“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.” (John 14:26, NIV)
I’m a few years removed now from coaching high school golf, but the memories are still there. Today I am thinking of the odd rule that did not allow coaches to coach. This rule was eventually changed, but once players teed off, no one was allowed to give them advice; they were on their own.
One season, though, after watching too many of my players forget the very things we had been working on as the pressure of a competitive round set in, I figured out a workaround. For each player, I created a small laminated card of key thoughts that they could carry with them throughout play. If their game started to go bad, they could check their card and be reminded of certain keys that often got them back on track.
This whole idea was brought to mind for me recently as I was reading Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 14. In this passage, Jesus drew a number of connections between himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity was in lively play here.
As Jewish men of their time, the disciples would have had a faint understanding of the Holy Spirit. Knowing him only from the Old Testament Scriptures, they saw the Holy Spirit as one who visited occasionally and specially, particularly inspiring prophets. That the Holy Spirit would have anything to do with common men was a novel idea, for sure. Yet here was their beloved rabbi telling them that the Holy Spirit would be active among them, taking over the role of teacher in their lives.
That the Holy Spirit would have anything to do with common men was a novel idea, for sure.This may have answered a question for several of them. Surely Jesus taught similar lessons from place to place, and they had gathered buckets of wisdom from him over the two to three years they had followed him. But how were they going to remember it all?
Now Jesus was telling them the Spirit would bring his teaching—all of it—to mind.
You may hear from time to time that you should be looking for special revelation from God, maybe even unique, personal words from the Lord. But what is far more likely is that God will remind you of things you have already heard from him. And how have you heard these things? By spending time in places like John 14—in the Gospels, in the letters, in Scripture.
I can tell you from personal experience that God has done this for me over and over again through the years. As I have been preparing a sermon or devotion or article, or even as I have been teaching “live,” Scripture that I have read many times but have not been considering until that moment comes to mind, perfectly fitting the context. So let me encourage you to read the Scriptures, eagerly ingesting them, and trusting that what you learn from them will be brought back to you by the Holy Spirit just when you need it.
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Jeff Hopper
July 1, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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