It’s wonderful to know that, as believers in Christ, we can live in close fellowship with God. Jesus said in John 16:7b (AMP) that when He went away, He would “send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].”
When Jesus walked the earth, He could be in one place at a time, but the Holy Spirit can be everywhere, all the time, and He lives in those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. Being with Jesus is good, but having the Holy Spirit in us is even better. We don’t have to go looking for God because He’s as close as close can get!
When we receive Christ as our Savior, it literally means that God—through the power of the Holy Spirit—comes to live inside us. He makes us new on the inside, and as He works in us, the fruit of what He’s doing is seen in the way we live and does some good for the people in the world around us (see 2 Cor. 5:17, 21; John 14:17, 26; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23).
John 16:7 tells us that the Holy Spirit is our Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener and Standby. John 14:26b (NIV) says He “will teach you all things.” The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and He guides us into all truth.
Think of this from the standpoint of recovering from things in the past that have hurt you. God wants to help us and heal us—spirit, soul and body. He wants to bring restoration to us so we can become whole in Christ and go on to help someone else. Our healing comes as the Holy Spirit leads us to truth one step at a time and gives us His strength to confront things that are hard to face so we can get victory over them.
In my journey with Christ, He’s brought so much healing and restoration to my soul—my mind, will and emotions. My father sexually abused me throughout my childhood. When I left home at 18, I thought, “That’s over! I’m putting that problem behind me.” But I took the problem with me because the wounds of the abuse were still in my soul.
The pain of my past affected my thinking, how I operated emotionally, all of my relationships and even my will. I was rebellious and stubborn and promised myself no one would ever hurt me or push me around again.
I was born again at this time but didn’t know I could have the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life. Years later, after I started seriously studying the Word of God, I realized the Holy Spirit could heal me.
It’s so important to understand that we cannot do this on our own, but as we lean on the Holy Spirit for the strength to face our problems, we can overcome them.
If you have hurts from abuse, disappointments, an injustice or any other kind of mistreatment, you will have to face them with the help of the Holy Spirit to be healed of them. Anything you run from has a certain amount of power over you, and until you face it, every time it raises its ugly head, you have to run some more. Thank God, you don’t have to do it alone!
In my journey to wholeness in Christ, I had to face some painful things I had been avoiding and at times, running from. I had to face the fact that my parents didn’t know how to love me … that I had been abused … that there was a lot of pain in my life because of it all … that my dysfunctional behavior was rooted in the mistreatment I had experienced, and I couldn’t blame it on the people in my life now. I had to take responsibility for my wrong attitudes, mindsets and behavior, and lean on God for the wisdom and strength to change.
Recovery and restoration of our souls takes time, so be patient with yourself in the process. I want to encourage you today to trust God’s love for you—He wants to help you and heal you. The truth is, you can’t heal yourself, but you can be completely healed and whole in Christ, because all things are possible with God! {eoa}
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times’ bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. She has authored 130 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and her newest devotional, Quiet Times With God (FaithWords). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit joycemeyer.org.
This article was excerpted from the April issue of Charisma magazine. If you don’t subscribe to Charisma, click here to get every issue delivered to your mailbox. During this time of change, your subscription is a vote of confidence for the kind of Spirit-filled content we offer. In the same way you would support a ministry with a donation, subscribing is your way to support Charisma. Also, we encourage you to give gift subscriptions at shop.charismamag.com, and share our articles on social media.
Stephen Strang 
Charisma Media Staff 
CBN News 
