The difference between those who have the Helper and those who do not have!

In the teaching on the promise of the Holy Spirit, the title given to the Holy Spirit is Advocate in Jn 14:15 and in verse 26. The word ‘Advocate’ here can also be translated as ‘Helper’. It is clear that on our own we cannot live the Christian life and so with humble hearts we must turn to the Holy Spirit.

Who is the Holy Spirit? CCC 691 – “Holy Spirit” is the proper name of one whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Eph 4:30, Is 63:10a) and opposed (Acts 7:51). Only a person can be grieved or opposed. Which means the Holy Spirit is a person and is the third person of the most blessed Trinity.

How does The Holy Spirit help us?

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us – We know that Jesus is the way, the ‘truth’, and the life (Jn. 14:6) and the Holy Spirit will guide us into all the ‘truth’ (Jn. 16:13a). Which means the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us to Jesus.

Lordship of Jesus – There are many people who have read about Jesus Christ and comment that He was a good man or a great teacher but will not accept Him as their Lord. Why? It is because they do not have the Holy Spirit. No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3 and Jn 15:26). CCC 683 states … This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (Jn 16:8) – As an example, for many people taking or giving a bribe is fine and there is nothing wrong about it. For many there is nothing wrong in aborting helpless children in the mother’s womb. But for those of us who are in union with Christ, we know that it is not only wrong but a sin. How do we know that it’s a sin, because the Holy Spirit has convicted us deep within our being. The Holy Spirit is given as a gift at the beginning of our Christian life to help us overcome sin in our life.

The Love of God – We know that God is love (1 Jn 4:8) and God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 5:5). Unless our hearts are filled with the love of God through the Holy Spirit, we shall not be able to love our neighbour as ourselves, we shall not be able to pray for those who persecute us and we shall not be able to reconcile with those who have hurt us.

Strengthens our inner being – For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit (Eph 3:14-16).

Helps us to pray – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8:26). CCC 741 – The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God’s works, is the master of prayer. It is good to ask the Holy Spirit for help every time we begin our personal prayer.

Receive Power – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (Acts 1:8a). This is a promise for you and me too. The apostles lived with Jesus for three years, day and night, and yet at the end of that time, something important was still missing. They hadn’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit. After the Pentecost experience which we read in Acts 2:1-13, we see the disciples filled with boldness to be witnesses. We see Peter who denied Christ three times now boldly witnessing.

This is the power to overcome sin in our life, this is the power to be a witness in our world of today by living out the gospel values in our families, work places and colleges. This is the power to overcome fear in our lives, this is the power to evangelize as the church teaches, and this is the power which will give us strength to do the right thing in the most trying situation of our life.

There are many more ways in which the Spirit helps us, the above mentioned are only a few points. In moments of loneliness and sadness, in moments where we face huge mountains but don’t know what to do or where to turn to, let us turn to the Holy Spirit. Jesus makes it clear that the Spirit is a gift for the asking (John 7:37-39).

Additional Links:

The Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is God’s Gift

Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit Clip Art

Let us pray:

Come Holy Spirit, I need Thee,
Come Holy Spirit, I pray,
Come in your strength and your power
Come in your own gentle way
Amen.

- – - written by Patrick Horne

The evil spirits easily identify our body language and promptness.

Can spirits, demons read our minds? Most say no. We wonder. Those who have encountered demons during deliverance and other situations have seen where those kinds of entities certainly seem to react to silent commands and prayers, or simple thought patterns in a way that goes beyond reading body or facial language.

It is said that in the afterlife, in the world of spirits, communication is not verbal but mind to mind (or spirit to spirit) and if it’s the case among spirits in the hereafter, why not also in the here? In the realm of psychic phenomena (and occultism) is the phenomenon of telepathy (mind-to-mind thought transfer). Moreover, there are peculiar times when evil or negative thoughts enter our own thoughts in a way that again seems to transcend physical cues.

