Because God gives you freedom, it is possible that you can quench or grieve the Holy Spirit. Even though He dwells in you and never leaves you nor forsakes you, you can short-circuit the flow of God’s power when your fellowship with God is strained or broken. To live in harmony with God, you need to:
Surrender Your Will to God
You are a new creation with a new identity in Christ. The Word of God declares that your old self is dead with Christ on the cross and your new self is alive with Him in His resurrection!
You no longer belong to the domain of darkness where your own will tried to rule over your own life. You are now transferred to the Kingdom of His beloved Son. A kingdom is the domain of a king where the will of the king is the law of the land and obeyed by its citizens.
Now that you belong to the Kingdom of God, you are no longer under any other will and power, including your own, but His.
Just as Jesus willingly submitted himself to the will of His Father all the way to the cross, trusting Him, you are to surrender your will and submit yourself as His child under the loving will of your heavenly Father. The obedience to the Father is foundational to the supernatural living, the natural life of believers in Christ.
Walk in the Light of Truth
“Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, ‘If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” – John 8:31-32
“For you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light.” – Ephesians 5:8
“But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7
Because God is light, you who are in Christ are light and can walk in the light as the child of light! Light of truth always dispels the darkness of lies, deception, and ignorance. Bring all things under the light of truth. That is, to bring Jesus the truth into every circumstance and to speak the truth of the Word in your situations.
Trust in God
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth and all their hosts, everything was good! Imagine! The life of Adam and Eve was surrounded by nothing but goodness, beauty, abundance, and freedom! Still deceived by the serpent, they mistrusted God. They did not believe in His absolute goodness. They did not have faith in God the perfect benevolent Creator! That is why it is impossible to please God without faith. True faith always results in actions in line with it. “So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself” (James 2:17).
Praise and Thank Him
Turn your heart from yourself or your problems to God. In many situations, your problems may be bigger than you, but in the presence of God, nothing is big. Focus on who God is. Praise Him for who He is and thank Him for what he does. He is your hope. He is your joy. He is your healer. He is your comforter. He is your strength. He is your wisdom. His promises are certain. His will is good. He is powerful. He is faithful. When you look to God in praise and thanksgiving, He will open your eyes (2 Kings 6:17) to show you the truth.
Humble Yourself Before God
“But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.'” – James 4:6
“And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand.” – 1 Peter 5:6
“Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had.” – Philippians 2:4-5
Seek Unity within the Body of Christ
Discord, bitterness, an unforgiving heart, and an independent spirit among His children grieve the heart of the Father. If you are a parent, you know how it feels to see your children not getting along well with each other. The lack of unity in the body of Christ quickly quenches the Holy Spirit because true unity comes from the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). We often seek superficial unity. This usually results in compromising truths and avoiding confrontation. The power of the Spirit is absent among such a body of Christ. We also sometimes confuse unity with uniformity. True unity is based on mature faith and the knowledge of Jesus. In other words, unity is possible only when people are growing in their relationship with Jesus.
Depend upon Him
Apart from Christ, you can do nothing. Self-reliance or depending on other people or relying on possessions, positions and power do not produce His supernatural results. When you depend on God, the result of your obedience will go far beyond here and now. In fact, you normally don’t know how your action really will have impacted the world because God is looking at the situation from His eternal and comprehensive perspective. It is like playing a game of chess. If you are a novice, all you can see is your next step. A pro will be able to see next several steps. Or it is like a traffic reporter in a helicopter looking down a congested road. She can see a long stretch of the road and know exactly what’s happening. You, being a driver stuck in the traffic, can see only what’s in front of you.