“Quench not the Spirit…”
What does it mean to “quench the Spirit”? “Quench” means to extinguish, or to cool. (The American Century Dictionary) The NIV translates it: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire…” That defines what it means to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit as He tries to work through our lives. Following are my thoughts on the subject: We can quench the Spirit’s fire in our personal lives. We can get so caught up with what is going on around us that we ignore the Spirit’s urging. Satan is always at work in our lives to call our attention away from the Spirit. We can quench the Spirit by ignoring His urging in our hearts and minds. Satan wants to convince us that we are too busy with “other things” to do as the Spirit leads. We can just be so tired with the trials of life that we get spiritually indifferent. How do I know so much about this? Well, I’ve been dealing with it for at least the fifty six years that I have been in the ministry. Pay attention to what the Spirit is planting in your heart and mind, and well… just do it! What, or who, is the Spirit planting in your heart and mind? We can quench the Spirit in our worship in church services. What kind of attitude do you carry into worship in your church? I remember having a church leader tell me one Sunday as we were waiting to go into the sanctuary of the church that I was visiting to preach: “Well, let’s go on in and get it over with.” I thought, “Man that dude is really going to worship today.” I remember one time years ago when I was preaching, I was about to make a salient point and one of the men let out a big yawn… I thought “man, he’s ready to hear what God wants him to hear.” Think about the attitude that you carry into public worship in your church. Could you be quenching the Spirit by your attitude and by your inattentiveness to what the Spirit is doing in the service? We can quench the Spirit by not expecting anything in our private or public worship. When you get up on Sunday and get ready for church, what are you thinking? Do you think that God might do a mighty work in the service – at least in your life? I have been convinced by the Lord that when I preach His word as He wants me to preach it, He is going to do something in someone’s life whether I know about it or not. I just believe that the Spirit is going to plant a seed in somebody’s life!!! That changed my whole attitude in preaching. I don’t just think that God is using me in these couch potato articles---I know that He is. I just don’t want to quench the Spirit in my life or in my public worship. Join me in that attitude! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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