At this time of year Christians remember when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’ followers — a season called Pentecost.

If you look at the account of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit, it is almost like a before-and-after photograph.

Before the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were confused, fearful and uncertain - perhaps not a group you would readily choose to follow.

But after the Spirit came upon them, they showed new courage, a deeper understanding of what Jesus was calling them to do, and the ability to minister as he had, even performing signs and wonders.

What could have caused such a dramatic change?

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says he will send another advocate to the disciples. What he means is that he will send the third person of the Trinity — the Holy Spirit — so that they may be filled with his presence.

This is what brought about such a radical transformation. Their conviction in the truth of Jesus’ love, revealed to them through the Holy Spirit, became so strong that many were willing to die for their faith. They no longer resembled the frightened men we see after Jesus’s death.

And this offer of being filled with God’s presence remains open to all who ask.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be filled with the presence of Jesus? Perhaps that sounds like a strange idea. Yet the promise of the Holy Spirit is one of comfort, strength, peace and guidance. He comes to help us and to show us how deeply Jesus loves us.

When the Holy Spirit fills us, we too can experience the kind of transformation the disciples experienced — the conviction that Jesus’ love is so true and real that it is worth giving our lives for