Have you ever wondered about the difference the Holy Spirit makes to a Christian? The Holy Spirit makes all the difference.

The Holy Spirit is not an aura, atmosphere or mood; He is a person. You can experience the person of the Holy Spirit. It is totally different when you encounter a lion and it looks you in the eyes, than when you look at a nice lion wallpaper or picture in your room. It is one thing to study or read about the Holy Spirit but it is another when He encounters you. He is available to every believer just like air is. If you can receive air, you can receive the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 5:1-4, “When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.”

Whatever The Holy Spirit Breaks, You Are Empowered To Remove

Just like the Philistines, when people get saved, they bring the Holy Spirit inside their lives but already have other gods erected in their own hearts. It might be jealousy, witchcraft or poverty and son on. The Ark broke Dagon; it didn’t remove Dagon.

Many Christians don’t realize when they come to Jesus Christ, God forgives them of their sins and breaks the power of sin but also gives them the power to remove the presence of sin. That is to change their habits, develop new relationships and begin to fight back against every power that held them hostage.

God cannot be figured out; He can only be trusted, (Proverbs 3:5-6). Don’t try to control God – let Him lead you. The presence of God cannot be controlled, won’t cohabitate with other gods and will conquer other gods. But God will leave a job for you. That is the clean-up. In the beginning, the Bible says God overlooks these times of ignorance, (Acts 17:30). Deliverance is where it starts. Deliverance defeats but discipleship and discipline clean up the temple.

In Matthew 19, there were a lot of idols in the house of Zacchaeus. Jesus’ presence entered the house, and the idols started falling – jealousy, greed, lying, cheating all started to fall. Jesus didn’t even say anything. The virtue of Jesus’ presence decapitated those other ‘gods’ before Him and Zacchaeus cried out in repentance. You cannot defeat other gods without God. You cannot defeat greed, jealousy, nightmares or pornography without God. Many people say I will clean my temple first and then, come to God. Don’t you think it would be foolish to go to a barber after you have had a haircut?

The Holy Spirit Makes No Difference In Someone Who Is Indifferent To Him

Indifference to the Holy Spirit will lead to irreverence of the Holy Spirit. Every irreverence, grieving and quenching starts with being indifferent. I believe the greatest insult to the Holy Spirit is not sin but indifference. That is to live your life as through the Spirit doesn’t exist, pray as through He doesn’t live in you and walk every day as though He is not real.

My desire is not to provoke you to guilt but to stir up a slight appetite that you become curious and fascinated by the Spirit of God who lives inside you. Repent from the sin of indifference and irreverence and we will cultivate hunger, communion and longing for the person of the Holy Spirit.

As you begin not to be indifferent, He will begin to make a difference in your life, work, family, finances, speech and attitude. You will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. You will drive out demons and they shall go because the Holy Spirit makes all the difference.

Proximity to the Holy Spirit does not matter as much as passion for the Him. Uzzah was a Levite but that did not matter because he did not have passion for the Holy Spirit.

That you had past experiences with the Holy Spirit, does not mean that the He is committed to you if you are no longer chasing Him. The Holy Spirit commits only to those who chase Him.

The Holy Spirit is after your passion which will result in purity. God said of David that He had found a man after His own heart. That is a heart that is chasing God. God took David from the sheepfold and put him on the throne. If God sees that you are truly after His heart, He will promote you and give you a new measure of grace and anointing, (Matthew 6:33).

Don’t be the person who is so familiar with God that you take Him for granted. Irreverence always leads to the death of intimacy. God has brought you to read this to resurrect your intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Will Transform Those Who Take Him In

2 Samuel 6:10-12 – “And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.” 

The Ark killed Uzzah but blessed Obed-Edom. God is ready to bless your life, marriage, business, health and education but He wants you to have an attitude of gratitude and honor towards the Holy Spirit. In 1 Chronicles 15:18, Obed-Edom went on to become a gatekeeper of where the Ark went. Don’t stay where the blessing is, follow where the Blesser, the Holy Spirit goes.

When you receive God’s blessing, people on the outside will not look at you and say they want your blessing but that they want the One who blessed you. Be attracted by the Blesser and you will never be distracted by the blessing, (Proverbs 10:22).

Sermon by Vladimir Savchuk; Blog by Edward Gardiner

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