Why We Need the Holy Spirit

In Jesus’ final talk with his disciples in the Book of John, he makes one of the most audacious statements in his entire teaching ministry:

Jesus literally says that it is better for him to go so that he can send the Holy Spirit.

This is wild — the disciples hearing this would have walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, ate with him, shared life with him, and had unfettered access to their Rabbi — and he says it will be an advantage if he is no longer with them in the flesh.

In theory, I guess this makes sense. The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit means that every believer can host the presence of God at any moment of the day, and it means that for us, Jesus is now closer than our very breath.

But the tension here is that for many of us, it doesn’t feel like this.

Who among us, in a hard season, in a wrestling moment, or a time of trial, hasn’t wished that we could just sit down at a table with Jesus, ask him a question, and hear his audible reply back?

Yet somewhere in this tension is the mystery — sitting at a table with Jesus to ask him a question might be easier, but is it better?

It might take away our anxiety for a moment, but it would rob us of the adventure of a lifetime of learning to walk in a daily, conversational relationship with God the Holy Spirit. And he is often found right in the middle of tension and mystery.

I love how the 16th-century Catholic mystic Teresa of Avila puts it:

Teresa describes our very bodies as a palace and the indwelling Holy Spirit as the King who dwells within.

How many of us, like Teresa, have neglected the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit? How many of us, in her language, have left him alone?

I want to propose that we need the Holy Spirit because we were made to live in an ongoing relationship with him. He is the friend we were made for.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam walked with God in the cool of the day, and the implication is that we are designed for a daily, ongoing conversational relationship with God.

In many ways, Jesus died to restore this immediate, unbroken access to that holy conversation, and put the Holy Spirit on the inside of us so we can walk with God in the cool of the day in the garden of our lives, jobs, relationships, situations, and even challenges.

I’d love to invite us to reflect today:

• How is your conversation with God? Have you left him alone recently?

• Is there a place where you need to remember the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit? A job, a situation, a relationship, or a challenge?

• If you are feeling far away from Jesus’ audacious promise that having the indwelling Holy Spirit is better than being with him in the flesh, talk to God about it! I often pray a simple prayer, “God, show me how it’s better!”

Best,

Ryan

P.S. I am stoked to announce that we are soft launching our new prayer resource exclusively to you guys who are following along on these emails — Come, Holy Spirit: 30 Days of Growing in Friendship with God. What would it feel like to live in a daily, interactive, conversational relationship with God the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us, and yet we can’t see him or hear him audibly. Audaciously, Jesus promises that it would be better if he leaves and the Holy Spirit comes! This 30-day devotional is based on 30 attributes of the Holy Spirit revealed throughout the storyline of Scripture to help us discover the treasure of friendship with God on the inside of us and grow in a daily, interactive relationship with him. Check it out at restlessheartsrestingplaces.com/store.