All this month I am highlighting excerpts from Chapter Five (on the Holy Spirit) of my new book, I Am Not Afraid of My Future, the first of The Timothy Collection for young people of every nation.

What a wonderful time to be alive! You have so much going for you! To make sure that you are a winner, God has given you the most wonderful gift—the Holy Spirit to teach you and guide you.

Jesus taught many things about the Holy Spirit, especially in John 14-16, which is called the Upper Room Discourse (speech). When Jesus had His last meal with His twelve disciples (just before He died for us on the cross), He told them all about the Holy Spirit, whom He called the "Comforter,” the One who comes along side to aid (help) and assist us (Jn. 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7, KJV).

As a little child, did you ever fall down and skin your arm or your leg? That hurt! But mother would kiss that "boo-boo,” and like magic, make it feel better. She comforted you. The Holy Spirit is like that, but He does so many other things for you. He is your Teacher, your Guide, and your best Friend (we will cover each of these three aspects of the Holy Spirit in the next three Chronicles).

This Comforter is not an idea or an influence. He is quite real. You can know Him and have a personal relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit who teaches and guides is a Person—He is the Spirit of Jesus!

And because we are His sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, so now we can rightly speak of God as our dear Father (Galatians 4:6, TLB).

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as His own children because God sent the Spirit of His Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!” (Galatians 4:6, The Message Bible)

You do not have to be afraid of your future because you have a real Friend in the Holy Spirit. You may not know all the answers right now, but you are always blessed and you are never alone!

You have a Teacher and Guide to show you the way, and a true Friend who will never leave you—like a parachute instructor who will make the first jump with you in a tandem harness, He will always stick by you and be there for you!

…there is a friend who sticks (clings) closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24, TLB; "sticks by you like family” – The Message Bible).

FURTHER RESOURCE: You can pre-order I Am Not Afraid of My Future online at http://www.kvmonlinestore.org/or by calling 910.324.5026.