Today, many believers are quenching the Holy Spirit of God in their lives. They are connected to the Holy Spirit because He indwelt them at the time of salvation, but then they choose to live by worldly principles. They are connected to the power source, and yet they choose to live in the dark.
That fire cannot quench itself—we are the ones who dampen it. How? By allowing ungodly thoughts to dwell in our minds and build strongholds in our lives; by allowing our emotions to get entangled with ungodly affections; by allowing our decisions to be infected by the wrong motives. Soon, rebellion, unrighteous anger, or selfish ambition begin to take root in us.
And so we quench, we stifle, and we suppress. Our opinions and our ideas begin to replace the Word of God. Reading the Bible begins to feel like lifting a ton of bricks—we can’t even pick it up. When we quench the Holy Spirit, minimizing the Word of God and its power will follow.
Through the storms of life and the challenges of the faith, the only way we can remain faithful to Christ and His work is to live by His Spirit. We are saved for a purpose, and without God’s power working in us, we cannot accomplish that purpose. However, when we place our confidence in God’s faithfulness rather than our own abilities, we will see God do more than we ever could have done in our own strength.
In a world dominated by fear and pride, God has called us to be filled with hope and confidence in Him. He wants us to submerge every inch of our lives in His overcoming power. As challenges arise, we can be those faithful believers who call upon the Lord with prayers of help, thanksgiving, and surrender. In the face of temptation and hardship, we can remember the end of the story—the glorious return of King Jesus—and be spurred on to victory by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(DR MICHAEL YOUSSEF)