Do not Grieve or Quench the Holy Spirit

God gives you passion and power to be a witness to Jesus, to share the good news of the Gospel “you will receive power -Jesus said- when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses … to the end of the earth.”

You may be thinking “I don’t know, I’m not sure that describes me… Passion, power, sharing the Gospel” … maybe because you need to be filled with the Spirit. Which brings us to today’s exhortation… be filled with the Spirit; what does this even mean? How can one be filled with the Spirit?

Be filled with the Spirit

Let me, first, tell you two things you need not do; you need to avoid doing-

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit,

Do not quench the Holy Spirit,

And we understand what each of these mean from the context; what was Paul talking about when he gave these two admonitions.

Eph 4:30; do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, And Paul gives this admonition in the context of warning the Ephesians against sinful behavior and language.

Eph 4: (29) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, … (31) Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you.

What grieves the holy Spirit is sinful behavior and unholy language, gossip, and unforgiveness.

But when Paul said “Do not quench the Spirit”, the context is different 1Thess 5:19; Do not quench the Spirit.1Thess 5:20; Do not despise prophecies, 1Thess 5:21; but test everything; hold fast what is good.

What quenches the Spirit is wasted and missed opportunity to partner with Him when He prompts you to do something natural or supernatural. When He prompts you to talk to somebody, or pray for somebody for healing… Ignoring, neglecting, not making yourself available to the Holy Spirit to work in and through you quenches the Spirit.

But be filled with the Spirit; Let Him fill every corner of your life, keep a hotline with Him always, grow in your dependence on Him and in your capacity to draw on His various graces gifts and anointing.