eving the Holy Spirit
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(Ephesians 4:30 NKJV)
Do you ever feel like you’re not living the abundant life? I share this with you today because I want to spare you from a spirit of defeat and discouragement.
When the world went on lockdown trying to slow the spread of the Corona virus, I began walking in that spirit of defeat. My speaking calendar went from full to empty overnight.
After six months, a sermon on Elijah broke through like the morning dawn cutting through the dark sky. If God had set Elijah on a creekbank for possibly as long as eighteen months, He can certainly do that to any modern-day preacher or speaker.
While I lived a life void of victory, I walked around with a sad Holy Spirit within me. We close the door on our blessings and power when we grieve the Holy Spirit.
That’s why we must be careful to avoid anything that saddens the Spirit within.
How do we actually grieve the Holy Spirit? Paul listed several sins to avoid: lying, anger that becomes sinful, stealing, corrupt speech, bitterness, wrath, and malice.
He closes this section with a plea for kindness (Eph. 4:31) and forgiveness (Eph. 4:32).
Paul warned us about sin, especially the sin of the heart which makes us no different than the world.
If someone came to visit me right now, I’d close the doors to several rooms. These areas are messy, and I don’t want anyone seeing them. Maybe you are a better housekeeper than me, but have you ever felt like that?
We can’t close off the doors of our hearts to God. We try, but He sees right through them. We can’t hide our defeat, evil thoughts and bitterness. We can’t hold grudges without God’s knowledge, and while we carry around our junk, the only door we shut is the door to the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10.
We separate ourselves from blessings and the power of the Holy Spirit. We realize now that we’ve only harmed ourselves. Living in defeat only made me miserable. My misery didn’t change the situation.
Are you tired of a life filled with constant discouragement and a downtrodden heart? Are you ready to get off the see-saw of life where each good day is followed by a bad day? Let’s stop grieving the Holy Spirit. Let Him into the messy rooms of our hearts. Let Him clean up our junk, and haul it off to the trash. Let’s stop working for the enemy and begin working for our Lord as we eliminate the sins of our hearts and ask God to cleanse us from all evil. I’m tired of being my worst enemy. What about you?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word. We don’t always recognize our actions as counterproductive. Cleanse me from all sin, and help me stop grieving Your sweet Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
DIG DEEPER
HIKING THE TRAIL
Study the above passage. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of the sins blocking your blessings. After you repent, how can you move forward differently?
RELATED RESOURCE
Is it hard to keep your quiet time with the Lord? Could you benefit from a stronger faith? Those are just two of the many things we will accomplish in the Walking by Faith Bible Study. It begins on May 3rd, 2021, so join the Facebook group to reserve your spot. Click here.
Originally posted on April 19, 2021 @ 3:03 am
Good message. Covid opened up several doors for me where it closed several for you and others. But I held onto anger and frustration over required masks only because of childhood trauma they cause panic attacks, it stirs up my PTSD much like fireworks do for soldiers. When I would try to explain to others why I did not have a mask on their ears closed up tight and they did not hear or care about my feelings all they saw was that I must not care about me giving them Covid. Well i have to have it to give it but that was their immediate assumption that I just did not care. So I chose to just stay home and be a hermit except for needed face to face medical appointments. So bitterness and anger set in and I could feel the Holy Spirit grieved. I knew I needed to change my feelings as I knew I would never change societies lack of compassion for a PTSD person/mask panic attacks. So I had to let go, seek God for strength when I HAD to wear it and live life.
Your message needs to reach the world
I was literally thinking about the verse today. IHave been struggling a lot lately in my writing as well as my personal life. I just don’t feel him moving lately, although I know faith is not based on feelings. I might join you guys in your Bible study in May. But I relate to your journey and using your message to touch others lives. I look forward to your videos
Debbie, I will be praying for you. Join us as much as you can for the study. Friday’s devotional is about quenching the Spirit, so watch for it. Love and hugs.