April 22

“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession - to the praise of his glory.” — EPHESIANS 1:13-14

When King Saul, David’s predecessor, had disobeyed God, God withdrew His Spirit from him, and David had witnessed Saul’s demise. King David prayed to God, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). He pleaded with God not to do the same to him as He did to Saul, and God answered His prayer favourably.

The difference between the time of King David and today is that in the days of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was often given for a specific task and then withdrawn. On the day of Pentecost, however, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the basis of the work Jesus Christ did on the cross. Since that day, every man, woman and child who is in Christ, receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and is indwelt by Him.

Our experience of the Holy Spirit is always fuller and never less than that of Old Testament characters. The Holy Spirit is the member of the Godhead who operates, not just for a specific task, but in our everyday lives and experience. It is He who regenerates us, which means He imparts new life, and that life is His presence within us. But before the Holy Spirit works in us, He works on us first; that is, He works in drawing us to God, opening our hearts to Him, and creating an appetite within us for the things of God. In submitting our lives to Christ, He then indwells us, seals us in Christ, equips and guides us, and is the ongoing source of our strength and enabling.

We can be ‘full of the Spirit’ for special events and tasks, as well as ‘filled with the Spirit’ everyday of our lives. There are no formulas, techniques or methods for being filled with the Spirit. It is a day-to-day relationship of love, dependence and obedience. “As you receive Christ, so live in Him,” Paul says, and we receive Christ on the basis of repentance, turning from ourselves to Christ.

The measure of our relationship with Christ is the measure to which the Holy Spirit is active in us. Though we are indwelt by the Spirit, we can be living for our own agendas and can grieve, quench, subdue, limit or resist the Holy Spirit... but we can never lose Him!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the work of your Holy Spirit in me. I know that I have a long way to go and I pray your Spirit in me grows deeper and stronger, allowing me to be filled with You every day of my life.

TO REFLECT UPON: In what ways could I be grieving the Holy Spirit and what can I do to change that?