According to my calendar this morning, there are only 16 more shopping days left. Have you gotten all your Christmas shopping done? I'm right on schedule for another Christmas eve late-nighter!

-------------------------

There is so much significance attached to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that I shutter to think of my life without the presence of the Spirit.

When the text of Acts 2 says that the first converts to the message of grace received the "gift of the Holy Spirit," it doesn't mean they received as a gift the Biblical text! It means they received within themselves the very Spirit of God Himself!

For example, Ephesians 1.13-14 speaks of the Spirit as our "seal" and "deposit guaranteeing our inheritance." That isn't speaking of pages contained within a leather-bound cover; it speaks of the presence of the Spirit within you.

In Revelation, the faithful of God are marked by a seal (Revelation 7.3) to protect them from the onslaught of Rome's purging of Christians. The theological significance of being sealed in Revelation, when coupled with the Ephesians passage which marks Christians as sealed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, is powerful. My eternal protection and assurance is tied to the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit as my seal before God and my down-payment toward a mansion in heaven.

Ephesians 4.30 encourages us not to "grieve the Holy Spirit, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Again, the imagery of being sealed by the indwelling Spirit is prominent.

But what do we make of this charge not to "grieve" the Holy Spirit? How could we possibly grieve the Holy Spirit of God?

Seen in context, Ephesians 4.29-32 speaks of character traits of disciples of Jesus Christ: to speak encouraging words to build up others (29); to put away bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, and malice (31); to exhibit kindness, compassion and forgiveness (32).

As we noted yesterday, the purpose of the indwelling Spirit is to recreate within every disciple of Christ the character of Jesus. We grieve the Holy Spirit of God when, through our stubbornness, we hold onto the reins of our lives disallowing the Spirit to work.

The Spirit's most effective inside work in our lives demands submission. When I fail to submit to the Spirit's work, I grieve the Spirit of God by disallowing the Spirit to recreate in me the character of Jesus that leads to harmony and peace.

Today, may God find us living in the "grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit..." (2 Corinthians 13.14).