Let your gentleness be evident to all. —Philippians 4:5
Adjusting to the Dove is not easy. It is inconvenient. It requires making major changes in some of the habits that have never bothered us before. The question is, how far are you and I prepared to go in developing an acute sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s ways? I pray it will not be said of us, “They have not known my ways,” as God said of ancient Israel (Ps. 95:10). By not knowing His ways, Israel forfeited her inheritance.
Adjusting to the Dove is welcoming His presence. It is also giving Him no cause to leave.
How do we welcome Him? For one thing, tell Him! Have you often addressed the Holy Spirit with these words, “Holy Spirit, I welcome You”? Do this. Tell Him He is most welcome. Doing this is, in my opinion, virtually the first thing we must utter to God—together with the prayer for the sprinkling of Christ’s blood on us—every single morning of our lives.
You may say, “He already knows He is welcome.” Really? Do you not think He would love to hear you tell Him this? When you visit someone, and that person says to you, “You are most welcome here,” doesn’t it make you feel good?
Is the Holy Spirit so sensitive that He needs to be told He is welcome? Perhaps. Most people, sadly, want little or nothing to do with Him. You can prove you are different by welcoming Him! You can develop a deeper intimacy with the Lord by talking to Him about the most obvious and simple things—just as you would do with a friend.
But welcome Him to come in the manner He chooses.
Excerpted from The Sensitivity of the Spirit (Charisma House, 2002).
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