“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.

“In a little while the world will see Me no longer, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live too. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you. The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” (John 14:15-21)

Doing what you’re told is easy if you love the one telling you to do it—and you’re confident he loves you, too. And what did Jesus tell his disciples to do? To love their neighbor and to love God. Every law ever given by God could be wrapped up in those two commands.

What did Jesus promise his disciples? That he wouldn’t leave them to their own devices. He promised to send them the Counselor. Who is that? The Counselor is the Holy Spirit. But why did Jesus say the Holy Spirit was the Spirit of Truth? Because the truth is what sets people free from sin. The truth is what allows us to see clearly what to do versus what not to do. The truth is what allows us to overcome temptation.

Had the disciples really understood what was about to happen that dark night that Jesus was betrayed, would they not have been able to resist the temptation to sleep? If they knew the truth, would they not suddenly have been wide awake and praying desperately for Jesus?

Would you give in to the extra piece of chocolate cake if you saw the truth of what it would do to you? The extra pounds, the need for exercise, the rise in your cholesterol, the heart attack, the shortened life? If you saw the whole truth of sin, would you then sin? Of course not. The indwelling Spirit offers that kind of wisdom, that sort of truth, if we will only listen.

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