Western Hills Christian Church: “You are family here!”

Do not quench the Spirit.
1st Thessalonians 5:19

We cannot prevent God from accomplishing His work in the world around us, but we can quench His Spirit in our lives. God has given us the freedom to withstand the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives. When we ignore, disobey, or reject what the Spirit is telling us, we quench His activity in us. The prophet Isaiah described the result: "Hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them" (Isaiah 6:9; Matthew 13:14-15).

When you sin, the Holy Spirit will convict you of your need for repentance. If you habitually ignore Him and do not repent, your heart will grow hardened to God’s Word. If the Spirit speaks to you about God’s will for you, and if you refuse to take action, a time will come when the Spirit’s voice will be muted in your life. If you continually reject the Spirit’s promptings, a day will come when you no longer hear a word form God. If you repeatedly stifle God’s word to you so that you are not longer sensitive to His voice, He will not give you a fresh word. Be wary of resisting the voice of the Spirit in your life. You may not always be comfortable with what the Spirit is saying to you, but His words will guide you to abundant life.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2nd Corinthians 7:10

There is a difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, though both are deeply felt.  You can feel genuine sorrow over something you have done.  Your mind can become consumed with your failure and offense against God and others.  Judas felt this kind of sorrow.  He betrayed the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver, the standard price of a slave.  Yet his sorrow did not lead him to repent and to seek restoration with his fellow disciples, but rather to a lonely field where, in his anguish, he took his own life (Matthew 27:3-5).  Judas carried his sorrow to his grave.

How different Peter’s sorrow was!  Peter, too, failed Jesus on the night of His crucifixion.  Peter also went out and  wept bitterly (Luke 22:62).  Yet Peter returned to Jesus and reaffirmed his love for Him (John 21:15-17).  Peter was not only remorseful, he was also repentant.  Peter’s life changed. There is no record of Peter ever denying his Lord again, even when he was persecuted and threatened with death.  Peter repented, turned his life around, and never committed that sin again.

Don’t allow mere unhappiness over what you have done to rob you of genuine repentance.  You can blame yourself and be angry with yourself for the sins you have committed, but that is not repentance.  Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the gravity of your sins.  Ask the Spirit to clearly show you how God views your character.  When you see your sin from God’s perspective, you will experience godly sorrow.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

Thus says the Lord of hosts:
"Return to Me," says the Lord of hosts,"and I will return to you."
Zechariah 1:3

God places much of the burden of what we will become on our response to Him.  If we have drifted from God, His call is to return to Him.  God promises that if we will return, He will immediately renew His relationship with us.  James 4:8 promises that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.  Matthew 7:7 guarantees that if we seek Christ, we will find Him.  Much of the Christian life rests upon our response and our desire to experience God to the fullest.

Why is it that some Christians seem to go so much deeper in their walk with God than others?  Why have some had such powerful intercessory prayer ministries that have changed the courses of nations?  Why has God chosen to anoint the words of some so that, when they speak or pray or preach, it is obvious that their words are consecrated by God?  It is because these individuals have committed themselves to pursue God until His presence is powerfully real in their lives.  They have decided to settle for nothing less than a vibrant relationship with God, and He has honored their desire.

Have you become complacent with your relationship with God, or are you hungering for more?  Don’t become satisfied with a relationship with God that is broken by sin and void from the power of the Holy Spirit.  You have just as much of God’s powerful presence available to you as the greatest saint in Christian history!  Return to God.  There is so much more in store for you if you will return to Him.  He awaits your response.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

Faithful are the wounds of a Friend,But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Proverbs 27:6

Jesus never gave relief to people who were under conviction. When Zaccheus, in remorse for his sin, shared his generous plans for restitution, Jesus did not say, “Now Zaccheus, the important thing is that you feel sorry for what you did.” Jesus brought no comfort to him as he dealt with his sin (Luke 19:1-10). Neither did Jesus excuse disbelief. We never find Jesus saying, “Well, that’s all right. I know I’m asking you to believe a lot, and that’s not easy.” On the contrary, Jesus was quick to chastise His disciples when they failed to believe Him. Jesus loved His friends too much to condone or comfort them in their sin.

It is possible to be too gentle with your friends. When a friend is under deep conviction by   the Holy Spirit, do you try to give comfort? Don’t ever try to ease the discomfort of someone whom the Holy Spirit is making uncomfortable. Be careful not to communicate to your friends that you find their lack of faith acceptable. You are not acting in true friendship if you condone disobedience or even if you look the other way. Kisses are far more pleasant than wounds, yet they can be even more devastating if they lull your friend into being comfortable with sin.

In our attempt to appease our friends and our reluctance to share a word from God, we can actually cause great harm. If we see our friends in danger and do not warn them, God will hold us accountable for our silence (Ezekiel 33:6). Are you a friend of such integrity that you would risk wounding your friends in order to deter them from their sin?

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day