What Blocks me from receiving the Holy Spirit?
As a believer we walk close to God, follow his commandments and laws. We follow his Word. We pray to God and it seem like everything goes well and smoothly. However, sometimes there are hidden, inner, secret sins in a believer’s life. Nobody else knows it; only the person himself and God Almighty know. When a believer lives in such condition it is very dangerous.
There is a story told by a person that once upon a time there was a village and this village had no rain, no water; everything was dried up. No crops, food was scarce, the health of its people was poor. The economy of the village and its people was very low and their animals were weak. There was no rain, for many months.
Then one day some old people were going around in search of water. They believed that if they could find water at least they could bring their animals to it and they could stay there too. In their search for the water they went up to the mountains where they were surprised to find a huge lake full of water. There was plenty of water! This water was beyond their expectations and imaginations. They were so excited and happy and wished they could carry all the water to their village so that it had no shortage of water. Then they would have plenty of food, strong animals to plough the field, healthy children, and their trees would be full of fruit.
They sat down together and planned how they could get this water to their thirsty village. One old man, full of experience and wisdom, spoke up slowly and said,
“It is good if we could have some kind of pipe through which the water can flow right in to our village. Then the problem of drought will end forever.”
All the people who were in this meeting were very glad to have this plan. So they decided to use the bamboo trees, strip the leaves and small branches and join sections together which would turn it into a long pipe. The project took them several months; at last they were able to bring the lake water into their village.
Now everyone in the village was very happy and excited. They were congratulating each other on the arrival of clean and sweet water. New life returned to the village. The trees were green, people had plenty of food, the animals were well fed, and the villagers had enough milk, yogurt and butter in their homes. Many shade and fruit trees flourished.
The year after the lake water came, the crops were more plentiful; wheat, cotton and sugar cane produced well. There was much prosperity in the village. Those village people had never experienced such prosperity. The village became rich with honey and milk and the village enjoyed a prosperous lifestyle for many years.
Then a time came when no water flowed through the bamboo pipeline. The people of the village were very upset. They thought maybe the pipeline was broken at some point. So they made a careful inspection but to their astonishment the bamboo pipeline was in perfect condition. It was not damaged at any point; there was neither leakage nor any breakage. They next thought maybe the lake had dried up. Some of the old men said, “Let us go check the condition of the lake.”
They moved slowly to the mountain where the lake was located and were surprised to see that lake was full of clear water. They could not understand the problem: There is plenty of water; the pipes are in good shape, no leakage, no damage.
“Why is this happening?”
Then the same old man who made the bamboo pipeline suggestion took a long rod and pushed it to the point where the pipe was fixed to the source of water. He discovered some resistance, something hard. So he pushed back and forth several times and as he pulled back his rod he found a dead frog stuck to it. The frog had blocked the flow of water.
The water was always there; it was always available. The pipes were in good shape but this small blockage had stopped the flow of life-giving water.
In the same way God is always there, the Holy Spirit is always available. The power of God is there. But there is a small, hidden, secret blockage due to some sin, which stops the flow of the Holy Spirit. God stops working through the believer’s life; he has so many activities, so many programs but no power. No blessings for others, and for himself.
What blocks me from receiving the Holy Spirit?
How does my sin affects others?
Sin Can Block the Power of the Holy Spirit!
Blessings!
