Is it the Holy Spirit or the Flesh? • Deshen Daily

And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him (Judges 16:20 ESV)

The story of Samson recorded above is a staggering truth for us today as we learn to walk with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had left Samson after Delilah shaved his head, and he did not know. When Delilah told him the Philistines had come to attack him, he got out of sleep and said “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free”. Well, he went out, shook himself but realized the shaking was empty without any power. However, he was still able to shake himself.

Why did Samson shake himself? He had grown up to learn what happens when the Spirit’s power came upon him. There was shaking. I want you to note two things that happened after the Spirit’s power left. First, Samson continued to shake as before. Secondly, he did not know the power had gone. He only found out the results were no longer there.

Please grasp this staggering truth from this passage. There is a difference between the accompanying physical manifestations of the power of the Spirit and the power itself. For example, we are used to people shaking in meetings, shouting, preaching loud, falling etc. Yes, these things usually accompany the Spirit’s power. However, these things can continue to occur even when the power of the Spirit is absent or no longer at work. This is an astonishing reality the Church today should learn. It is possible to have a Church meeting, see preachers “on fire”, singers weeping as they sing, people “touched”, even falling and screaming and the Spirit of God has nothing to do with it. It is all “flesh”. The same thing can happen to our daily Christian lives or ministry. It mandates us to be careful and remain in fellowship with the Spirit and not continue functioning even when He is not involved.

MEDITATE

Please reread the devotional above to capture its full meaning.

APPLY THE WORD

Never allow yourself, ministry or local Church get to that state of callosity that you continue to function even when the Spirit is not involved, and you do not even know it. It is the epitome of carnality amongst us. Be sensitive and always in close fellowship with the Spirit.