Quenching the Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:19 says "Do not quench the Spirit."

How do we quench the spirit, it is by turning our backs on the very God that created us, that has provided for us today. When you are first in a relationship with another person, that person is so important to you, you don't hesitate to contact them just to tell them you love them. You do everything in your power to make sure that relationship works, you strive to honor them, to hold them in high regards, you work at your relationship, you give it everything you have. If you do not, guess what, it will surely die. Just think about a man and woman live a distance a part, they say they want to get married, but the man only sends letters when it fits his schedule, he gives her the attention only when it is good for him. The letters come once a week, he says he loves her, but the example he is setting is that it is only on his terms. That woman decides that this man is not for her, because he can't give her the attention she needs.

We treat God that exact same way, we only cry out to him when we need Him. We put Him on the shelf and when we have time we pull Him off the shelf to read a verse, or we just read a few chapters in Church on Sunday. If we truly loved Jesus as He calls us to, we would want to please Him, to thank Him, to call on His name daily and without ceasing. We would be afraid to quench the spirit, because that still small voice can sure get a lot smaller every time we put our things in front of Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 "12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

Is it time in your life to take God off the shelf, to read the word, to pray and give Him a thankful heart. I wrote a blog yesterday, but I didn't post it, because I don't know if its legalistic or not. I talked about how we know we are Christians, yes Jesus knows our hearts, but as a man that has questioned if I have quenched the spirit by my actions, I wanted to dive into how I know. The Bible is full of examples, but I think the biggest thing is, the First and Greatest Commandment, Love the Lord your God with all of... You know the rest, if we do this, we want to please Him, we hunger and thirst for Him, we strive to be like Him, we seek Him, we seek His counsel, we put Him first in all things, we die to our wants and desires and we live for His. We take His teachings as they are and we strive to honor God and in doing so, we honor our spouses, our kids, our family. If we are not doing those things, we must seek God, we must ask for His forgiveness, because we are quenching His spirit.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. After I posted this, I found another verse that talks about how we can grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:25-32 "25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give  grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."