“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper. He will give you this Helper to be with you forever. 17 The Helper is the Spirit of truth… This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name.” John 14:16-17, 26b (ICB)

Hi everyone, happy Friday. You know, there are so many songs about being lonely. Are some of those titles coming to you right now? Some of the song titles about being lonely? The Surgeon General recently declared that in the United States, loneliness is the greatest epidemic that we are facing.

As we go into this weekend, I want to encourage you with a couple of things. First, for those of us who know and have received Jesus, there is a truth that we must be reminded of today – that we are never alone. In fact, Jesus gives to us through our baptism this incredible gift of His Holy Spirit. And He speaks of this gift in the Gospel of John, where He says, “I will ask the father and He will give you another helper. He will give you this helper to be with you forever. Which means we are never alone. The helper is the spirit of truth. This helper is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name.”

What a great comfort to remember our baptism, to remember this gift that Jesus has given to us. His spirit dwelling and living within us, that we are truly never alone.

But one other encouragement as you go into this weekend, would you open your eyes and your ears and your hearts and look around and see those around you who may be feeling alone? And would you be willing to be there with them, to show them that they’re not alone, that they have a God who cares, that they have a God who draws near, demonstrated so perfectly in the love of Jesus?

Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you very much for, again, a great week. Another week where we’ve been able to follow You and to learn more about who You are and who You’ve called us to be. Through even the bad times, Lord, You are still working. You are showing us great things and demonstrating Your love and Your faithfulness to us, and for that we are grateful. Thank You that we are never alone. You don’t leave us as orphans, but You remain with us, walking with us as our Good Shepherd and giving to us Your Holy Spirit. And would You help us this weekend to open our eyes, our ears and our hearts to those around us who may be struggling with loneliness, and to not only draw close to them as a physical presence of your love, but also to remind them of the love that You offer to them through faith. A gift that You give to them in Your Holy Spirit. We pray this now in Jesus’ name, Amen.