The Sprit - Good

Psalm 143:9-12 (ESV) ⁹ Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge.^[a] 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! ¹¹ For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! ¹² And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

My Grandmother was one of my closest prayer allies. From the time I was born until the time she went to be with Christ in eternity. She was always petitioning God on my behalf. She was praying for me not to fall into the world or away from Him. When she and my Grandfather found out I was going to school to go into the Ministry, she said something that seemed so cliché and almost confusing at the time…but after spending 5 years in vocational ministry, shined a light upon the reality of the Christian walk that I had not fully grasped.

“I am going to pray harder for you than I already do. Because I want better for you.”

This sentence holds such an immense and deep weight to it. Thinking back, I can see the look of deep concern in her eyes as she said it. She said it and she MEANT it. I love and miss that woman.

As I went about my life and gained experience both through failures and successes in equal measure, I began to TRULY see the depth of sin in humanity. I started to get what she meant. Her petitioning to God to “want better” for me was not that she didn’t want me to go into Ministry. It was that she wanted me to be protected and guided towards godliness and righteousness. Why? The life of a Christian is overflowing with temptations and challenge.

Look at the Scripture for today. David’s Psalm pours out his request to God for mercy, guidance, and protection from the world. He prays through this song for God to act on his behalf through the Holy Spirit to guide David in how to live in a way to please God.

There exists endless pressure from the world for the believer to fall in line with their way of living. Doing so is very obviously not aligned with God. This is why we need The Spirit to act on our behalf and point us towards goodness!

Remember, The Spirit is the “compass” for believers that leads them away from sin, and closer towards God. This is how the Spirit personifies the Attribute of Goodness! The Father exists as a bastion of Goodness. Goodness being sinless perfection. We are incapable of living a life that reflects this part of God. Thus, God grants us Himself as the Spirit to guide us in that direction. We must be humble! Our sanctification and righteous growth is not some journey that leads us to being perfect while we are alive here.

We cannot experience perfection until we are in Heaven with God. We cannot get to Heaven unless we repent and place our sincere and earnest faith in the Lordship of Christ. Yet, as we see throughout Scripture multiple times, we are not capable of doing so when we are dead in our sin. We REQUIRE the Spirit to regenerate our hearts to crave God and live for Him. Without Him, we are spiritually dead and inept.

Praise God that He sent His Spirit to us in such a manner…and praise God that He too “wants better for us.”

Soli Deo Gloria!!!!