Morning By Morning #326

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

Ephesians 4:30

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

All that you have as a believer comes from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. In addition, just as all blessings flow to you through the Holy Spirit, nothing good can flow out of you, such as holy thinking, devout worship, or any gracious action, apart from the sanctifying operation of that same Spirit. Even if the “good seed” (Matt. 13:24) has been sown in you, it will lie dormant unless He “works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Do you aspire to speak for Jesus? How can you unless the Holy Spirit touches your tongue? Do you desire to pray? Oh, what tedious work it would be unless “the Spirit himself intercedes for us”! Do you long for holiness and to subdue sin in your life? Do you desire to imitate your Master? Do you hope to rise to lofty heights of spirituality, wanting to be made like the angels of God, full of eagerness and zeal for your Master’s cause? You can’t without the Spirit—“Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Dear branch of the vine, you cannot produce any fruit without the sap of the vine! O child of God, you have no life within you apart from the life God gave you through His Spirit! Thus, may we not grieve Him or provoke Him to anger by our sin. May we be sensitive to even His faintest touch, follow His every suggestion, and be ready to obey His every prompting.

If the Holy Spirit is indeed so powerful, may we never attempt anything without Him. May we begin no project, run no enterprise, or conclude any transaction without imploring His blessing. May we give Him His due honor by recognizing our complete weakness apart from Him and then depend upon Him alone. And may this be our prayer:

Lord, open my entire heart and soul to Your infilling, and uphold me with Your Spirit once I have received the fullness of that Spirit in my inmost being.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, which is what Paul called the Spirit in the following verse: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Rom. 8:9). And the life of Christ we live as believers, we live through the power of His indwelling Spirit, for as Paul said, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

Spurgeon today quotes one partial verse of John 15, but here is more of the passage to consider. As you meditate on these words of Jesus, remember it is His Spirit—“the Spirit of Christ”—who lives within you:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:1 – 5