Let me say that it is not a question of us getting more of the Holy Spirit, but rather of the Holy Spirit getting more of us.
Oswald J. SmithRead
God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him; He brings me into a relationship with Himself where I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it out of sheer love to Him... When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that a personal relationship with God guides one's actions and purpose in life.
Oswald J. Smith articulates the profound connection between an individual's relationship with God and their understanding of their calling or purpose. He suggests that rather than receiving explicit directives, a genuine relationship with the divine fosters an internal conviction about what one ought to do, driven by love and a sense of duty towards serving God and humanity. This underscores the transformative power of faith in guiding one's actions and decisions in life.
In practice
During a sermon on the importance of personal faith.
Let me say that it is not a question of us getting more of the Holy Spirit, but rather of the Holy Spirit getting more of us.
Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice, before everyone has heard it once?
Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost is almost entirely neglected.
Seek to be made holier every day; pray, strive, wrestle for the spirit, to make you like God. Be as much you can with God. I declare to you that I had rather be one hour with God than a thousand with the sweetest society on earth or in Heaven. All other joys are but streams; God is the fountain.
The sky is my prayer, the birds are my prayer, the wind in the trees is my prayer, for God is all in all.
To be used of God. Is there anything more encouraging, more fulfilling? Perhaps not, but there is something more basic: to meet with God. To linger in His presence, to shut out the noise of the city and, in quietness, give Him the praise He deserves. Before we engage ourselves in His work, let's meet Him in His Word... in prayer... in worship.
A rich, vibrant, consoling, hard-won prayer life is the one good that makes it possible to receive all other kinds of goods rightly and beneficially. [Paul] does not see prayer as merely a way to get things from God but as a way to get more of God himself.
How often I failed in my duty to God, because I was not leaning on the strong pillar of prayer.
When you forget that you need Allah, He puts you in a situation that causes you to call upon him. And that's for your own good.
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