"WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?" 173Jesus in your life? Then the Holy Ghost has not left. Do
you still hear the Spirit of God say, "Pray!"? He hasn't left.
Do you sometimes feel guilty about not reading the Word?
He has not departed; in fact, He's convicting you. Have you
met someone and felt the urge to tell the person about
Jesus? He's still there.
Jesus was not speaking a contradiction when He said
the Spirit will be with you forever. He was speaking of the
fact that the Spirit's role is permanent—even eternal. You
see, if you blaspheme Him, the Spirit will depart. But if you
grieve Him, He doesn't leave you. He'll stay, even when
you wound Him. I believe Christians grieve the Spirit every
day. I, for one, am guilty.
Grieving the Holy Ghost is the sin of the church. That's
why Paul said to the church, "Do not grieve the Spirit." He
was not addressing those words to unbelievers.
What If I Should Fail?
You may ask, "How do we grieve Him?" You grieve
Him when you don't forgive. You grieve Him when you say
something ugly or wrong. But your daily prayer should be:
"Blessed Spirit of God, please help me today not to grieve
You."
And what if you should fail? He is more than willing to
hear you say, "Please forgive me." And He will forgive and
cleanse you seventy times seven.
The Holy Spirit is so gentle that even the slightest
wound will cause Him pain. And the longer you've known
Him, the more you will understand His feelings. So many
times, in tears, I say, "Holy Spirit, I'm sorry for the anguish
I've caused you. But please, please, stay by my side."
There are times I've told Him: "You can chastise me,
but don't let me go!" For whom the Lord chastises He