Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome!

"Holy Spirit thou art welcome," should be the first thing you say each morning. We speak to God through the Holy Spirit who lives within us. A lesson that took me years to learn is that living in true salvation is a daily learning experience. As I would go through rough times, like most people, I would turn to God with a little more vigor. I would rise up earlier, stay up later, spend every possible minute in prayer with God. I figured that He would answer me if I spent as much time with Him as possible. And at every rough spot I experienced I would do the “praying to God all the time” thing.

What I didn’t realize was that was what I should be doing all the time anyway. God speaks to us with a still small voice. (Very important! This is why starting the day saying Holy Spirit, thou art welcome brings your mind to hearing Him!) When I would take the time, usually because I was facing some crisis, He would speak to me. He would tell me, “Put Me first, always, and your life will run smooth all the time.”

Oh, I would hear Him. I would even consider it. But I’m the first to admit that I was lazy in my spiritual life. I wanted things to run smoothly, at the same time I didn’t want to take responsibility with my prayer and learning life. I would get in a rut and pray before going to bed. If I could find the time I might read a passage out of the Bible. Usually it didn’t sink in. I thought that just reading it would be enough. But, God is patient. He never forces us to do anything. When we ask Him for help He always shows us or tells us the answer.

I always got my prayers answered when I really spent time with Him. (Holy Spirit, thou art welcome is your daily mantra!) The only time I really spent with Him in the past was during crisis. He wanted me to spend everyday- learning and seeking Him. I knew this, yet when the crisis would pass I would get lazy. Like Abraham’s father, I became comfortable and stayed put instead of pressing on to the promise land. God wants us to press on, in Him.

The still small voice kept saying to me, “I’m telling you, put Me first and your life will run smoothly.” It took me a couple of years and a few crisis. And finally the desire to have a victorious life guided me to what He had been telling me all along.

The pathway is gentle. God never forces Himself. We have to desire to yield to Him completely. He always leads to people who can teach us more about Him. If we are willing, He will guide us to all truth. We have to kill our will, so to speak. Yielding to God is the only way to live a truly victorious life.

It took some time for me to grasp this. I knew what I had to do. It was a matter of doing it. Unfortunately, laziness had me for a while. Things would get better and I would relax in my spiritual life. Probably figuring that things were smooth enough. Don't let a day go by without saying, "Holy Spirit, thou art welcome!"

The term lax means slack, flabby, loose especially in moral sense, careless. Relax mean lax over and again. So then relaxing in our spiritual life is not a good thing. I knew it all along. But like a lot of things we have to come to a certain point before we can act. For me it was like a slow thick shot in the arm. It took a while but when it finally sunk in I was on the road to victory.

God wants us to search for and listen to Him daily. Every day we need to read from His word – aloud. And every day we need to pray —both in the spirit and with our carnal mind. We must take time to study the Word. Simply reading a passage isn’t studying. Grasp the true meaning of saying "Holy Spirit, thou art welcome".

We should sit down and read and reread passages, till it becomes a part of us - until we can repeat and understand what we read. How many times have you picked up a book – any book – and read a few paragraphs. Then afterward have no idea what you just read.

We must be careful to concentrate and learn God’s Word. Have a dictionary and a Biblical concordance handy. Dive into the Word, pick it apart. You’ll be surprised at how much more there is to the Bible. And in the process you’ll be blessed beyond measure. This is why you should start each day saying “Holy Spirit, thou art welcome!”

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