Contrite

To be humble and repentant before God, crushed by the sense of guilt and sinfulness.

Hebrew word: daqaq (Holman, 2015)

In reading Isaiah 57:15, when it tells us that God not only dwells in the high and holy place, but also with him who is a contrite and lowly spirit, (ESV); have you ever stopped to think about that? I did recently and it is mind boggling to think that the God of the universe, who created all and is all, who fills the temple with His glory and presence, also lives inside us through the Holy Spirit. To be contrite is not saying that God wants to literally crush us, but our pride must be crushed so we can become humble before a Holy and Almighty God. We cannot serve man and God.

Arrogance does not feel the weight of sin or guilt. It is only a humbled spirit that feels that kind of weight. When we feel it, that is when God enters us and gives us grace for our sinfulness. When God lifted that weight from my shoulders, I rejoiced and fell to the floor, it was not a choice. It was the only response for such a realization in my broken life. In our humble posture we can be lifted-up, because of Jesus. Isaiah 53:5 says, “but he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (ESV) There was only one who could answer this call. We had someone willing to supersede for us- who took our place at the cross and became our substitute- that person was Jesus. A sinless Christ became human and took on our sin so we could be saved and live in peace with God and have a relationship with Him, through the Holy Spirit. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us.

I Thessalonians 5:19 – NLT translation says, “do not stifle the Holy Spirit” while ESV reads, “Do not quench the Holy Spirit.” In doing a little word study, we see that stifle means to suffocate and quench means to extinguish. Putting this into context, the Thessalonians had experienced false teachers, so they were “extinguishing” the Spirit’s fire by not believing in any prophesies. They despised manifestations of prophesies and were cutting them all off. Paul is telling them by cutting off all prophesies they were essentially cutting off a valuable source of encouragement. Instead of rejecting all, they should test everything to see what is true. I would encourage you to read the Scripture for yourself and ask God for wisdom for understanding His truth. It is well worth the time an energy. All OT Scriptures point to the coming of Christ. Before the Holy Spirit came, Jesus came in human form and died so we could live. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, God placed the Holy Spirit in us to guide us and give us confidence that we are His as we look forward to that day when Jesus comes back for us. Eph. 4:30 tells us “do not to bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way we live.” (NLT) (1:13) “we are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit.” God’s promises are Yes and Amen; He put His seal on us and has given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:20-21, ESV)

We should read the Bible to understand God’s heart. The mighty will fall, the weak will stand tall. His promises are sealed with a Holy kiss; to give us a future and a hope. Jesus is the only answer for a broken world. When we feel the weight of the world closing in on us, we can lift it up to God and ask Him what He wants for our life, and then be willing to listen and receive the Holy Spirit in peace and grace through Christ who sets us free. May we steep in the goodness of God, showing love and kindness to others as He has shown us.