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"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
(Titus 3:4-7)
Yesterday, we looked at the general message of Titus 3:4-7 and saw how it described the miracle of the work of the Lord in the salvation of every believer. If you are paying attention, you'll notice that it is the same verses above that I have for you today, repeated. Yesterday, we took in the main message of the passage. There is one phrase from that passage, however, which I want to zoom in on today.
In verse 6, we are told that the Holy Spirit has been "poured out on us generously".
The truth that He has been poured out onto and into the believer generously means that God has not held out on us from having all that we need. This is the picture of a rushing, flowing stream into our hearts. Not a trickle, but an overflowing cup.
However, sometimes we may feel more like a dried-up river bed or a stagnant pond inside our hearts: cracking, searching for something to quench the thirst of our longings, like something is missing. Be encouraged today, Christian. That dried up or stagnant feeling is not because God has turned off the tap. He is still there. He has still abundantly poured out His Spirit on you. Those rivers are still flowing. That dried up feeling may very well be because you are not going to the river to drink, not because the waters have receded.
God is not holding something back from you, if you are in Christ. The Scriptures make a point to add in that word, "generously". We simply must partake, listening to the Holy Spirit, asking for His help and obeying.
It reminds me of the story when Jesus was arrested and was taken before the high priest. Peter, the Scriptures say, "followed Him at a distance" (Matthew 26:58, Mark 14:54, Luke 22:54). Only a few verses later, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Perhaps it is time for you to stop following Jesus at a distance and instead draw near. James 4:8 tells us to "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." If you're feeling like God is distant, let me encourage you to not be like Peter, following at a distance. It is time to follow Jesus much more closely and experience that abundant outpouring that the Lord offers. He is not distant but sometimes follows at a distance. That, I think, is what leads to that dry feeling we've been talking about.
God has given us the Holy Spirit, pouring out His Spirit on us generously at the moment of our salvation. Let us enjoy that abundance of His presence by following closely to hear His every word and follow in each footstep He lays out before us.
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