Do not put out the Spirit's fire

1 Thess 5:19-22
Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. NIV

When we allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives there will be unexpected results. He will bring upheaval and change. Sometimes messes will result. Too many times our knee jerk reaction is to want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. There is another Scripture that illuminates the point:

Prov 14:4
Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.
NKJV
If you want clean stables get rid of the ox, but in doing so you also get rid of the fruit that comes from the oxen plowing the fields.

You may ask if I am advocating living in the messes, I am not. You still have to clean the stables, but when you do that ox poop ends up getting used as fertilizer. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Learn from your mistakes. From allowing the Holy Spirit to move you end up with fruit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Not bad for putting up with a little mess from time to time.

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