Longing for Higher Ground

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God" (Psalm 42:1)

Too many want the Holy Spirit in order that they may have the gift of healing. Others want Him for the gift of tongues. Still others seek Him so that their testimony may become effective. All of these things, I will grant, are a part of the total pattern of the New Testament. But it is impossible for us to make God our servant. Let us never pray that we may be filled with the Spirit of God for secondary purposes.

God wants to fill us with His Spirit in order that we should know Him first of all and be absorbed in Him. We should enter into the fullness of the Spirit so that God's Son may be glorified in us.

I try to bathe my soul in the writings and the hymns of the devoted saints of God. I wonder why we ever stoop to read or sing or quote anything but that which is elevated and divine, noble and inspiring.

When the Holy Spirit comes, He lifts our minds to new ideals and gives us conceptions of things so much in advance of our present experiences that we long for higher ground.

~A. W. Tozer~