Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Excerpt from Ch. 12 of – New: Wineskins and the Simple Words of Christ

Paul says we can also quench the Spirit: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22). The word “quench” means to extinguish or suppress. It’s like using a hose when suddenly the water stops running. You trace the hose backward and realize a kink has developed, cutting off the flow of water. In a similar way, we can develop spiritual “kinks” that suppress the flow the Holy Spirit in our lives.

To illustrate this point, I’m going to pay attention to Paul’s instructions to “rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.” From spring 2013 to spring 2015, I worked as a chaplain. Radio stations, construction companies, restaurants, and other businesses would ask my company to come to their job sites each week and check up on every member of the company. We would ask how they and their families were doing and if there was anything we could do for them that week. We would also provide various forms of pastoral care-like services such as hospital visits, funerals, counseling, or just meeting someone for coffee or lunch if he or she wanted to talk.

Throughout the first few months of this vocation, I would be flooded with feelings of anxiety as I drove to each job site. A couple of times I sat in the parking lot of the establishments for about 15 minutes, focusing on how I was about to say many stupid things and inevitably look like a fool. Basically, how it was about to be middle school and high school all over again. Then, giving into my fears, I would drive off to find comfort in a Chick-fil-A #1 with no pickles, telling myself many reasons why tomorrow would be a much better day to make a visit.

Our heavenly Father has promised to meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. He has promised a steady flow of Living Water for His children. However, He has also promised we have the ability to control, to a great extent, how freely that river flows in our lives. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 that one key to maintaining a steady flow of the Holy Spirit is by engaging God throughout our day with an awareness of His goodness, His greatness, and His Fatherly care.

One morning as I was about to do my chaplain work, I was again inundated with worry and fear concerning the task ahead of me. This time, however, I chose to engage God. I began to sing one of my favorite hymns, “How Great Thou Art.” I dwelt on how the great and awesome God of the universe loved me enough to send His Son to die for me and take away my sin and how He is coming back to take me home to be with Him forever.


I sang louder and louder, engaging not just my heart but also my mind and spirit. I sang until I entered God’s presence and believed the truth of the words I was singing more than the lies of enemy. I kept singing until it was a prayer. I sang until I was worshiping God. By the grace of God, I worshiped until I was no longer in a place of quenching the Spirit but rather in a place of excitement about obeying God out of a love for Jesus. I kept that posture of prayer during the ride to the establishment, and God did amazing things in the lives of the people I encountered that day.

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