A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (February 2, 2017)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
The opposite of quenching the Spirit is attempting to force the Spirit. Moving in the anointing and the gifts of the Holy Spirit is an exciting experience. There is no equivalent on earth to the feeling achieved by having the Spirit of God manifest Himself through the believer. It is a type of euphoria that cannot be achieved through earthly accomplishments or even drugs. There is nothing that physically compares to the freshness of the Holy Spirit in action.
A move of the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of changing lives. In the same way that the purpose of a fuel station is to fill the tank of an automobile so that it can travel great distances, the purpose of the automobile is not to be filled with fuel. While filling the automobile with fuel is necessary for travel, the travel itself is the purpose.
Likewise, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of living and preaching the gospel to the world. Just before His ascension, Jesus said that His followers would receive the power of the Holy Spirit and He went on to say that as a result, they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world (Acts 1:8).
It is the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and fills us and empowers us to walk in the fruit of the Spirit and receive the gifts of the Spirit, that causes our light to shine the goodness of God to the world and the result is God will be glorified. Receiving and moving in the things of the Spirit are for the glorification of God, not for the glorification of man. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
Because of the freshness that comes through the moving of the Spirit of God, there have been those who have attempted to force the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself by physical manifestation. While it is true that we can create an atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself as He wills, He doesn’t “show up” because we imitate a previous manifestation. I have been in meetings where the Holy Spirit was manifested in unique ways and it was truly a great move of the Holy Spirit where people received personal ministry. The very next night, the same people with the same ministers arrived at the same building and attempted to have the same move of the Holy Spirit. While to the casual onlooker the two meetings may have seemed similar, one was led by the Holy Spirit and the other was simply a manipulation of the crowd through their emotions and desires.
It is extremely important to always be led by the Spirit and to not allow fleshly manipulation to actually quench something that the Holy Spirit may be wanting to do that was different from the night before. True spiritual maturity is led by the voice of God and not by the desires of the flesh. We should never be led by the popularity of a minister or the size of a ministry, but always be led by the Holy Spirit.
