After exalting God’s Word at length, David concludes one of his psalms with this verse: “Let my soul live, and it shall praise you; and let your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments” (Psalm 119:175-176, NKJV).
When scripture says the Holy Spirit “abides” in us, it means God’s Spirit comes in and possesses our bodies, making it his temple. Because the Holy Spirit knows the mind and voice of the Father, he speaks God’s thoughts to us. “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will tell you things to come” (John 16:13, NKJV). The Holy Spirit is the voice of God to us!
The Holy Spirit yearns to bring God’s people back to serving the Lord with joy and gladness. How grieved heaven must be to witness the wet blanket of despair and sadness that has fallen upon multitudes of believers. The Psalmist declared, “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” (Psalm 144:15, NKJV). The prophet Isaiah also said, “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3).
When you hurt the worst, go to your secret prayer closet and weep out all your bitterness. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and wept at the funeral of a friend. Peter carried with him the hurt of denying the very Son of God, and he wept bitterly! Those bitter tears worked a sweet miracle in him, and he came back to shake the kingdom of Satan.
God’s purpose for every one of his children is that we surrender to the reign and rulership of the Holy Spirit. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25, NKJV). In other words, “If he lives in you, let him direct you!”
In the book of Daniel, three Hebrew men went into the fire with their bodies already dead to the world. “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18, ESV). They were able to offer their bodies joyfully as living sacrifices, and Jesus literally met them in their crisis.
Paul wrote to the church, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19, NKJV). He is saying, “Suffer the wrong. Lay it down and move on. Get a life in the Spirit.”
However, if we refuse to forgive the hurts done to us, we have to face these consequences:
• We’ll become guiltier than the person who inflicted our wound.
Scripture gives us a sobering reminder of what God truly desires from us. “So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV).
Every victory we win over the flesh and the devil will soon be followed by an even greater temptation and attack. Satan simply will not give up in his war against us. If we defeat him once, he’ll redouble his forces and come right back at us. Suddenly, we’ll find ourselves back in a spiritual war we thought we’d already won.
Multitudes have declared that they follow Christ; yet the majority of these people, including many who are in ministry, have forsaken Jesus as their source of power. Why?
You see, something happens when we cross the line into the Holiest of Holies. The moment we enter our Lord’s presence, we realize all flesh must die. This includes all desire for spiritual excitement, talk of great revivals, focus on deliverance and seeking out some new work or movement. This is the moment many believers realize how costly it would be to give up relying on their own flesh.