The Spirit calls to me this morning. Today is Sunday and a day to R & R: Remember and rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. I come out of a peaceful sleep with worship on my lips.
Oddly enough the Holy One speaks a word that puts me off balance and I wonder where this conversation will end up. I hear Him quote from Paul's letter to the Ephesians in 5:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption".
The verses surrounding that warning and directive spell out what grieves the Holy Spirit. As I read the do's and don'ts, Paul was identifying as attitude and behavior issues those things that grieve or please the Holy Spirit, I sense He wants to share even more of Himself with me on the subject.
With Him in the lead of my thoughts, we return to the day He was unleashed to take up His habitation in the hearts of men. I never thought of the sacrifice it was for Holiness to indwell our flesh man. I know and humbly celebrate the sacrifice our Savior made as the Son of God in the Trinity having taken on a human form, and having bore the weight of our sin nature so opposite to His Holy one. I can barely fathom the physical pain much less the relational separation from the Father that He endured for my sake. The victory was won and the pain ended on that historic day when He was crucified and then 3 days later He emerged from the tomb alive and in a glorified body for all to see.
His Resurrection was recorded in the histories of men and in the Word of God. He now sits at the right hand of the Father and awaits the day when He will return in Glory for all eyes to see Him and for every knee to bow in worship before Him. When He left planet earth He promised He would not leave us as orphans but would send another Counselor, The Holy Spirit of Truth and He did. He dwells within the heart and being of every believer in Christ Jesus Who is the Savior of the world.
For Holiness to be exposed to sin surely causes Him grief and pain. Even on a human level when our sense of righteousness encounters wickedness our hearts recoil and we grieve at the pain of the encounter. I am beginning to see where the Holy One is leading me into all truth.
I have never been "taught' to consider what the Spirit of Holiness suffers when flesh rejects His rule. As the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost and takes up His dwelling in the hearts of the saved, our flesh bodies have become His Temple.
He is the 3rd person of the Trinity and is Holy as His name describes Him. He is our Counselor and we are commanded to walk in the Spirit AKA in His ways, as in under His ruling authority. We are commanded to go and bear His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.
Paul said we are to "get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, slander and every form of malice". The Holy One cannot comfortably abide with the unholy. What an acknowledged sacrifice the Holy Spirit agreed to make by and through indwelling our flesh.
I think about all the times I reject His counsel and move at cross purpose of His Holy Will. How do I grieve Him by following the rule of my flesh dragging Holiness into the dark catacombs of my human will? In mercy the Holy Spirit reminds me that ignorance is not the same thing as rebellion but I must be alert to the difference.
The Holy Spirit lives with our corruption and yet with the Divine love and purpose to bring us out of it. The wonder of the love of God is beyond our comprehension. The pain of the sacrifice He made and makes for His beloved is bound up in His eternal plan for us. Today, as I am in the process of being made Holy, may I properly discern and move away from anything that grieves the Heart of the Holy One.
Today, my worship is even more deeply felt as I consider how He bears my sorrows as well as His own. With new attention placed on the reality that I can and do grieve the Holy Spirit within, maybe, just maybe I can grow to be more co-operative with His counsel and respectful of His rule.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Oddly enough the Holy One speaks a word that puts me off balance and I wonder where this conversation will end up. I hear Him quote from Paul's letter to the Ephesians in 5:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption".
The verses surrounding that warning and directive spell out what grieves the Holy Spirit. As I read the do's and don'ts, Paul was identifying as attitude and behavior issues those things that grieve or please the Holy Spirit, I sense He wants to share even more of Himself with me on the subject.
With Him in the lead of my thoughts, we return to the day He was unleashed to take up His habitation in the hearts of men. I never thought of the sacrifice it was for Holiness to indwell our flesh man. I know and humbly celebrate the sacrifice our Savior made as the Son of God in the Trinity having taken on a human form, and having bore the weight of our sin nature so opposite to His Holy one. I can barely fathom the physical pain much less the relational separation from the Father that He endured for my sake. The victory was won and the pain ended on that historic day when He was crucified and then 3 days later He emerged from the tomb alive and in a glorified body for all to see.
His Resurrection was recorded in the histories of men and in the Word of God. He now sits at the right hand of the Father and awaits the day when He will return in Glory for all eyes to see Him and for every knee to bow in worship before Him. When He left planet earth He promised He would not leave us as orphans but would send another Counselor, The Holy Spirit of Truth and He did. He dwells within the heart and being of every believer in Christ Jesus Who is the Savior of the world.
For Holiness to be exposed to sin surely causes Him grief and pain. Even on a human level when our sense of righteousness encounters wickedness our hearts recoil and we grieve at the pain of the encounter. I am beginning to see where the Holy One is leading me into all truth.
I have never been "taught' to consider what the Spirit of Holiness suffers when flesh rejects His rule. As the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost and takes up His dwelling in the hearts of the saved, our flesh bodies have become His Temple.
He is the 3rd person of the Trinity and is Holy as His name describes Him. He is our Counselor and we are commanded to walk in the Spirit AKA in His ways, as in under His ruling authority. We are commanded to go and bear His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.
Paul said we are to "get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, slander and every form of malice". The Holy One cannot comfortably abide with the unholy. What an acknowledged sacrifice the Holy Spirit agreed to make by and through indwelling our flesh.
I think about all the times I reject His counsel and move at cross purpose of His Holy Will. How do I grieve Him by following the rule of my flesh dragging Holiness into the dark catacombs of my human will? In mercy the Holy Spirit reminds me that ignorance is not the same thing as rebellion but I must be alert to the difference.
The Holy Spirit lives with our corruption and yet with the Divine love and purpose to bring us out of it. The wonder of the love of God is beyond our comprehension. The pain of the sacrifice He made and makes for His beloved is bound up in His eternal plan for us. Today, as I am in the process of being made Holy, may I properly discern and move away from anything that grieves the Heart of the Holy One.
Today, my worship is even more deeply felt as I consider how He bears my sorrows as well as His own. With new attention placed on the reality that I can and do grieve the Holy Spirit within, maybe, just maybe I can grow to be more co-operative with His counsel and respectful of His rule.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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