Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Are We Grieving the Spirit?
Pastor Scott
Sunday, February 06, 2005
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"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
(Ephesians 4:30)
The Scripture says, "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God" (Eph. 4:30). How do you grieve the Holy Spirit? Remember that He is a personality; the Holy Spirit is not an "it." He is one of the triune members of the Godhead--very God, a distinct Person with distinct purpose. His purpose is to anoint us to live a life of obedience, righteousness and power. He lives within us to bring to remembrance all things that Jesus has spoken. He lives within us to manifest the fruit of the spirit and express the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He is there to bring life.
He that dwells in you is that same cloud that came down on the tabernacle. He that abides in you is that same pillar of fire that held Pharaoh's armies at bay. It is the very power that brooded upon the face of the earth as chaos was placed into order by God's decree. He is the source and the unction of all of the inspired Word of God, as holy men of God spoke as the Spirit uttered through them. He is the One that will give you words to speak in these last days as men begin to persecute us. He wants to function in you without measure as He came upon Jesus--and He abides in us.
How do we grieve Him? We grieve Him by minimizing what He is able to do in each of our lives. It's by trivializing that still small voice. We are so caught up in the noise and the clamor of our generation that we don't take time to sit and listen and respect and pursue and treasure just one word from the Spirit of God. Create in me a clean heart; that's the dwelling place of God. Renew a right spirit within me. Let my spirit man be prepared and purified that there might be communion with the Holy Spirit of God, that we might be one in spirit--God's Spirit with our spirit. "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me" (Ps. 51:11).
Do we take time to even meditate? What would it be like to be out of fellowship with the Spirit of God for a moment? So much of what we take for granted is a great gift and a treasure that we need to guard. We are being inundated constantly with the spirit of this age--the worship of the creature more than the Creator, which is secular humanism. We are vexed on a daily basis. What are we doing to guard ourselves? What are we doing to constantly put on the full armor of God that we might be able to stand? We have the helmet of salvation, but do we have the breastplate of righteousness that guards the presence of the Holy Spirit, that protects our heart? Are our loins girt about with truth? Are our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace? How much time and energy are we spending stirring this faith that we so freely have?
The purpose of the Holy Spirit in you is to empower you to become a witness to Him. "Ye shall receive [take] power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8). How is your witness? Are you living powerfully? Are you living free from sin? Are you shouting from the housetop what the Spirit has spoken into your ear in the private time of communion? Or are you grieving the Holy Spirit? It's very important that we don't minimize what is taking place in the spirit realm in our lives.