September 22, 2017 BE FILLED
Ephesians 5:18 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Acts 13:52 “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 11:24 “for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.”
(FYI—dissipation is defined as “a descent into drunkenness and sexual dissipation,” “squandering of money, energy, or resources.”)
Perhaps we have so often heard the admonition “to be filled with the Spirit,” that we find ourselves neglecting or failing to actually be filled with the Spirit. Obviously, we cannot live or experience the power of God apart from being filled with His Spirit. Even though being filled with the Spirit is essential if we are to live according to the gospel, there is little teaching on how to be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is not a matter of following ‘ten easy steps’; being filled with the Spirit is an issue of the heart. Simply put, as believes, we are filled with the Spirit by dying to ourselves and yielding ourselves to God and putting on the new man that we are in Christ. Dying to ourselves has to be more than words or just a mental exercise, but has to be a de-throning of self, or a putting to death the deeds of the body as Romans 8:13 instructs us to do—“for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Being filled with the Spirit is something we do, yet it requires more than just a rational decision on our part. A common thread in being filled with the Sprit is that of having a supreme desire and hunger to know God and to be filled with His presence. Now, the question comes as to how does being filled with His presence become our supreme desire. This question brings us to the heart of the issue in being filled with the Spirit, and that is the love of God. We may know the scriptures, we may have been in church all of our life, and we may be in ministry, but still not have experienced the love God has for us in a personal way. Again, the big question is-how do we experience the love of God? Again, no ten easy steps, but there are some things we can do to make ourselves good candidates to experience His love. For a beginning, we can focus on getting to know God for who He is, and ask God to reveal truth to us as we read the scriptures and spend time meditating on what we read. Very importantly, we must choose to obey and put into action what we read in scriptures-this demonstrates that we want to know God and that we are submitting ourself to Him. It’s good to speak out loud, to verbalize the word of God and our desire to know Him, to worship Him through music and worship him with our life style, and to become engaged with a body of believers who also want to experience God. As we pursue God, He will take note and He will respond to our heart’s desire to know Him. The amazing thing is that even the desire we have to know Him, is an evidence of His love and of His drawing us to Himself. It is the love of God that re-deems us, that makes us new, and that gives us a hope and a future. God has established a principle-those who seek Him, find Him. So, yes-if we are a believer, we can be filled with the Spirit just as the early believers were. And we can be filled with the Spirit because God has already demonstrated His love for us, and He is presently drawing us to Himself.
Ephesians 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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