Break the bottle

 


We start the month of June with a reminder of the fulfillment of the promise given to the disciples, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This was what is known as Pentecost. It is wonderful to live in a time when we have God in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As I felt the heat and the heat of the wind, except for today as I write this, I think about what the disciples must have felt when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The Spirit is something that we all have when we accept Jesus as our Savior. The question is: How much control are you willing to let God have through the Spirit?

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Don’t stifle the Spirit” (HCSB). Other versions may use the word “quench” for the word “stifle.” I like the word “stifle” because it makes me think of how we tend to treat the Holy Spirit as something that we keep in a bottle and put on the shelf until we need it. Or like the Disney story of Aladdin and the Lamp. If you remember the story, Aladdin let the genie out of the lamp and he was granted three wishes. The Holy Spirit is not like that and should not be treated like that. But we put restraints on what the Spirit can do with us and through us. How do we put restraints? Some of it is by hanging on to lifestyles that we refuse to change or let go of. Some of the restraints is our stubbornness and pride. We have to learn to humble ourselves and relinquish control of every aspect of our lives.

I see on social media where people will ask for prayer, even prayers for healing, but then you see on the next post or picture evidence of sin. That is people wanting help from God but just for that one thing. Then they put Him back on the shelf, or in the bottle, until another crisis happens. People do that also with attending worship. It does not work that way. God wants control of every aspect of your life. By doing that we gain something greater: control by the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of God. So, break the bottle.

 

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