Our Comforter -“The Holy Spirit” dwelling amongst us.
“Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” -John 14:17
From the Word we understand that the Holy Spirit is our ultimate comforter as mentioned by Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John 14:17. Jesus proclaims rather gives us a promise that the comforter also called as the “Spirit of Truth” will “abide” with us forever and that He shall “dwell” with us, in us. Doesn’t that sound just wonderful that we have the Holy Spirit abiding with us? And however fantastic that might sound, we need to discern if the Holy Spirit would really really dwell within us regardless of what our spiritual qualifications are; though initial criteria are all taken care of; like accepting Christ as our personal saviour, obeying the Water Baptism and Baptism of the Holy Ghost, Going to church and attending all the meetings and so on. As per the Word in the book of Romans 3:23, none of us are perfect but have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
So basic doubt we all have is; how can the Holy Spirit dwell among us in the capacity of our comforter if we have fallen short of God’s glory? The Word keeps reminding us, keeps teaching us and God’s unfailing grace keeps us fortified and shielded. So indeed God in his everlasting mercy and love expects us to have certain qualities for the Holy Spirit to abide with us. And as we keep reading His Word for the divine grace and guidance, it reveals us these mysteries. We come across many characters from the history of Israel recorded in the Word of God, who fulfilled these conditions and had God’s expected qualities for the Holy Spirit to abide with them. While few are from the Old Testament, other few we see from New Testament as well.
One such incredible character from the Old Testament that I’ll be talking about is David, the youngest son of Jesse, raised as a Shepherd boy who also happened to be a Musician, a Psalmist, A Prophet, A Warrior and ultimately the King of Israel. Though yes, there are many other terms that could be used to introduce him.
Yes, David was a murderer and a man of war, He was an adulterer, a womanizer but yet, God testifies about him as the “man of His own heart”. What qualities made David so special that God Himself testified about him so special? What are those qualities that we also need to inculcate and possess to assure that the Holy Spirit in the New Testament may come and dwell with us, in us? Let us look at those qualities as listed below and examine ourselves:
“5 Unfailing Godly Qualities of David”
1st Quality : A Pricking heart
>> I Samuel 24:5 And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt when he was sleeping. David had all the opportunity to finish him because Saul was after his life. And since he was after David’s life, David had all the reasons and justifications to kill him. However, he only cut off Saul’s skirt as a warning to Saul. Even this little act towards his adversary caused his heart to get pricked.
>> Ps. 51:10,11 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. This is David's prayer to God where we see David in the experience of a broken and contrite heart. He pleads to God to restore a right spirit within him and never to take away the Holy Spirit from him. Do we as Christians have a pricking heart and a conscious? Let’s examine ourselves.
2nd Quality : Acceptance of committing sin
>> II Samuel 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
We see in this context that Nathan the prophet of God comes to David and reveals him about the abominable sins he has committed in the presence of God. But when David was told that he himself was the sinner being talked about, he did not give away to excuses or reasons but he accepted them and took up the responsibility. David did not point to another person or try to serve any justifications or reasoning but readily accepted that he did wrong indeed. When we take a look deeper into the Old Testament as in the case of Adam the first man, we see how he pointed to Eve for the sin he committed.
As a Christian, let’s examine our life if we are accepting our mistakes, our sins in the presence of God, and please for forgiveness in the presence of God.
3rd Quality : Seeking consultations from God
>> II Sam 2:1 And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. David always kept talking to God and sought consultations and advises from God, from time to time across all the stages of his life until the day he breathed last.
We are not indeed in David’s time. In this 21st century, we may be into our jobs or into our business, we may be preachers or writers or bloggers or musicians. No matter what we are, who we are; do we have a close fellowship and a personal relationship with Jesus? Do we talk to him more often for advice for the kind of decisions we take in life, to discern God’s will. Do we really care about or consider God’s will when we take our decisions in our personal life individually or collectively as a family/ friends? Let us ponder.
4th Quality : Compassion for the enemy
>> II Sam 1:11, 12 >> 11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: 12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
David’s charisma as warrior, as a mighty man of war was never in correlation or competent with the kind of weaker person we see in this part of The Word. He mourned and wept NOT for his own but for his enemies. He rent his own clothes because his enemies had fallen by sword. What a magnanimous heart David had. How compassionate indeed. >>Mathews 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Here is the scenario in the New Testament too while we have our comforter (the Holy Spirit) abiding with us. From the excerpts of Jesus’ “sermon on the mount”, we learn that we should, no matter what, love our enemies and pray for them. This verse also happens to be one of the Christ’s doctrines that Mr.Gandhi picked up from what he experienced from the lifestyle and teachings of Christ.
Many times in our life, adverse situations and our adversaries rise against us. People around us, our own create unfavourable circumstances and play cruel games with us. And ultimately when they are down, when they are wiped out, what do we do? Do we celebrate? Oh Yes we do isn’t it? However we must understand that that’s not God’s heart. May God give each one of the grace to have mercy and compassion even upon our adversaries.
5th Quality : A Merciful Heart
>> II Sam 9:5 1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 3…… Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 4 And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! 7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
David was flawlessly mercy towards his very enemy’s son. The above passage from the Book of II Samuel shows David’s unfailing kindness towards Mephibosheth. David is truly an impeccable character from The Word which reflects how each one of us should be seen in the presence of God. Let us pray and commit ourselves into the hands of God for His divine will. May all of us, I pray, possess these unfailing qualities so the Holy Spirit may dwell with us, in us..always. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit.
Praise God...!!
