Page 168 - THE MAN IN LOVE
P. 168
The Man In Love
Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12
Imagine all the things that David risked because He allowed uncleanliness in his heart as a result of the sin He committed with Bathsheba. His heart was polluted along with his spirit. The presence of God was no longer assured because the Holy Spirit cannot stay where sin is present. The joy that salvation brings, the one that passes all understanding, also was at risk.
The heart that God required from us in Proverbs 23:26 is not the polluted one but the clean one. Out of this same heart proceeds the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23) and the mouth speaks from it also (Matthew 12:34). A corrupt heart will never leave us blameless in life. More than that, the Holy Spirit will be quenched or taken from us if we do not get rid of sin that pollutes our hearts. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 we find the condition of the heart that is conducive for retention of the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God
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