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In the Gospels, Jesus called people to believe in him and follow him, and the Holy Spirit empowered

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me to say yes please to that invitation. Hi, I'm Suzy Marvin. After I said yes to following Jesus,

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I started the journey of discovering what that means. I learned about Jesus the way I learned

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about everything else in the world, with my best efforts and understanding, and trying hard to

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apply what I was learning. I was also self-pitying, a bit critical, eating emotionally, always a bit

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anxious, and a bit resentful. I was missing the joy and peace in believing. I have been taught

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that in the Gospel of John, when Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the helper or comforter,

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the Greek meant the Holy Spirit is called near to help and comfort us. I took that to mean he

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would help me make my life work, and he would help me feel better when life got tough. He's been

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gracious to do that, but something was missing with that perspective. I revisited that New

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Testament Greek verb parakaleo, which means call near. Holy Spirit shifted my focus to him calling

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me near to God. I realized that the Holy Spirit who empowered me to respond to Jesus was also

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empowering me to experience his presence. I am already firmly in Christ, in his presence, and all

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that means because of Jesus' death and resurrection. But the Holy Spirit is calling me near to free me,

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to live being who I already am, in Christ. This Greek word for call near, parakaleo, appears in the

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New Testament over 100 times. It isn't translated call near in English, so it's easy to miss.

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It's also not always about God calling us near to him. It is a treasure hunt. There are a few

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treasures. Call near is translated advocate in 1 John 2 which says, my little children,

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I'm writing these things to you so that you don't sin. And if anyone does sin,

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we have one who calls us near to the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

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Call near is translated comfort in 2 Corinthians 1 3-7. Here's my interpretation of verses 3 and 4

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substituting call near. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of

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mercies, and God who is all about calling us near, who says come to me in all our pressure

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situations so that we may be able to call others near to him in all their pressure situations,

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in the same way God calls us near. I am so grateful that our Lord's response in all our

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pressure times is to call us near to himself. And he empowers those who have been called near

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to call others near in the same way. So calling near is translated encouragement and exhortation.

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And almost every time Paul wrote urge or beseech, that word was call near.

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I can't think of anything more comforting, helpful, and encouraging than God calling me near.

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But I haven't always felt that way. For a long time my mind and feelings resisted.

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My own understanding and perspective just couldn't wrap around his too-good-to-be-possible

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truths. But Holy Spirit still called me near and he showed me that I could say yes to him,

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even when my mind and feelings resisted.

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In my daily circumstances, negativity still rises up sometimes.

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But Holy Spirit keeps calling me near and empowers me to reconnect with God instead.

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I've gotten excited about other Greek words that inform my experiences with God.

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Lord willing, I expect to share regularly what I'm seeing with those

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words through the lens of us being those who are called near.

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What does God calling you near mean to you? How does he call you near?

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I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you.