Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is Grieved – Daniel Steele

The Holy Spirit is grieved when ministers of the Gospel and other Christian workers more earnestly desire His gifts than Himself; when they are more eager to be clothed with His power than to be filled with His presence; when they prefer popularity to purity; when they rely more on polished rhetoric than on the power of the Holy Ghost; when they are more concerned about preparing the sermon than themselves; when they are more ambitious to please the church than the Head of the Church; when they subordinate the ministry of the Lord Jesus to themselves and not to the Lord Jesus; when they use the sacred office as a ladder to personal fame or gain instead of a stairway up which they may lead repentant sinners to the bosom of God.

– Daniel Steele –

Seek the Indwelling Holy Spirit – Andrew Murray

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord uttered His wonderful “how much more?” (Matthew 7:9-11). Here in Luke, where He repeats the question, there is a difference. Instead of speaking of giving good gifts, he says, “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit.” He thus teaches us that the best of these gifts is the Holy Spirit, that in this gift all others are comprised. The Holy Spirit is the first of the Father’s gifts and the one he delights most to bestow. The Holy Spirit is therefore the gift we ought to seek first.

– Andrew Murray –
from Teach Me to Pray

We Need an Awakening – Vance Havner

If the Lord tarries, there may yet be a grass-roots awakening that will overflow all sectarian barriers. There are a host of good people who couldn’t care less about this theologian or that, but who need to rekindle the fire of God within them and who long for a visitation from heaven in old-time power. The kindling wood is scattered all around in all the churches. May God help us to rake off the ashes, uncover the live coals and may He blow upon us with the breath of His Spirit!

– Vance Havner –

 

Having God Within Us

Unless we have WITHIN us that which is ABOVE us, we will eventually yield to that which is AMONG us.

– Unknown –

The Gift of Pentecost – Samuel Chadwick

I owe everything to the gift of Pentecost. For fifty days the facts of the Gospel were complete, but no conversions were recorded. Pentecost registered three thousand souls. It is by fire that a holy passion is kindled in the soul whereby we live the life of God. The soul’s safety is in its heat. Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, make for a Church without power…Destitute of the Fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing Fire, nothing else matters.

– Samuel Chadwick –