8th June 2026

We can feel like orphans in many ways. When I was 11 my mother died suddenly. We were all in shock. My brothers and I felt lost and abandoned. It took years for me to come out of my depression, and I still fight loneliness today. But Jesus reminded me one day that I would never be alone. He whispered in my ear that there would always be four of us at all times; the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and me. We as Christians are never alone when God himself dwells within us.

We can be literal orphans, or feel abandoned by the world, by friends or family. We can feel alone in a crowd, be left behind by those we trusted. We might even feel as if God has forgotten us because we do not perceive him near or fighting our battles. We might feel alone in our marriages, alone because we are single, alone in our grief. Alone in our doubts. Alone in our faith at work or at school.

Jesus knew we would feel this way and so he reminds us that though our minds and hearts may be blinded to his presence, he is near and he will never leave us, never abandon us. So, he sends the Spirit as a guide and comforter to assure us that God is with us, loves and forgives us, and desires to have us by his side. Jesus may not be standing by us in the flesh right now, but the Spirit of God is present in our lives. Jesus asks our Father for our help, the Father sends help, the Spirit abides with us and prays for us. The trinity of God is with us. What can be better than that?

When Jesus stepped into our place on the cross, he became our Saviour. He took upon himself our sin, he carried our burdens and suffered personally. Now nothing can come between us and God because Jesus removed our sin and placed his righteousness in its place. These are barriers that we put up, not God, but it is God who pulled them down. Jesus finished the work the Father sent him to do on the cross. That was to redeem us and bring us back home. We are no longer orphans left to fend for ourselves. We belong to God; we are a part of his family; his household.

We are blessed in all this and yet, Jesus wants more for us, he is asking the Father to send us the Holy Spirit as another helper, the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit will dwell within us and guide us in all truth. Again, John 14:17 says Jesus will ask for: ‘…the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.’ 

Jesus is the truth, the Spirit is the truth, God is the truth. The world does not know the Spirit of truth because the Spirit is not working actively in them, they do not have a relationship with God. I have to remind myself of this often. They do not accept or recognise Christ and so they lack the ability to perceive him for who he is and how he reigns in the life of all mankind. The Spirit not only dwells with us but also within us; a very personal and binding relationship. It is a gift of God given to us, and it binds us eternally to him.

Local congregation:
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