Whatever the case, a related and equally intriguing question is what angels know about us, and here, a Polish magazine, “The Angels: Messengers from a Loving God” offers this in a recent article:-

“Angelic intellect and cognition are more perfect and more thorough than ours; nevertheless, their abilities are limited. The demons’ ability to know us is also limited by God. But, according to exorcists, if one conducts a pact with the devil, the latter will know all aspects of the spiritual life of a person and influence their way of thinking. We should ask the Lord for protection of our thoughts and intentions from demons so that they cannot sabotage our purposes. Degradation of demonic minds concerns the supernatural area of knowledge. Their speculative knowledge has been decreased and their affective knowledge connected with Divine Love has disappeared completely.”

Further states this magazine: “Both good and fallen angels do not know the future that is dependent on our free will. Besides, we too, do not know what we are going to do next because sometimes we change our minds. Only God knows us on the whole. Angels may predict our decisions on the basis of our susceptibilities, psychic condition, and on how we behaved in similar situations in the past.

Demons know about past and current events in our lives; they also know our psychical and physical nature which allows them to tempt us and do us a disservice. However, they do not know people’s spiritual experiences and God’s Grace revealed in souls. After their rebellion, a demon’s intellect only serves the evil one.”

That seems certain. As for the rest: a person’s speculation is just that, at least in this arcane realm: guesswork. In the afterlife the spirit world no thoughts are secret. What about the fact that angels respond to our prayers, including silent ones? If they can’t hear our thoughts, how can that be? What about demonic thoughts inserted at just the right moment? If thoughts can be sinful, is it not the evil one who is near every sin? And what about fear: is that not often unspoken and yet something that evil spirits respond to?

There is no real foundation for either argument in the Bible (with the possible exception of Daniel 2:27-28). “Since God has infinite power, authority and capability, he could have created Satan, Michael, cherubs, and other heavenly hosts to have any abilities he wanted them to have,” argues one Christian.

“It doesn’t seem we are told much about this. Seems like he could have created Satan to have the ability to read our minds and hearts if he had so desired. Since the ability to prevent Satan from knowing our thoughts is such a strategic advantage for a Christian, seems like it would have been specifically identified for us, it would rank way up there in the “armor of God” or would have been taught by Jesus.”

Of course, demons are in an excellent position to deduce what’s on our minds since they can see us from the outside, he adds. “They know exactly what we’re reading, watching on TV, they overhear our conversations, see our physical responses, hear even our ‘private’ words, and are no doubt skilled at reading our expressions. They see us when other people can’t, any time they wish.

Now as far as putting thoughts in our mind or exercising powers of persuasion, I don’t know how that works—perhaps there is a form of telepathy whereby they send a message, plant an idea, without being able to read exactly what we’re thinking. I agree there’s demonic activity involved in distracting us during prayer, but I think they don’t have to be able to read our minds to do this.”

What we do know is that fear empowers evil spirits, including unspoken fear. Replace it with faith in order to fight the enemy.

- – - written by Dr. Philip Kunnath

I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other gods before me. This age old law obliges us to seek all our supernatural knowledge and power from the Blessed Trinity. Seeking it from creatures is very dangerous.

We ask the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit to supply our needs. We are safe when we follow Jesus. While interceding with the saints, we rely on the special privileges and benefits that God has given them. We venerate Mother Mary and saints because we cannot deny whom God has accepted. Yet, worship and adoration belong to God alone.

There are many cases where young people dabble in white magic or, sometimes, black magic which is used to harm people. Occasionally they may feel driven towards this as an outlet for their anger, for their pain, or as a means to get revenge in a powerful way or even to get a good friend from the supernatural world.

There are also some people especially youth, who invite the spirits for their help. Under the guise of good spirits, the Devil is coming to help them. They suffer great negative consequences and live to regret this curiosity. Many are not even able to overcome its bad effects; thus it shows that the devil tries to make them slaves. Instead of magic, our young people could follow Jesus who is the living source of all power and authority.

In the testimony we see how superstition can do damage to the person who employs it. It shows how easily one can fall into despair, and the great suffering and tragedy that can result. In particular, it emphasizes how Jesus is the answer. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life… (John 14:6).

If we but surrender our pain and suffering to Jesus, He will bring about the means of forgiveness and healing. The love and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus is the only good way out of any difficult situation.