And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.  John 14:16

When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me.  John 15:26

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.  John 16:13

Jesus came and took our sin and died under its curse that we might live.  He gave us a gift no one else could give, a gift that meant eternal salvation and not eternal damnation.  He loved us in a way far too incredible to ever comprehend this side of heaven.  But even with all that, Jesus gave more.  He saw to it that we would never have to go it alone.  We would not have to rely solely on the written word, but have a living Presence to guide, teach, protect, and speak to us. 

Can we drink that in just a minute?  Can we wrap our minds around this?  Believers in Christ, we were given more than the gift of salvation; we got a bonus!  We have the living Spirit of God indwelling us, helping with our every need 24/7.  The Father sent His Son to free us, but don’t you know He smiled when Jesus asked Him to give us even more? 

Before Jesus’ time, the Holy Spirit came and went as God directed.  But there is no more occasional presence for those of us who believe.  We have the constant, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  I think this calls for some shouts of hallelujah and songs of praise! 

We thank you, precious Lord, for the bonus gift.  We thank you for the Spirit of truth that the Father gave, because you asked.  Thank you, Jesus.  We love you.