“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” — Ephesians 5:18
Have you ever felt like you were on empty—spiritually? Perhaps what you need is to be filled with Holy Spirit . . . again and again. The Greek grammar is revealing in this passage. The phrase, “be filled with the Spirit” literally says, “Be you continually being filled with the Spirit.” And it’s a command!
In the introduction to his book, Twelve Lies You Hear About The Holy Spirit, author Tim Riter asks this question: “Why do some Christians seem to have no gusto in their faith? They attend church services, they serve the Lord and others, they give of their time and their material possessions, but they never seem to burn with passion for God. They don’t dig deep into him. They have a genuine faith, and they love God, but they clearly miss something in their spiritual lives. Other Christians are different. They have no more talent or intelligence, but their lives have a spiritual zest. Passion motivates their actions. They would never claim to be sinless, yet sin seems to become less and less frequent among them. What’s the difference? The key to the dynamic Christian life is being filled with the Spirit . . .”
Many Christians (God bless their weary, spiritually burned out souls) believe that once they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at conversion—they are already filled and there’s no need to be filled again. I believe that’s why the church is sometimes so impotent because we do need to filled with the Spirit—again and again as the apostle Paul admonished the church at Ephesus.
It’s remarkable how many times the New Testament points out when someone is “filled with the Spirit.” John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit even from his mother’s womb. So were his dad and his mother (Luke 1:67-80). Jesus was certainly filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1), and so was His church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). Peter and John were filled again (Acts. 4:8, 13), the first deacons were filled again (Acts 7:3). Stephen was filled again (Acts 7:55), the apostle Paul and Barnabas were filled with the Spirit continuously (Acts 9:17, 11:24), as were the disciples who took the gospel message to the world (Acts 13:52). The Holy Spirit was their power source and He continues to be for every believer in the church today.
So how about you? What are you waiting for? Do you want to add gusto to your faith and burn with a fearless passion for Jesus once again—the same passion you received on the day you gave your heart to Jesus Christ? Do you want to be a powerful witness for Christ to the world around you (Acts 1:8)? God wants his church to be the most potent institution on the face of the earth and it can be if we will continually seek God each and every day and ask him to fill us with His Spirit again and again. So try it—you’ll like it, church. And by the way, you can even do this safely at home! Maranatha!
