But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
- John 16:7-15
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
- John 16:33
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
- Romans 8:26-27
The Boilerplate
My wife took a Bible Study in 2009. She had become a Christian in 2000, and about the time that she took this class during the week at night, she developed night blindness, or at least the start of it. I would drive her to a friend’s house, and then the friend would drive her home afterwards. The focus on the Bible Study was weight loss from a biblical perspective. I don’t know if any weight was lost by anyone in the Bible Study, but a few members of that group became very good friends.
My wife passed away in March and I found her study guide as I was cleaning up. I actually found two study guides. The other study guide was from a Bible study long before committing herself to Jesus. Her answers were usually copying Scripture or turning the Scripture into her own words. This Bible Study in 2009 showed signs of how God was working in her life. It showed Christian growth.
So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I decided to write on the topics in the Study Guide, but instead of using the words of the Study Guide, I thought I would fashion the answers of her questions into a thread to discuss the topic. And I will not use any comment about other members of the group study (few, and usually prayer requests). That would be confidential. Thus, I am writing about these topics “with a little help” from my wife’s answers to study guide questions.
“The Prince of darkness will be condemned. He would be defeated. The Holy Spirit will come and show me the truth. There’s a close relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He’ll reveal to us the Christian Way. He’ll provide the glory of Christ.”
- My wife’s ideas about the first Scripture above
The word “provide” might not be what she meant to write. Her cursive was beautiful, but as she got older, she wrote smaller which smudged words together and her hand started getting shaky. The word starts with a “p,” and it has an ascender near the end. Her verb tenses are a little off in that when Jesus said those things, the prince of darkness was about to be defeated, but now, Satan is already defeated.
But how does John 16:33 tie in?
“So that we too can overcome the world, because Jesus did.”
- My wife’s ideas about the second Scripture above
My wife had quite a spiritual battle to go along with the physical battle that took her life. She loved feeding others. She felt with her physical infirmities that she had nothing left to give. She did not realize how many people were strengthened to carry on each time they saw her in her wheelchair at church, smiling at everyone. They never knew it was the last ounce of energy that she had to do so.
But she was still tempted.
“[In this world,] we’ll have trouble, because Satan rules this world, tempting us, making us feel unworthy and insecure.”
- My wife’s inner thoughts
But who has the victory in the end?
“[Jesus] died for our sins so that we can live through Him.”
- My wife’s inner thoughts
But where do we get our strength?
“I’m able to stand up and seek God and God’s will for me – I don’t have to please others anymore. The Spirit has given me that strength. He helps us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit will intercede for you.”
- My wife’s ideas about the third Scripture above
You might look at that last quote and think that she is not following the “Christian Way” in not pleasing others, but if so, you do not know my wife. Her weakness was that she had to put everyone else that she knew ahead of herself. She was “NICE.” I capitalized it because she was that much of a nice person. If someone needed something and she had it to give, I had to go out and buy a new one because ours was in someone else’s home. She sacrificially gave to those in need. When she went to a therapist to determine if she indeed had PTSD stemming from her days in the Air Force (which was denied by the Veteran’s Administration, even upon appeal), she went into therapy. The therapist later flunked her out of therapy. If she could not put herself in the top ten, he could do nothing for her. Don’t worry; I was not in her top ten either. She always did for others, thus it was her weakness that Satan exploited. People were put in her path that took advantage of her.
This little note brings back the pain of those times, knowing that people took advantage of my wife’s nature. But all she wanted to do was what Jesus commanded us – to love one another. It did not matter if that love was not reciprocated, but it did hurt.
She once was driving home after someone had abused her nice nature. Her eyes filled with tears, and she pulled onto the shoulder of the road to cry. She looked toward heaven and asked why these people were the way they were. They did not want to listen to the Good News. Then she heard a voice reply, “They did not listen to my Son, either.”
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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