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.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for individuals to allow the Holy Spirit to influence and guide their lives more fully, rather than seeking additional gifts or blessings.
In this quote, Oswald J. Smith expresses the idea that the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit in a person's life does not depend on the abundance of the Spirit itself but on the willingness of the individual to surrender and offer themselves to the Spiritβs influence. It suggests a deeper relationship between a believer and the Holy Spirit, where the focus shifts from asking for more spiritual gifts to allowing the Spirit to transform one's life and actions.
In practice
Using this quote in a sermon about spiritual growth and surrender.
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.
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.
When prayer fades out, power fades out. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful; no more, no less.
It is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God.
May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender caring heart as our gift to the Savior.
The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.
Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer.
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us - set us right with him, make us fit for him - we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand - out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
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