The Helper

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7

The Lord is speaking about the Holy Spirit. Do you have some big decisions to make today? Do you have a friend that you can confide in?

You see, Proverbs 18:24 says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. We need to lean heavily on the Holy Spirit in the days that we are living. Because if He is for you, no man can stand against you. That's what the Bible says in Romans 8:31. But we need to get rid of self - We need to get rid of the 'me, mine' selfishness, self-preservation, greed, etc. We need to develop our friendship with the Lord, The Holy Spirit - He is the One who can give us godly counsel.

I remember in 2008, when we hired the biggest tent in the world - That is a fact. It was built in the UK and was extended in Europe, then brought out for the World Earth Summit in Johannesburg. It took three weeks to erect on the farm. It had its own weather station and took approximately 15 30-ton trucks to transport to the farm - It was amazing! It was the size of four rugby fields, end to end. Many of the men listening to this message can remember it.

After the meetings were finished I was approached by good, well-meaning Christian businessmen from Johannesburg. They said, “We are going to get together and we want to buy the tent for you Angus, then you can preach all over Africa. I said, "Please can I come back to you, I need to pray about it." Now, somebody listening to this might think, “You are mad Angus. They want to give it to you for nothing!”

I went and I prayed, I asked the Holy Spirit to show me. And you know, after spending time in prayer, I got a clear answer - "Don’t accept the kind offer." I said to them, “Sorry boys, I can’t accept it.” They were confounded. They said, “ No problem. If God has told you that, it is fine.”

You know, I realized afterwards, God saved me. It would have become a millstone around my neck. You see, that tent cost a million rand to erect... every single time. It needed constant maintenance and I would have had to find a fleet of trucks to move it - It would have become impractical. You see, two years after that in 2009/2010, the crowds that came to those Mighty Men Conferences would never have fitted in to that tent. We had to go open-air.

What is the point?

The point is today, ask The Paraclete (that is the Greek word for The Helper) - Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and then you won’t make a poor decision.

God bless you.