Bible League: Living His Word And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.The Holy Spirit was first poured out on believers on Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2). As a result, the Holy Spirit now dwells in every Christian and thereby empowers and enables us to live the Christian life. The Apostle Paul asked: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16). The Holy Spirit, however, does more than dwell in us. He also gives us special gifts and ministries (I Corinthians 12:4-11), and He fills us with the fruit of the Spirit, like love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22). Notwithstanding all of this, our verse for today makes it plain that it is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, there is a difference between the indwelling of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. Although the indwelling of the Spirit of God is a permanent feature of being a Christian, being filled with the Spirit is not. If we grieve, resist, or quench the Holy Spirit, we will not have the fullness of the Spirit. It is our sin that grieves the Holy Spirit and thereby hinders our ability to live the Christian life, operate in our gifts and ministries, and manifest the fruit of the Spirit. The indwelling and empowering of the Spirit of God, therefore, is not something that should be taken for granted. If we want to have the fullness of what the Holy Spirit has for us we must not grieve Him. The Apostle Paul commands us in Ephesians 5:8 to be filled with the Spirit. In order to do this, however, he also says that we should avoid debauchery, like getting drunk. Anything that stands opposed to the will of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit will hinder the fullness of the Spirit's work within us. Jesus lived a sinless life and the Bible tells us that He was given the Holy Spirit "without limit" (John 3:34). A sinless life, of course, is beyond our ability in this dispensation. Consequently, whenever we do sin, we should quickly confess our sin and receive God's mercy and grace (I John 1:9). If we do this, then we will also quickly get back on track to being Spirit-filled people of God. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 34, 35 Psalm 34 -- David's Psalm Before Ahimelech (1Sa 21) NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 35 -- Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 22 Acts 22 -- Paul's Defense to the Crowd NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.“Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is bad, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Insight The lamp is Christ; the eye represents spiritual understanding and insight. Evil desires make the eye less sensitive and blot out the light of Christ's presence. Challenge If you have a hard time seeing God at work in the world and in your life, check your vision. Are any sinful desires blinding you to Christ? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 42:9 Why go I mourning?Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee that the night would never end in day? Who told thee that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long leagues of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow, and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Hope thou then! Hope thou ever! For God fails thee not. Dost thou not know that thy God loves thee in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God's love is as true to thee now as it was in thy brightest moments. No father chastens always: thy Lord hates the rod as much as thou dost; he only cares to use it for that reason which should make thee willing to receive it, namely, that it works thy lasting good. Thou shalt yet climb Jacob's ladder with the angels, and behold him who sits at the top of it--thy covenant God. Thou shalt yet, amidst the splendours of eternity, forget the trials of time, or only remember them to bless the God who led thee through them, and wrought thy lasting good by them. Come, sing in the midst of tribulation. Rejoice even while passing through the furnace. Make the wilderness to blossom like the rose! Cause the desert to ring with thine exulting joys, for these light afflictions will soon be over, and then "forever with the Lord," thy bliss shall never wane. "Faint not nor fear, his arms are near, He changeth not, and thou art dear; Only believe and thou shalt see, That Christ is all in all to thee." Daily Light on the Daily Path Matthew 27:51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.1 Corinthians 11:23,24 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; • and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." John 6:51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." John 6:53,54,56,57,61-63 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. • "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. • "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. • "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. • But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble? • "What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? • "What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? Hebrews 10:20,22 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, • let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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