My Permanent Resident

For he dwells with you and will be in you.

— John 14:16-17

When Jesus taught His disciples about the ministry of the Holy Spirit that night in the Upper Room, He explained that the Holy Spirit had been with them all along and would soon be fully present within them. Although the disciples had experienced the Holy Spirit's power at times, they had never truly experienced His presence within their hearts.

No one up to this time, except Jesus, had ever experienced the Holy Spirit coming to dwell permanently within them. Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit briefly came upon people to give them a special anointing, but it was only temporary. 

In John 14:16, Jesus said that the Father would send the Person of the Holy Spirit, as their divine Helper, to come alongside them. Now, Jesus says something in John 14:17 that takes the ministry of the Holy Spirit to an incredibly new level. “For he dwells with you," Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, "and will be in you."Jesus declares that the Holy Spirit, who dwells "with" them and has empowered them at times, would soon come actually to dwell "in" them.

What an incredible promise Jesus gave His disciples! Jesus proclaimed for the first time that the Holy Spirit would enter believers and establish a permanent dwelling within them. Unlike the transient presence of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would never waver, move, or forsake believers.

If you are born again by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwells within you. The fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in believers is the reason Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:19: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”

God never intended for the Holy Spirit to be a short-term dweller in our lives. He has come to live within our hearts as a permanent occupant, and He will remain with us until the day we go to be with the Lord. He is our permanent resident, endowed with all the power of God, whom we can always draw upon for help in life. He will empower us each step of the way when we draw upon His presence within us.

Thank you, Father, for sending the Holy Spirit to help me and always making Jesus real to me. I fervently pray that I will always have a constant appreciation for the Holy Spirit and live in a way that honors His presence in my life. I never want to grieve or hurt Him by refusing His conviction or guidance and going my own way. I am beyond grateful that He is always with me, not here one day and gone the next. He is my steadfast companion until the day I come home to you. I can hear Him leading me and trust all He has to show me. I can go through this life knowing He is always there to empower me more than I ask or think. Thank you, Lord! He is in me, feeling and knowing every expression of my heart. I will continue to pursue the deepest, intimate fellowship with Him until I gain such a profound understanding that Jesus is alive in every part of my life. Thank you, Lord, that I am never alone to make it in this world. I have you, Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, who, through His help and understanding, makes all the wonder of You so real. 

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