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Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - May 11, 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

Today’s devotion is adapted from a recent post on Pastor Greg’s blog. To read his latest blog entry, click here.

Grieving the Holy Spirit

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
—Ephesians 4:30

Scripture identifies six specific sins that can be committed against the Holy Spirit. Today, allow me to focus on one that can be committed by believers—grieving the Holy Spirit.

One of the places in Scripture where we read about grieving the Holy Spirit is in Ephesians 4:29-32. The apostle Paul writes:

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

To “grieve” means to make sad or sorrowful. It means to cause sorrow, pain, or distress.

But what is it that makes the Holy Spirit sad or sorrowful?

1. Foul and abusive language makes the Holy Spirit sad.

Verse 29 says, “Don’t use foul or abusive language.” The word used here speaks of something that has gone “rotten.” This includes obscene Language, profanity, dirty stories, vulgarity, double entendres, etc.

When did it become “cool” for preachers to speak this way from a pulpit? This is thought of as being “real” and “authentic.”

Guess what? You are not to speak this way, privately or publicly.

How about being “authentically godly”?

2. Bitterness makes the Holy Spirit sad and sorrowful.

The definition of “bitterness” is “an embittered and resentful spirit that refuses to be reconciled.”

Some people just “like” to be mad. They live for conflict, arguing, and fighting. This, as with all sin, only gets worse if left unchecked and unrepented of.

The sad thing is that bitter people rarely want to keep it to themselves. Instead, they spread it around. The Bible speaks of “a root of bitterness defiling many” (see Hebrews 12:15).

I have a better idea–forgive!

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries.  All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.  Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
to listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com, click here.

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