"Sending the Help-er"

"Do not quench the Spirit" ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:19

If I'm being honest, this verse used to make me a little bit uncomfortable the first few times I heard it. My thought was, "What right or even ability do I, a sinful man that's basically a speck in all the universe, have to suppress or thwart the move of God?" While it's true that we don't have the right to quench the Spirit - and Paul clearly commands us not to - we DO have the ability. God has given us free will, which we have used to rebel and sin. But when Jesus came to save us, He knew He couldn't stay, at least in the flesh, so He promised to send us the Holy Spirit, the Helper, so that He would always be with us in Spirit. The Spirit is the Helper because He reminds us of Jesus' words and gives us strength and comfort to get us through each day. But we have to be willing to accept His work in our hearts in order to be blessed by it. When we read the above verse or even talk about the work of the Spirit, we so often think about what He's doing outside of us. But that section of Paul's letter is clearly about our own character and godliness. You are unable to quench the Spirit's move in the world, but you must be unwilling to quench it in your own life. This week at Friendship, we'll talk about God "Sending the Help-er" because He knows we cannot win this spiritual war on our own. Join us and see what the Spirit is up to in your life!