Proof Positive
Theme of the Week: What the Holy Spirit Does
Monday, October 24, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children (Romans 8:16). Bonus Reading: Galatians 5:16-25
Matsuyama slumped cross-legged on the wooden floor of his one-room apartment on the second floor of a former army barracks. His was just one of dozens of poor families housed in the ramshackle old building.
"What's wrong, Matsuyama San?"
"I'm not a Christian any longer."
"What happened?"
"Oh, I got drunk, some guy bad-mouthed me, and I chased him with a baseball bat. What's worse, when I got home and told my wife, she handed me the butcher knife. She said, 'the Bible says if your right hand does wrong, cut it off.' I'm no Christian."
It was out of drunkenness that Matsuyama had been saved. An excellent electrician, he descended down the river of alcohol to poverty, taking his wife and three children with him. "Did you ever get drunk and fight before you became a Christian?" I asked.
"All the time."
"Did you feel bad about it?"
"Only if I got beat."
"Don't you see, Matsuyama San? Since the Holy Spirit lives in you, when you fail you're miserable. Your misery is proof you really are a Christian!"
—Robertson McQuilkin in Life in the Spirit
My Response: I recently experienced the Spirit's convicting role when …
Adapted from Life in the Spirit (Broadman & Holman, 2000) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Father, I ask for Your Spirit to motivate and enable change in my life that makes me more like Jesus.
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