The First Person in Our Lives ...

“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 THE MESSAGE)

Have you noticed how personal the God of the Bible is?

It’s the very premise on which the Bible is written. “This,” the writers say over and over, is the “Word of the Lord.” God is talking to you through what’s written on these pages. The greatest of all the commands in Scripture is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

God wants to have a relationship with us. All we’re meant to be will never be without this relationship. We cannot, and must not, take “such a gift for granted.”

If we’re to take God as seriously as the first person in our life ought to be taken we must be sure we see Him as a person who takes us seriously. We simply must be completely convinced that He has made arrangements to be an intimate part of our lives. “His Holy Spirit” is “moving and breathing in” us.

Think of it this way. At the core of us, in the secret regions of us, the most personal aspects of us are kept guarded, sometimes buried beyond the reach of our own consciousness. These “secrets” are “heart issues.” They determine the sort of person we are. When we decide to “put God first in our lives,” He immediately enters these “secret regions” personally; as the “Holy Spirit.”

Without hesitation the Spirit of God sets out to examine what is there “at the heart” of us. He actively exposes everything He finds there. With our co-operation He “restores” to life things that must be awakened and re-energized if we’re to be “fit” for the “New Life” which God has for us.

The first sign of this is a re-activated conscience. We find we’re becoming more sensitive. We might even think we’re getting too religious. We find we’re troubled by things we’ve said. We’ve said such things before. But this time we wonder where they came from. At first we brush them off. But, like static charged lint, it clings to our thoughts. Under the fiery light of the Spirit’s gaze we realize we’ve spoken out of jealousy. Our words were evil. We need forgiveness. We actually need a change of heart. That’s what Our Lord called “repentance” isn’t it? A change of mind and heart concerning the way we live. The Spirit presses the point. We can’t shake His conviction. We repent. We’re forgiven. The Spirit continues to press the issue. We realize we need to make amends with people our jealous heart has harmed. They need the healing touch of genuine sorrow and compassion. We need their forgiveness.

This is how God works in us to make us “fit for Himself.” Taking every stirring within us seriously frees the life-changing Spirit to actually “make us over.”

Never cause the Holy Spirit grief! He is in you because God is committed to your “full redemption and restoration." He will make you, step-by-step, like Jesus Himself,” the only human being who lived the life "fit for God Himself."