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Finding Delight

Words of Faith Final

Finding Delight

Words of Faith 3-22-2021

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2021

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Ephesians 4

 [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.   [31] Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.   [32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  

 

       This phrase is one we do not want to rush past.  What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit?  The word means to distress; to be sad, cause grief, be in heaviness, be sorrowful. 

       The thing we often fail to remember is that the Holy Spirit is a person.  The Spirit has feelings.  We love to share the joy of the Lord or know that the Holy Spirit empathizes with us in giving comfort.  We love the delight of the Lord, but we don’t always remember that we can cause Him to grieve. 

      So, what sorts of things grieve the Holy Spirit?  We have already heard in this context that falsehood, sinful anger that invites the enemy, stealing, septic talk, bitterness, rage, brawling, and slander are all grievous to God.  But the Bible speaks of several other things that grievous to the Spirit.

     First, is quenching the Spirit.  1 Thessalonians 5:19 - Do not quench the Spirit.  The NIV translates- Do not put out the Spirit's fire.  The word means to extinguish, quench, put out or suppress.  Do not suppress the fire of the Spirit.

      Have you ever been quenched?  Have you had your idea dismissed out of hand?  Your presence ignored?  Your presence hidden? Not been allowed to speak?  Have you had your participation ignored or resisted?  How did that make you feel? Imagine how the Holy Spirit feels when we do the same to Him.

      We quench the Spirit when we do not allow the Spirit to be seen in our actions.  When we do not allow the Spirit to speak...  When we do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself the way that He wants to...  When we resist the advice and guidance of the Holy Spirit...  When we pretend He is not there.

     A second way we grieve the Spirit is by hardening our hearts.  Hebrews 3:7-10 -- The Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, [9] where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. [10] That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.'  When we go astray in our hearts...  When we go our own way...  When we resist and disobey initiatives that the Spirit has spoken into our lives through the Word of God and His voice in our lives... this grieves the heart of God.

     A third way that we might grieve the Spirit is by speaking against Him.  On several occasions, religious leaders attributed the power of Jesus to the devil.  Jesus responded, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. [31] And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. [32] Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:30-32).  When we harden our hearts against the work of the Holy Spirit to the point that we actually speak against the Holy Spirit and what He is doing, we surely grieve Him.  When we accuse a work of the Holy Spirit of being the work of Satan, this grieves the heart of God.

       So, what delights the Holy Spirit? He is surely delighted when we acknowledge Him in every moment and walk of life.  When we obey Him, speak of Him with blessing, opening our hearts to be softened by Him.  When we walk in the freedom He has provided so as not to draw the consequence of sin, surely, He is delighted.

      Psalm 37:4 declares - Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. The Hebrew word here means be soft or pliable, delicate or luxurious, have delicate delight.  He will fulfill your requests and put desires into your heart.

      James 4:8 proclaims - Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Psalm 46:10 reveals to us the invitation of God-- "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  Stop, be idle, and discover that I am God.  Zechariah 1:3 calls us - This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty.

 

      Holy Spirit, I delight in You.  I draw near to You.  Please draw near to me as You have promised.  I want to discover You as God.  I am still before You.  In Jesus’ Name.

 

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2010, 2021

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)       

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.