Day 7 — Teach Us
John 14: 25-27
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
I don’t know if you are one of those attempting ‘home-schooling’ right now - the reviews in so far are pretty mixed! I have this picture in my head of our wonderful teachers sitting at home smugly saying, ‘I told you it was tricky!’ These verses are a reminder that one of things the Holy Spirit comes to do is to teach us. In fact in Isaiah there is a wonderful verse (Isaiah 54:13) ‘All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.’ A few years ago Nick and I felt this was a promise for us – and we’ve needed to hear it again this week!
This season is not just a time merely of clinging on until we can ‘get through’ – but instead of knowing that we have the most incredible teacher with us each day in the Holy Spirit and that we have things to learn. This was certainly the experience of the disciples after Pentecost – take Peter, the hotheaded fisherman who had run away from a servant girl just days earlier, who had argued against having his feet washed, who had tried to rebuke Jesus himself. Suddenly this same Peter, filled with the Spirit, is preaching powerfully, eloquent, fearless, powerful, direct, wise, knowledgable. Suddenly he is ‘The Rock’ that Jesus has prophesied. It had seemed a pretty funny nickname – but now…
The disciples are utterly transformed by the Spirit – and day by day they are taught how to minister, to witness to what they have seen, to restore the lost and broken, to lead the church, to bless one another, to flourish under persecution. They have the most incredible teacher who is walking with them day by day, hour by hour. The Spirit is with us and will teach us – let’s posture ourselves towards that wonderful gift today.
Prayer —
Holy Spirit come and fill me now. Please teach me to be more like Jesus in my words and actions today as I trust in you and reach out to others around me.
Ali Herbert
Associate Pastor