“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
~ John 14:26
Hi James and Ellen,
Your grandpaa had gone that morning with don Enrique Klava to his plot of land or campo which he farms and where he keeps his animals. Don Enrique and his wife live in the town of Chochís, Bolivia. Don Enrique’s campo is located about three kilometers from Chochís. The trail to don Enrique’s campo loops up and around the right side of an approximately five kilometer long – five hundred foot high butte or cliff that parallels the railroad tracks that go through and which are the only way to get to Chochís – unless a guy or gal likes to walk a long ways. Your grandpaa always liked making the hike to don Enrique’s campo even though it seemed to your grandpaa that don Enrique’s campo seemed to be getting further and further away each time that he made the walk. When your grandpaa was in Chochís – which was for a couple of years about every six weeks as a minor ministry allocation, after making an eighteen hour long train trip from Santa Cruz to Chochís on a train that was called the Rápido, your grandpaa would hike to don Enrique’s campo on one of those days that he was in Chochís. On this particular day – which was over twenty years ago, after your grandpaa had eaten lunch with don Enrique and while don Enrique took his daily siesta, your grandpaa was relaxing in his favorite to sit while he was at don Enrique’s campo. Don Enrique years ago built a two story, mud brick house on his campo. Don Enrique’s campo and house gave your grandpaa a sense of being in the wild west. Don Enrique a couple of years ago built a small, tin roof house near the two story mud walled house the he had built years earlier and which was crumbling. Don Enrique was taking his siesta in his new house. Your grandpaa does not remember how long don Enrique had been napping; your grandpaa though will never forget suddenly seeing don Enrique – who is a displaced Latvian who is taller and a lot thinner than your grandpaa, come out of his new house with his long arms flapping like a scarecrow. When your grandpaa saw don Enrique pick up a stick and run around to the back of his old two story, mud brick house, your grandpaa headed for the back of the old two story, mud brick to see what don Enrique was doing behind the house. When your grandpaa got to the back of the two story, mud brick house, he found don Enrique whaling away with his stick on a boa constrictor which was trying to swallow a large toad.
Not that many months after don Enrique did a number on an uninvited boa constrictor and as your grandpaa was talking with a couple of guys after a Sunday morning worship service in a school in Villa Cruz, Bolivia, one of the guys suddenly took off running into a grove of fruit trees. Your grandpaa and the other guy followed the guy who had suddenly run for what seemed like no reason at all into the grove of fruit trees. When you grandpaa and the other guy found the guy who had suddenly taken off running into the grove of fruit trees, your grandpaa and the other guy found the guy whaling away with a stick on a boa constrictor which had wrapped itself around a chicken.
These two incidents involving a boa constrictor have really helped your grandpaa get a better understanding of how God the Holy Spirit is working. How do you think that don Enrique – in the middle of taking an afternoon nap, knew that there was a snake outside his house? How do you think that a guy – who your grandpaa was talking with after a worship service, knew that there was a snake nearby? What do you think that God the Holy Spirit is doing for you? John recounts in John 14 what God the Son – Jesus, said what God the Holy Spirit will do for God the Father’s specially elected guys, gals and kids. God the Son – Jesus, said that His Father God will never forget Him or His specially elected guys, gals and kids because He loves them so much. God the Son – Jesus, assured His disciples that God the Father’s mansion or house that is in heaven has many rooms for them and that He – Jesus, would soon be going to heaven to be with His Father God to prepare those rooms for His disciples. When Thomas wondered out loud to Jesus about not knowing where He – Jesus, was going and if he did not know where Jesus was going, how would he – Thomas, know where to go, Jesus told Thomas to make His life to be the way to go, to be his truth and to become his hope. Jesus assured Thomas that if he accepted Him to be his way, his truth and his life that he would know His Father. Do you know that this is really true? Jesus said in verse 26 that His Father God was going to soon do something special when He said “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” If you make a decision of faith to believe in what Jesus did on a crude cross where He had His body suffer and die to once and for all defeat death and where He had His blood pour out to cover your sins, you have God the Holy Spirit living in your lives. God the Holy Spirit lives in you to help you. God the Holy Spirit warns of imminent evil. Both don Enrique and the guy in Villa Cruz heard something that warned them that danger – like a boa constrictor, was close by. When don Enrique and the guy in Villa Cruz heard subconsciously the danger signal they immediately reacted. What if the two guys had not reacted immediately? It would not be long and they would no longer be subconsciously tuned into danger signal sounds. Don Enrique and the guy in Villa Cruz – even though don Enrique was taking a nap and the guy in Villa Cruz was talking, anxious clucking from chickens was what told them that there was danger nearby. God the Holy Spirit will always ‘cluck’ in the lives of His specially elected guys, gals and kids to warn them of sin danger lurking nearby. If God the Holy Spirit’s warning ‘clucks’ of stalking sin are ignored, it won’t be long and they will no longer be heard.
John 14 (403)