We may look at the Common Threads as a to-do list of how we want to grow, an expression of frustration for our thorns, or a hesitant request for help and accountability by an Iron Rose Sister.
Yet true transformation comes through relationship, not an academic approach to a list of areas in which we need to work.
The Common Threads are designed to invite the Spirit into those areas of our lives in which we want to grow or bloom, invite Him to work on the thorns we wish to remove, and invite others to accompany us as iron sharpening iron, encouraging us in that transformational growth.
We are not in this struggle alone. We have a Helper, Comforter, Advocate... a paraclete.
Four times in the book of John, the Greek word, paraclete is used to describe the Holy Spirit. It is most often translated as Counselor, but the same Greek word is used in 1 John 2:1 to
describe Jesus as our Advocate.
According to Gordon Dalbey in Healing the Masculine Soul, the Greek word paraclete was an ancient warrior’s term. “Greek soldiers went into battle in pairs,” says Dalbey, “so when the
enemy attacked, they could draw together, back-to-back, covering each other’s blind side. One’s battle partner was the paraclete.”
A paraclete stays by our side, counsels us, comforts us, advocates for us, and is a battle-ready partner through whatever we face.
Let’s give the Advocate, our paraclete and speaker of truth the last word!
God not only gave us the Holy Spirit as a helper and one who walks by our side, but He also gave us His church.
The challenge is: Satan wants to do all he can to hinder us from tapping into the resources that God provides. He tells us that we are a failure if we ask for help.
How are you inviting the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation in your life today? Are you letting Him and others help you in that process?
References to the Holy Spirit as paraclete and giving God the last word are taken from Who Has the Last Word? Cutting through Satan’s Lies with the Truth of God’s Word.
[1] Dalbey, Gordon. Healing the Masculine Soul (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003) 124-5.
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