Respect for the Holy Spirit - by Jim Tharp, 2013

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt.
Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

I Thes. 5:19-24, NIV.

The apostle Paul, like Jesus and John the Baptist (Luke 12:49; Matt. 3:11), used fire as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army referred to the fire of the Holy Spirit as “a source of the Christian’s power and a safeguard of his purity.” Then he went on to say that we have a tendency to let that fire go out. 

 
J. H. Jowett aptly stated, “As that holy fire goes out, the evil one will seek to come in with coldness, hardness, and blindness.”

Early in my pastoral ministry I realized the urgency of developing a discipleship course for new believers that included lessons on “How to Relate to the Holy Spirit, Our Holy Guest”—Praying in the Spirit, Worshiping in the Spirit, Walking in the Spirit, Resisting Evil in the Spirit.

But as we move more deeply into the deepening shadows of the last days, we all shall need to find times of rekindling the fires of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In fact, this has been the main theme of my preaching and teaching throughout the year of 2012. In five states—Alabama, Indiana, Montana, Maryland, and Pennsylvania—and in nearly all services, whether a Revival Meeting, School of Prayer, or Prayer Gatherings, I have felt the Spirit lead in inviting believers to “come forward, either stand or sit at the front for an anointing of oil and a prayer for fresh faith, fresh fire, and a new fervency in the Spirit for a powerful prayer life, a holy empowerment for holiness of heart and life, and a new holy boldness and passion for witnessing to the lost.”

Thank God, they came! With no begging, waiting, or prolonging the invitation, they left their seats and came forward, some with shining faces of expectation, some in tears of repentance, and all in faith.

Dear Christian friends, evil forces are at work with sinister strategies to steal our fire, our faith, our devotion to Christ, our energies for Kingdom interests, our passion to pray and worship and witness, our desire for the Scriptures, our sense of need to be often alone with God.

Our security in Christ will hold as we obey Jesus’ solemn instructions in Luke 21:36: Keep awake then and watch at all times (that is, be discreet, attentive and ready); praying that you may have the full strength and ability and be accounted worthy to escape all these things [taken together] that will take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of man (ANT).