Paraclete-The Comforter-The Holy Spirit

On Sunday, our pastor was talking about how the Holy Spirit is referred to as our comforter-'Paraclete'. He is not the kind of comforter who pats your back when you are in trouble. He is the kind of comforter who shows up with a mighty army when all is lost.

This morning, I was reading Joel. I copied a verse onto an index card and read it to the boys while they were frying up their incredible homemade sausage. It reminded us of what we heard on Sunday. We talked about 'Paraclete' and Pastor's sermon. Michael had some thoughts I wanted to record. This was his mental response when he heard the explanation of the kind of Comfort the Holy Spirit gives.

"I immediately thought of the Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers-when the good King and his men are at Helms Deep and nearly destroyed by the tens of thousands of armies of Orcs. Then, as the kings make their last stand and ride out of the fortress they look to the east as the sun rises and here comes Gandolf with a mighty army that completely overwhelms their enemies.

I also thought about Psalm 23-"Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." It never made sense to me before. The rod and staff are pieces of wood and how would that be comfortable? Whereas, when God uses the rod to protect me, it makes sense that He uses it to beat away my enemies. The staff pulls me back and the rod keeps my enemies at bay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the verse in Joel that I read this morning:

"The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and the earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel."(Joel 3:16)