of our lives. That process can be long and difficult, but God helps us with His Spirit, who is also called “the Counselor.”  The Holy Spirit will assist us in identifying and working on our problem areas. 

To start this process, ask God to open your spiritual ears and eyes to His leading. How can you tell what is the authentic voice of the Holy Spirit? One safety guideline is to test everything that you hear against the Bible and what it reveals about God's nature.  For example, God will not tell you to sin or do something that will bring harm to yourself or others. God will have you do things that will bring glory to Jesus Christ and God the Father.  Another important test is revealed in 1 John 4:1-3 NIV: 

¹Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 

In our walk to freedom from sexual addiction, we will undoubtedly be exposed to evil spirits who will try to derail our walk to freedom.  For example, they can tempt us with evil thoughts and set up “temptation ambushes” in our daily circumstances. God has given us the Holy Spirit as our “live-in” Counselor to help us navigate to freedom.  As we respond in obedience to the Spirit’s guidance, we will successfully cast off the chains of sin-slavery and move into the new life God has prepared for us through Christ.  Take time to thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to you, to glorify Jesus Christ, to counsel you, to speak the truth to you and to help you break free from bondage! 

Questions for further thought:

• How is our love for God proven?
• What are two sources of truth that we have to combat the lies of sin?
• Why is the fact that Jesus came in the flesh an important point? (Hebrews 10:10)
• In addition to "Counselor," what are some other functions/names of the Holy Spirit?

Prayer:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for coming in the flesh and paying the death penalty for all of us.  I love you Lord and I commit to obeying your commands for living.  Please strengthen me through the Holy Spirit in my inner being to be successful in obeying you each day.  Thank you, Holy Spirit, for living in me and guiding me in truth.  Please help me navigate to freedom!  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”