Release and Renew

Today is about consciously releasing negative thoughts and emotions that may hold you back.

Letting Go Techniques

• Practice journaling your worries, then tear out the page as a symbolic act.

• Meditate and visualize a fresh start as you take into your mind the scriptural truth.

Letting go opens space for positive change and renewal.

Adventure With The Advocate

“But the Advocate, 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

The year my mother passed away, she took my family on an adventure into uncharted territory. A naturalist guide led us toward a glacier and said something I’ll never forget: “On our journey toward the glacier, remember one thing: Everything out here is edible, but some things are only edible once.”

I had to laugh, but at the same time, I was deeply thankful to have someone who had been there before, someone who knew the path and could guide us safely.

Can You Hear Him?

Before the adventure, I had read the pamphlet describing the journey. I even read reviews and safety concerns. But once we left the dock, I no longer had the reading material in my hand. I needed a guide to teach me and remind me of what I had read. The way the advocate reminded and taught was different in wording and examples than what I had read the night before. Yet the written and oral teaching coincided perfectly in authenticity and clarity. The verbal guidance was simply more specific and timely for this particular journey.

My friends, you and I are on a daily trip into uncharted waters. But we have One who has gone before us and knows the territory perfectly—the Holy Spirit, our Advocate.

Consider the text from yesterday: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Imagine if Moses had brought a fire extinguisher to the burning bush? He would never have heard a word from God.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27). He said they hear, not read. Elijah heard a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). He heard, not read.

We cannot be taught and reminded unless God speaks to us. (We will explore this in detail this week.)

May I suggest we need both the written Word and the prophetic voice of the Spirit? One prepares us. The other provides on-the-spot direction, correction, and timely guidance.

A unique mark of Christianity, setting it apart from every other religion, is that we have direct interaction with the Spirit of God—His Holy Spirit. He walks and talks with us. He guides, speaks, tells us what is to come. Holy Spirit communication is lived out throughout the entire book of Acts.

We do not have a dead or static relationship like every other religion on the planet. The Holy Spirit is alive and active in our lives—talking, guiding, prompting, shielding, protecting, comforting, teaching, loving… where do I stop?

Everything Jesus said the Spirit would do is demonstrated in the book of Acts.

Let me highly suggest—or possibly warn: If you choose to sit by the written Word of God with a fire hose, drenching anything that looks strange to you, you will never see or hear as God intended us to hear.

Consider how God has spoken throughout Scripture:

• Through a burning bush (Exodus 3)

• Causing a donkey to speak (Numbers 22)

• Speaking to Paul in a group of men with a voice from heaven that only he understood (Acts 9)

• Giving John a vision to write the book of Revelation

• Sending Peter a vision of the sheet coming down from heaven (Acts 10)

• And the list goes on…

For goodness’ sake, God says He will make the rocks cry out if we remain silent (Luke 19:40). Apparently, He can make stones speak!

Strange? Yes. But remember: God, through His Holy Spirit, will do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants!

Can you hear Him?

Meditation Questions

1. What doctrine, article of faith, or church tradition do I believe that is holding me back from learning to listen to the Holy Spirit?

2. Lord, open the eyes of my heart so I may hear the still small voice. I am putting down my fire hose and am done putting out the flame of Your Spirit.

Meditative Passages

• John 14–16 (especially the promises about the Advocate)

• John 10:27 and surrounding verses

Meditative Action

Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind the areas, thoughts, church culture, or denominational teachings that have caused you to quench the fire of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Let us be like Martin Luther today—considering what the Word of God says rather than what religious leaders have told or taught us. Let us go up the mountain ourselves instead of taking Moses’ word for it.

Adventure awaits with the Advocate. Will you listen?

Years ago, I felt alone as the Lord led me into a new adventure. While praying, I came across a song that encouraged me to press forward beyond my fears. When we listen to the Holy Spirit, the journey truly becomes an adventure led by our Advocate. Let this song bring encouragement as you listen and meditate on the adventure the Holy Spirit is leading you into.