"Do Not Quench the Spirit"

“Do Not Quench the Spirit”

 

 Joan Acomb

 

“Rejoice evermore;

Pray without ceasing;

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the Spirit;”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

 

 

I had wondered why my husband included the verse, “Do not quench the Spirit” in our family verses to learn. It mystified me but I did not ask my husband or the Lord. If I had asked in those early days, I am sure that I would have received the answer. 

 

In some later years I was in the midst of reading a book loaned to me. It was fiction. Like a magnet I was drawn to the plot. So compelling but it was not pleasing to the Lord. It was as the world thinks and acts. I felt that the Lord was nudging me to quit the book. Just one more chapter, I thought. Finally I stopped reading this trash and returned the book.Finally, I stopped reading this trash and returned the book. Only then did I realize the meaning of “Do not grieve the spirit.”

 

Because of this experience, I have had to review the work of the Holy Spirit!. I think that it will be an ongoing study for me. “God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, three in one,” so the song goes.

 

Romans 8:5 and 6 points out where my focus should be. 

“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.

 

Romans 8:16 states, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”

 

John 3:33 and 34 states, “ He who has received His witness has set his seal to this that God is true.

For He whom God has spent speaks the words of God for He gives the Spirit without measure.

 

Paul peppers his accounts in the epistles about the work of the Holy Spirit.

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

Ephesians 1:13

 

Here in Ephesians 4:29 - 32 the Word says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender – hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

 

Wow! These verses are so applicable to me as they were in the church in Ephesus. Covid 19 has been a real time of introspection for me. I have been blessed with my garden fashioned by my daughter. It is a wonderful haven and has allowed for Covid writing.

 

I must be honest though. I experience Covid fatigue. I bet you do too.  Then there is the Covid anger. “What! Where is their mask? But then, who made me the sheriff?” It would be nice if I could focus on Covid kindness. Far beyond Covid kindness, is this. What would Jesus do? Who can I bless? As a Christian, I especially have a wonderful opportunity to encourage my fellow believer. How can I do that? Maybe it is as simple as

making a phone call. 

 

The election brought up it’s own difficulty for me. My attitude showed up and emphasized my own ugliness and need of a Savior. I was tired of the whole election mess and was not kind to three of my friends. As I write, I view a Mother’s Day card from last year, still on my computer desk from one of my friends that I offended. Her own mother is no longer here, but this gal every year sends a meaningful card. This one says, “This day is not just for mothers but for all the women who enrich our lives, give us love, and matter most in our world…”  God help me!

 

We are told that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. “We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” See Romans 8:26-27. In my weakness and depravity I cry out to Him. 

 

Oh Lord, “Open my eyes that I might see

Glimpses of truth you have for me.”

 

This much I know about the Holy Spirit.

 

He has sealed me.

He searches all things, the deep things of God.

He’s my companion.

He comforts.

He is my guarantee of life to come.

He leads me into the Holiness of God, for we walk by faith and not by sight.

 

 

 

All Bible verses taken from the New American Standard Bible