So Easily Wounded...

What does the Scripture mean when it talks about "communion"? There are seven meanings.

First, the word communion means presence. God the Father's desire for you is that the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit will be with you. 

Second, it means fellowship. You do not need to pray to the Holy Spirit; you simply fellowship with Him. And you should seek that communion as you would seek water in the wilderness. 

The third meaning is sharing together. You pour out your heart and He pours out His. You share your joy and He shares His. "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us..." wrote the apostles to the believers in Antioch (Acts 15:28). They were sharing...even writing letters....together.

Fourth, communion means participation with. The Holy Spirit becomes your partner. The Scripture, filled with phrases like "working with them" and "the Spirit and us," makes it clear that the work of the Spirit is in participation with you.

Fifth, it means intimacy. You'll never experience deep love with Christ until you know it with the Holy Spirit who brings that intimacy. There is no other way. God has "poured out" His love into our hearts "by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5). You can't love God without the Holy Ghost.

Sixth, the word means friendship. The Spirit longs to be your closest friend, someone with whom you can share the deepest secrets of your heart. 

And seventh, communion means comradeship. In Greek the word means "commander." He's like a captain, a ruler, or a boss... but a loving, friendly one. Just as he instructed the apostles where they should go and where they shouldn't, He must be allowed to rule in your personal affairs. Remember, since Christ departed, The Holy Spirit is "in charge" on earth.

Satan, the great deceiver, has done an incredible job. 

He has convinced the world... even dedicated ministers of the gospel... that the Holy Spirit is nothing more than an influence or special power. This deception is a priority of Satan because he knows that the moment you discover the personality and reality of the Spirit, your life will be dramatically transformed.

You also need to realize that the Holy Spirit can be afflicted and tormented. He can be vexed. Isaiah talked about the lovingkindness of the Lord and His mercy toward Israel: "But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them" (Isaiah 63:10). It's difficult to imagine, but true. The Holy Ghost can be tormented by human beings. In the original language, to vex carries the meaning of wearing down, troubling, even afflicting. Only a person can become the target of such torments. A strong wind cannot be quieted, but the Holy Spirit can: "And He called to me, and spoke to me, saying, "See, those...have given rest to My Spirit' " (Zechariah 6:8). The Holy Spirit is a person who responds to your wishes. You can tell Him to be quiet and He will. But then you run the risk of grieving Him. 

 The Holy Spirit is not a fighter; He is a lover. If you resist Him, He will just leave. He's not like Satan, who the Bible says will "flee" from you if you resist him. The Holy Spirit will not run away in fear, but rather He will leave your presence with a wounded heart. If He is grieved, He will gently retreat. If He is quenched, He will quietly depart. How tragic to think that people would vex or attempt to quiet such a lovely person. But they do. The Children of Israel did. And today while He is still longing for our love and our fellowship, we wound Him through our ignorance and rebellion.

I know this to be true because I have experienced it for myself. I have been in a place where speaking to the Holy Spirit was as real for me as speaking to my wife, my mother, or my father....and as I am walking about communing with Him in my heart, I enter a room filled with certain individuals and I can feel the Spirit leave. I can be sitting somewhere communing with the Holy Spirit in my heart, and someone enters the room and I will feel His Spirit leave. He is all powerful and all mighty, but I've learned that there are aspects of His personality that could be compared to that of a small child. 

When you deeply hurt or wound the heart of a child they will eventually not want to be around you. You can be in a room and a child that has been wounded by you will just wait by the door to the room if even that. The child won't want to be around you, or want to enter the room. And some wounds a small child can carry with them all their lives. 

 The Holy Spirit is very much like this. I wept once it was revealed to my heart how much I have grieved Him, and how I continued to grieve Him daily. In my daily prayers I began to ask the Lord to help me... to keep me from grieving His precious Spirit with my stubbornness, vanity, perversions, unbelief, and foolishness.

 I ask Him daily. I can't live with myself knowing that I torment someone that I love so dearly every single day. And I would rather the Lord take my life, than take His Spirit away from me.

May the Spirit of the Lord be with you.