"Helper"

Along the way to being 61 with 62 eagerly waiting in the wings I had a lot of help. Some of that came from family like my Mom who told me bible stories in bed at night. Dad who MADE me "help" him with every project he undertook but who really was teaching me to be a handiman. A preacher who saw in me a glimpse of ability and encouraged and helped me do a sermon when I was 13. A grandmother who loved me like I was the only person in the world every time I was in her home. A school counselor who talked to me about why I got so nervous before a test and ended up blowing it. A sister 16 years my senior who really was my second mom. Helpers - there have been a bunch of them. Without those kind of folks in all our lives how would we have made it? The Father has given us one more...
Read John 14-17. Jesus is on his way back to the Father passing along the way through the eternally planned garden of Gethsemane and hilll of Golgotha. With him at the time were the 12 (really 11 if you don't count Judas). They were about to lose their mentor and friend. The One for whom they left their fishing nets and tax booths. In John 14:1ff he tells them not to worry He would not leave them "comfortless" He would send them "another" "counselor." The word "counselor" could easily be given as "helper." This helper would teach them, convict them, reveal to them and live in them (John 14:26;15:26;16:6-7;16:13,15). AS the APOSTLES, the ones who took the leadership after Jesus left, they would need someone to walk along beside them and help them do what they could not imagine doing - taking Jesus' place.
The Holy Spirit is their and our HELPER. We want to be like Jesus but as hard as we try we cannot accomplish the task. Neither could they. But Jesus went back to heaven and when He arrived he did not forget us - he sent "another Helper." It was part of His plan not to leave them/us confortless.
We made it this far with a lot of help - people who made a difference. We can make it much further with the help of the Helper. Once again, Jesus comes through. Foree