Lesson 48 – When the Spirit Upholds

Psalm 51:12

"Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit."

    While confession of sin and relief from feelings of guilt are important in our lives, David understood the next step in cleansing involved the restoration of his relationship with God.

    Sin is like that. It strains our relationship with our Lord. Even when we confess our sins, there is still healing that needs to occur, and the Spirit is the key to this restoration. This rift is like that which occurs in any friendship when one has wronged the other. Even when the offending party seeks forgiveness, the scars of the hurt often remain and need to be worked through. As sinners, not only have we pained the heart of our Lord, we've scarred our own hearts! We need the Spirit's restoration.

    David shows us that joy can replace our scars by the presence of the generous Spirit. I love this concept. My God is generous towards me, even as a disobedient sinner!

    Generous tells me that God's grace is bigger than any of my sins. Generous says that God is more than willing to restore me to the joy of our relationship when I seek his presence. Generous describes God's unlimited effort to love me with all of his heart, even when I've forsaken his love.

    Think about it. The Spirit in your life stems from God's generosity towards you. The one who holds everything in the palm of his hand has chosen to be generous to you and me. O, the glories of God's love.

    Of course, generous doesn't mean we've got the right to take for granted God's presence in our lives. Until our hearts are grieved as much as God's is over our sins, we're really not in a position of where we can be restored.

LORD JESUS

I too want to be restored and held by your generous Spirit. I beg you to help me return fully to the joy of your presence in my life. Amen.

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