The Holy Spirit is a Bruise Pusher

Dear Seeking Sister,

Do you ever worry about what your sin is doing to your relationship with God or to your salvation?

During my early twenties while in college I worked second shift at Valpak, a direct marketing company.  I was a machine operator.  My job was to put envelops into a Cheshire machine so an address label could be glued to them at a rapid pace.  I remember a friend of mine, Shelly, would routinely call me a bruiser pusher.

I was baffled and asked, “What is a bruise pusher?  

She said when someone in her family was hurting or sad about something and one of her other siblings would make fun or ‘rub it in’ – they were deemed a bruise pusher.  She further explained, that I was a bruise pusher, because when I found a sensitive spot in someone, I like to bring it up a lot.

I didn’t mind being a bruise pusher, as a matter of fact I enjoyed it.  This was before my rebirth and transformation.  Why would I call the Holy Spirit a bruise pusher?

I have been rereading Adrian Rogers’ book, What Every Christian Ought to Know.   Chapter 4 of this book is about what happens when a Christian sins.  I have sin in my life and you, Seeking Sister, have sin in your life.  I don’t want sin in my life.  I trust you don’t either.

Through my bible studies I have learned that being able to sin is not a test of our salvation.  It is being able to sin and just ignore it and to forget it that puts us in a hazard zone.  If you are saved, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He will be a bruise pusher on that sin.  As Adrian Rogers puts it, “The Holy Spirit will put His finger on the sore spot and push.”

We see a biblical example of this in David’s life.  Psalm 51:3 (NIV), “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”

Think about what David was saying in this melancholy verse:   “My sin is always before me.”  David’s sin was etched so deeply into his conscience and echoed so loudly through his spirit, he was conscious of it all the time.

The verse prior, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin (51:2)”, clearly indicates David was suffering and wanted to be cleared (‘cleansed’) of his sin.

Is that how we feel, Seeking Sister?  Do we want to be cleansed of our sin?  In Adrian Rogers’ Day by Day devotional based on What Every Christian Ought to Know there is a paragraph on page 99 that reads,

“A lot of people have a form or external practice of religion, but they’ve never been cleansed to begin with.  They’ve been starched and ironed, but they’ve never been washed.  They have this dirt that’s just there all the time, so they never really feel dirty.  Dirty is just the way they are.”

When I read that it frightened me.  Do I have unapologetic sin in my life?  1 John 1:7 states, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light… the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (NKJV)”.

Did you notice the last part, “cleanses us from all sin”.  That is exciting!  Nonetheless, we must also notice the first part, “But if we walk in the light”.

psalm 139:23-24If we are true children of God, we will feel dirty when we sin.  The Holy Spirit will continually push on our sore spots.  I never want to get use to feeling dirty or having the Holy Spirit stop reminding me of where I am not right with God.

It is this very pushing of the Holy Spirit that has made me realize when I have active sin in my life.  Sin that I often try to compartmentalize or rationalize.  My sin is always before me.  When the Holy Spirit pushes one of my bruises it is time to spend repentant time on my knees in prayer.

It is time when I know I must listen.  I listen for a way out of my sin even if what I hear is difficult.  I want to understand.  In some form or another suffering always follows sin.  Just like a hot, soapy shower after a long, arduous day feels so good, so does having my sin cleansed by real and honest repentance.

When I need a cleansing prayer, I often start with Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV):

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

How does the Holy Spirit work in your life?  Do you notice when He pushes on a sore spot?  How do you react?

In His Grip – always and in all ways!

2 thoughts on “The Holy Spirit is a Bruise Pusher

  1. Woah! Amen!
    All glory to our GOD!
    Hallelujah!
    This is really hard-hitting & so revelatory… Powerful indeed!
    O! That Ye may lead me in the way everlasting!

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