Ephesians 4:30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
And having embraced the potentiality of this new workweek with a celebration of Monday, let’s continue that joyful embrace with a celebration of Tuesday as well nuh! (smile) Oh friends, being joyful in our earthly lives, regardless of our circumstances, is ever so important, because that’s the ONLY way we’ll ever receive true victory over the enemy and his evil works and despicable cronies. And the only way to be mostly joyful is to have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, with His Holy Spirit dwelling within us to lead and guide us in all righteousness.
But having said that, it is utterly essential that we obey the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit if we want to receive the many and majestic benefits it brings. We can’t obey when we feel like and don’t obey when we don’t. Total obedience is absolutely necessary ALL the time! Yes, like Bruh Paul said to the Ephesians: ‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’ (Eph. 4:30)
And I guess the next question will be, how can we grieve the Holy Spirit? Easy, just like we grieve our friends and families when we do wrong. Remember, the Holy Spirit is not an ‘IT’ but a person, the third person of the Holy Trinity, so that means He has feelings just like us. And we grieve Him when we do wrong. As Bruh Paul points out earlier in his missive to the Ephesians, we must put away lying and speak truth. Don’t be angry and sin.
Don’t let the sun go down on our anger. That means don’t go to bed angry, else it will disturb our sleep and we will wake up angry. And when you’re angry, you don’t have the peace of God flowing though you. Likewise, don’t steal, work honestly, don’t use corrupt communication, that’s foul and abusive language. Let our words be edifying, that’s teachable, from which our hearers can learn valuable stuff. And all of that you can find in Eph. 4:25-29.
And we can sum it all up in this verse: ‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.’ (Eph. 4:31) And by doing those ungodly things on a regular basis, is how we grieve the Holy Spirit. Then Bruh Paul explains the necessary conduct that should be manifested by a true believer in Christ. ‘And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ (Eph. 4:32)
Oh my fellow saints, ‘forgiven people, should be forgiving people!’ And it’s ever so important and necessary that we believers learn to live in peace, LOVE and forgiveness with each other, because that’s the ONLY WAY we will ever resist and then conquer the enemy! We can’t do that if we’re living in strife, conflict and evil doing, in other words exactly like the enemy does and desires for us to do. Remember, ‘the joy of the Lord is our strength.’ (Neh. 8:10)
That means only when we are good and godly do we possess the joyful strength of God, which flows into us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s all quite simple friends. If we want the marvellous benefits that emanate from our merciful and great God, then we need to live the way that He’s set out in His will and His word. You can’t be disobedient and still expect to receive all His many benefits as pointed out by Bruh David in Psalm 103.
‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with LOVING-KINDNESS and tender mercies. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement for all that are oppressed.’ (Ps. 103:2-6)
There you have it my brethren; some of the many good things that the Lord God Almighty, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does for those who sincerely bow down and worship Him! It’s amazing though, that so many of us desire to have all those benefits but refuse to do what it takes to get them. It reminds me of one of Sister Joyce’s (Joyce Meyer) sayings: ‘You can’t keep doing the wrong thing and expect to get the right result.’ But that’s exactly what so many of us are indeed doing. We are bowing down to the idols of materialism and evil that control our world, but yet we expect to enjoy the benefits of God. It won’t happen my people!
And please, please, let’s remember that although God LOVES us unconditionally and is long-suffering, that doesn’t mean He will put up with our shenanigans forever. At some stage off the game, if we continue in our present mode of undiluted evil, He will get tired and react in wrath. And believe me, you don’t want to feel God’s wrath, for it’s as great as His LOVE!
Yuh see how many times, and how disastrously He punished the Israelites for their disobedience and unfaithfulness. Don’t think the same thing won’t happen to us eventually, unless we turn from our evil ways. And who knows if it’s not already happening, with all the many calamities and disasters that are currently bombarding our world, be they natural or manmade.
Oh my fellow believers, it’s as Bruh Paul says in Romans: ‘And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we (first) believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.’ (Rom. 13:11-12)
Yes people, it’s certainly time for us to wake up from our slothful and evil ways and begin seriously living for Christ, for with each passing day, His return draws nearer, and if He comes and finds us wallowing in the mire of darkness, then crapaud smoke we pipe! And we certainly don’t want that, for it means eternal separation from God; the worst fate that can ever befall a human being. So please, let’s wake up and do what we need to do, and stop grieving the Holy Spirit nuh.
And for those of us who are sincerely trying to do that, let’s go home now declaring (wow!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the universe know to whom we belong, lock stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’
Now, it’s time for us to actually go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship of Jesus with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!
…Jesus is coming back unexpectedly…as a thief in the night…if He comes tonight…will you be ready…
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