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Ignoring the Guest of Honor
By Johnathan Dobbs

Imagine yourself at a party. You were invited, and you like the people who are there. However, it is late in the party and no one has spoken one word to you. You have tried to initiate conversations to no avail. When you speak it is as if your words dissolve before they leave your mouth. You are a ghost at the party though you are as real as everyone else there.

Have you ever been ignored? The feeling is very frustrating. There is a significant amount of disrespect that is shown when a person is ignored.

I say "Hi!" to people all the time. It's just in my nature to do so. Most of the time the other person will smile and say it back. Sometimes they will merely smile, but it is those times when the person, who clearly saw me, simply walks by without acknowledging my existence that stick in my mind. I want to stop them and find out why they felt justified to ignore me, but I just let them keep walking. Ultimately it is no big deal for a stranger to ignore me. The times it hurts are when it is someone I love that does the ignoring.

I wonder if the Spirit feels that way. We invited Him into our lives when we were baptized (Acts 2:38) yet we ignore His existence for the most part. How much time do you spend thinking and focusing on Jesus and God compared to the Spirit. There's a party inside your soul, but the one who lives inside you is often ignored.

It's pretty obvious to see who is ignoring this guest of honor. Paul noticed it when he wrote to the Galatians church. He asked them, "What happened to all your joy?" (Galatians 4:15)

I know so many people who want to be happy in this life. They try all they can to pursue it. They put forth much effort and a good amount of their concentration to find it. They try and try to get rid of the sin in their life in hopes that it will bring the happiness they desire. People are literally dying to find happiness, yet it is a temporary feeling.

Have you ever seen someone with happiness in the moment but no joy in their life? I see it all the time. Maybe it is you. One of the fruits of the Spirit, whom we often ignore, is joy. I don't know about you, but that's what I really want. It is joy that will see you through any circumstance that befalls you. Joy is eternal -- happiness is temporary.

So, where's your joy? Are you living in the Spirit in such a way that there is true joy in your life? Have you been ignoring the guest of honor in your life? If you've been baptized, then the Spirit is in you and wants to guide you to the life you've always deeply wanted.

Want to know more? Let's talk. I'd love to study more about this with you. God bless you as you allow more and more of your life to be centered in the Spirit.