Hello, everyone! For my first post on this blog I am going to talk about entertaining the Holy Spirit. Now, you may or not know what this means, but here is a verse to begin with -
Isaiah 63:10, "But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them."
Ok, I think everyone hears that when they accept Jesus into their hearts the Holy Spirit resides in them. Have you ever wondered what this really means? What affect does it have on you? Have you ever taken this for granted? I know that I have. In an eye opening conversation with my mom, I really thought about this concept.
First off, I think my mother best described the Holy Spirit in us as a force of power, a spark of life sustaining energy. It courses through our veins. So now (to me anyway), the Holy Spirit has a sort of face.. a form.
So, why does the headline read "entertaining" the Holy Spirit? What does entertainment have to do with anything? Well, if the Holy Spirit literally lives in you, it courses through your very being. When you watch, listen to, say, and do things, you are entertaining the Holy Spirit. So when you go to the movies to see the movie all your friends are talking about (be it zombies, demons, the paranormal, vampires, etc.), you are also taking God to the movies! If instead of being tucked away in you (where you surely forget he's there), he was walking alongside you to the theater, would you suggest a movie as described above? Or would you pick a flick that you think God would approve of? When you buy a new song on your IPod, does it have suggestive themes, or maybe a few cuss words that you overlook. Would you let God listen to that music if you were entertaining him in person. And what about your clothes? Are the clothes that you're wearing pleasing to God? Would God be ashamed to wear these clothes. You are the hosts and hostesses to God no matter where you go or what you do.
It used to be that when I thought of the Holy Spirit being in you, I thought that it didn't really have an affect on you. But this verse clearly tells us that it does. It says that the people grieved the Holy Spirit, so he became their enemy. I personally think these people acted in a way that would shame God if he were right next to them.
As a teenager and human in general, I feel compelled to check out the next big movie or whatever that my friends are all freaking out about and saying how awesome it is. When an unnamed vampire movie series came out, my friends were all obsessed. I felt very left out, but I knew that I shouldn't go see those movies. They may not have been terrible or gory, but I didn't think God would have liked a younger audience seeing this (I was like ten at the time).
Last year, that series kind of lost its thunder when a new trilogy premiered. The first movie came out and it was breaking records all over the place. One of my friends even went to see it seven times. Once again, I had this feeling that I didn't want to see this movie. My parents ordered it on pay per view, watched it, and although it was a little rough, deemed it ok for me to watch. I wrestled with myself, but pay per view has an allotted time to watch the movie, and so last minute (around midnight) I gave in and turned it on. I texted my friend (the one that watched it seven times) to tell her that I was finally watching it. She was all excited and made me promise to text her back and tell her how it was, no matter how late it was.
I watched it, cried some, finished it and went to bed. I laid there for like two hours going over the movie in my head. I felt honest to goodness sick. I knew that watching it was a mistake. I couldn't stand all the killing and murder. It may have only been a movie, but it really shook me up. I had disappointed the Holy Spirit. He tried to tell me, nudging me away from it, but I gave in to society's idea of a fun, awesome, groundbreaking movie. Needless to say I won't be entertaining myself or the Holy Spirit with the sequels! (Now obviously, every person and family has their own standards as to what is appropriate. This entry was created only to try and get you to think before you do!)
As a closer, just remember that whatever you do, any day, 24/7, God is with you. You are not only entertaining yourself, but the Holy Spirit. He wants to work with you, to help you along the bumpy road dubbed life... ok that was cheesy, but you get the point! As the above verse stated, if you disappoint him he will detach himself and become your enemy. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to disappoint my amazing, loving savior. If you feel as though you have disappointed him, simply ask for forgiveness and learn from the experience. He loves you and wants what's best for you.
Thank you for reading :) you can leave a comment and start an intense biblical discussion or just tell me what you thought. God Bless
Eph. 4:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
John 6:63, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life."
Luke 12:12, "for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
John Wesley on "grieving the Holy Spirit": There can be no point of greater importance to him who knows that it is the Holy Spirit which leads us into all truth and into all holiness, than to consider with what temper of soul we are to entertain his divine presence; so as not either to drive him from us, or to disappoint him of the gracious ends for which his abode with us is designed; which is not the amusement of our understanding, but the conversion and entire sanctification of our hearts and lives.
http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-138-On-Grieving-the-Holy-Spirit
