The Compass

‘As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God’ Ps.42:1 [KJV]

The areas we have focused on over the past few days are critical. These are the things that can give us Christians a bad report before the world. Not the power for healing the sick. We have people who are filled with the Holy Spirit but are nasty at work. People are filled with the Holy Spirit and their spouses regret living with them. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit but all we can hear is noise. God wants us to open our hearts to Him. The Holy Spirit is a person and He can be grieved. The Holy Spirit comes only when He is desired. Hunger cannot be hidden because it is always on display. When you serve people food it is easy to separate who’s hungry and who’s not. Similarly hunger for God cannot be hidden. The Holy Spirit gravitates towards the heart that longs/hungers for Him. The human heart is an absolute compass; it points to what it wants. It cannot point in two directions at the same time. So if there is something in our hearts that is competing with the Lordship of Jesus and with the Holy Spirit, we cannot have Him enthroned.

One of the duties of the Life Group leader is to check the spiritual climate of members. Check if they are baptized in water, in the Holy Spirit, or growing in God, and care for that. We once encountered a lady in our Life Group long ago just was not receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit despite several attempts. It lead to a counseling session that revealed her desires were on the throne of her heart. During the session she agreed to let her desires go, we prayed, and she received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. She had a dramatic experience. But after a while she disappeared and we found out later that she had given in to her desires again. We often question why God is not moving in a certain area. Perhaps it is because your heart is not right and God knows. I believe God wants to pour out His Spirit on us today. But what is that thing on the throne of your heart? That is the place that the Holy Spirit wants to inhabit. God’s heart has always pointed to man, it is clear from scripture, and even in His dealings today. You need to also attain that same clarity in your desire for God.

Prayer: Father, give me a heart that pants for You night and day. Create in me an insatiable desire for Your presence, in Jesus Name.