Holy Spirit

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ...

—Ephesians 5:18 NIV

Key Thought


Being drunk is sometimes called being "under the influence." While we certainly are not to be under the influence of wine or other intoxicating or addictive substances, we all live under the influence of something or someone. Shortcuts to trying to live a full life nearly always involve living under the influence of some addictive substance or...

 

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

—1 Thessalonians 5:19 NLT

Key Thought


Have you ever been in the mood to kick up your heels, have some good ol' clean fun, and whoop and holler a little bit, but have found yourself in a formal situation where such behavior would not be tolerated? We feel stifled in such moments. Have you ever wondered how many times you've forced the Holy Spirit into a similar situation — stifling his efforts to encourage, empower, inspire, comfort...

 

Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.

—Ephesians 4:30 MESSAGE

Key Thought


"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God"! That's the way some translations read. The wording above, from The Message, stopped me dead in my tracks. The more I thought about this paraphrase of the passage, however, the more I was...

 

For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God's mercy to us.

—Hebrews 10:28-29 NLT

Key Thought


Sin can become so ingrained that it can lead...

 

Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

—1 Thessalonians 4:8 NIV

Key Thought


Scripture is not a collection of nice sayings left for us to ponder and do with them as we wish. It claims to be the message from God shared through human beings and inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is not meant for our entertainment or even solely for our gaining knowledge about God. Instead, God's...

 

[In his defense before the Sanhedrin, Stephen said,] "And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you're just like your ancestors. Was there ever a prophet who didn't get the same treatment? Your ancestors killed anyone who dared talk about the coming of the Just One. And you've kept up the family tradition — traitors and murderers, all of you. You had God's Law handed to you by angels — gift-wrapped! — and you...

 

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

—Romans 8:23 NLT

Key Thought


For most of us, the gift of the Spirit living within us is a calming reassurance of God's love and of our future glory...

 

For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

—Romans 8:16-18 NLT

Key Thought


The new way of God in the Spirit means not only that we are God's children, but that we are also joint...

 

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."

—Romans 8:14-15 NLT

Key Thought


"She wanted a mother. She wanted me to be her mother. And I wanted to be her mother, but it could not be." My wife, Donna, said these words with tears in her eyes as she thought about precious Gladys, a...

 

"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will...