Devotions 24-11-06

I Thess 5: 19-21

"Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

Yesterday I saw these verses and wanted to think on them today before moving on to other things. First I do not want to quench the Spirit. How do I do this? I think I quench the Spirit when I am not listening to what He is trying to say to me either through the Scriptures or in my spirit. This is where sin really trips me up because sin does quench the Spirit. Someone who is a prophet is many times not a very friendly person and I want to stay away from them. I want to appreciate what they are saying but I can despise them if I am not careful.

But there is a warning that whatever a prophet says must be examined because there can be prophets that are not speaking as they ought from God but may be speaking from themselves which is no good. These are called false prophets! That is the reason God has given us His Word so we can examine what people are saying to see if it really is from God.

I am to hold fast to what is good and to not be involved in anything that is evil. Am I holding fast to those things I know is good or do I let others or circumstances pull me away? Of course sin or evil is the pull that often gets me away from doing what is good. I must learn to hate evil and avoid evil and pursue holiness.

I need to meditate on these thoughts today. What is the good I am doing that I must continue and how would satan want to distract me from this good. Am I listening to the Spirit as I ought and what are the things that would quench the Spirit from working in my life. Give me the alertness to examine what I see or what I hear and not to believe in others too quickly. Most of all help me to pursue holiness and to hate evil. Thank You Lord for Your Word and Your warnings of what I should avoid and the encouragement to do what is right and will be a blessing to me and all who know me.