Snippets from My Journal #7

from December 28, 2016

Jesus said: There is so much more I would like to say to you, but it’s more than you can grasp at this moment.  But when the truth-giving Spirit comes, He will unveil the reality of every truth within you. He won’t speak his own message but only what He hears from the Father, and He will reveal prophetically to you what is to come.  He will glorify Me on earth for He will receive from Me what is Mine and reveal it to you.  John 16: 12-14

We have received only two commandments regarding the Holy Spirit:

Do not quench the Spirit. I Thess. 5:19

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

To grieve the Spirit is to refuse to allow Him to BE what He wants to BE in and through us.

To quench Him is to refuse to allow Him to DO what He wants to DO in and through us.

The Holy Spirit never pushes Himself; He is never rude or demanding.  He is the still small voice in our spirits that leads and guides us.  We must adjust to Him; He does not adjust to us.

If I’m driving down an unfamiliar road and get lost, my destination doesn’t move to where I am.  I must consult the map, figure out where I went wrong and adjust the route to reach my intended destination.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit acts as my map – He gently points out that I’m off course and I need to turn around and get back on the right road.

Perhaps God chose to depict the Holy Spirit as a dove because the turtledove is a very shy, harmless, innocent bird.  The word ‘harmless’ used here means ‘pure and morally innocent.’  It describes someone who has not been corrupted. The Holy Spirit is pure wisdom and grace.

The dove is quite different from these pesky pigeons we deal with all the time in Israel. They’re not the least bit shy, they make a mess of our balconies and waddle right up to the window and look in.  A dove would never do that!

Lord, train me to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit within me.  I know that I don’t lose my salvation when I grieve Him but I certainly do lose the sense of His sweet presence. It is written of Jesus that the Spirit of the Lord descended upon Him and remained with Him.  John 1:32  The Spirit remained with you because You, Jesus, never grieved Him nor did you ever quench Him.

Make me like You, Lord. I throw myself on Your grace asking that You will empower me to be promptly obedient to the voice of Your Spirit within me.  So work in me that your Spirit will feel at home with me like He did with you, Jesus.

To become more and more like You, Lord, is to be conscious of the Spirit’s presence within me and to order my behavior in such a way as to give Him a comfortable home in my spirit.  It’s impossible in my own strength; so I throw myself on Your unending grace and I ask You, Jesus, to do that work in me.