Holy___!

I often find my self thinking like Paul, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19) Little things separate me from God’s heart when I want to draw near, and that grieves my spirit. My prayer life has recently been more of me asking for the Holy Spirit’s direction and guidance because there are still some rooms in my soul that need God’s remodeling work.

As we have learned over the past few weeks at The Vine, the Holy Spirit is God presently available to each of us. As I have been contemplating God making Himself available to me, I have had to take a serious look at what motivates me. Buried in this inward journey God again hit me with the obvious; the Holy Spirit is just as His name declares…HOLY, and cannot dwell in unholy places. That’s not to say that we, who sin, cannot have the Holy Spirit, but we can’t actively sin and expect the power of God to be at work in us.

The conclusion I have come to is that our motives tell the story, and what God has revealed to me is that I am motivated by happiness more than holiness. In The Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer writes, "The true ideal is not to be happy but to be holy. The Holy heart alone can be the habitation of the Holy Ghost." So my challenge is to die to the idea of happiness and grow in the pursuit of holiness, only then can The Holy Spirit become a full time resident and be more than occasional guest, bringing with Him Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Gentleness, and Self Control. That is when we will truly experience the abundant life Jesus promised.