Ephesians 5:18 - Filled With The Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 - Filled With The Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 (NCV) Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin
you, but be filled with the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 (NIRV) Don't fill yourself up with wine. Getting
drunk will lead to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
To be "filled with" means "to be controlled by" (Luke 4:28;
5:26). On the day of Pentecost, the believers were filled with the Holy
Spirit and were accused of being drunk (Acts 2:13). Just as a drunk is
influenced by alcohol, so a believer should be controlled by the Spirit.
However, there are important differences. The drunk loses self-control,
but the Spirit gives the believer self-control (Gal. 5:23). The
drunk has an artificial happiness that does not last, while the
Spirit-filled believer has a deep joy in the Lord. Drunken people do stupid
things that hurt others and bring them embarrassment, but Spirit-filled
believers help others and live to the glory of God. [Chapter by Chapter
Bible Commentary by Warren Wiersbe]
The Bible offers a powerful alternative to drinking. Paul
contrasts getting drunk with wine, which produces a temporary "high," to
being filled with the Spirit, which produces lasting joy. Getting
drunk with wine is associated with the old way of life and its selfish
desires. In Christ, we have a better joy, higher and longer lasting, to
cure our depression, monotony, or tension. We should not be concerned
with how much of the Holy Spirit we have, but how much of us the Holy
Spirit has. Submit yourself daily to his leading and draw constantly on
his power. [Life Application SB]
To be spiritually filled we must continually empty ourselves.
[SS Lesson June 7, 2012]
The image is of a container so full that there is no room for
anything else. The Spirit-filled Christian is so given over to the
Spirit's leadership that other conflicting influences have no place.
[Passages Of Life SB]
Perhaps you need a little more patience. Or a lot more love.
Or a deeper prayer life, or some more specific direction, or ...
well, a whole range of pieces in this vast puzzle we call "the
Christian life." The problem is that a lifestyle can't be parceled out
into bite-size sections, even though much of our discipleship
approaches seem to imply that it can. The truth is that being a Christian
means being filled with Christ. We don't need more of this virtue or
that characteristic. We need Jesus.
We have Him, of course - as completely as we ever will. But
we still need more experience with or more realization of the
Presence we already have. If the fruits of the Spirit are in any way
deficient in us, it isn't because we only have part of the Spirit. We have
all of Him, but maybe He doesn't yet have all of us. Our life in
Christ is a continual stepping into more of what we've already been
given.
What would happen if we unceasingly prayed, "Lord, fill me
with You" - not "give me patience" or "strengthen my faith" or "help
with this problem" or "heal this disease"? What if we stopped viewing
the gifts and fruit of Jesus as separate entities and began seeing
Jesus in us as an integrated whole? What if we simply prayed - boldly
and persistently - "Be present, manifestly so, in me and around me"?
We might be surprised at how comprehensively His Presence meets our
needs. All of His attributes come with Him as parts of the package.
When He is allowed to express Himself freely within us, we experience
all the growth we seek.
Jesus, I know that if I have You, I have Your character; Your
gifts, and Your attitudes. I don't need more faith or patience or love,
I need more of You. Be all You want to be in me. I welcome Your
personality fully. [The One Year Experiencing God's Presence Devotional by
Chris Tiegreen]
Have you ever stopped to ponder and appreciate the absolute
necessity of the indwelling Spirit in your life? Really, your life doesn't
mean a thing unless the Holy Spirit is guiding you! Without the Holy
Spirit we cannot really experience Jesus in our life. So our daily
prayer should ever be "Come, Holy Spirit, come. Make my experience with
Jesus real today." from The Best News Ever by H.M.S. Richards, JR and
Daniel R.Guild.
ILLUSTRATION
TR and the Celestial Choir
Be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing ... and making music
to the Lord in your hearts. Ephesians 5:18-19
One of the great joys in my life is singing. I came by my
ability naturally because my dad was a singer with a big bass voice that
he used to glorify God. So I love to hear great basses sing. They
get to sing a lot of what I call the "good parts" - runs, leads, and
sometimes solos.
The bass notes anchor the song and often are the notes upon
which the chords of a song - the foundation - are built. Without the
bass line, songs just don't feel tethered, at least not to me.
The fable is told that former president Theodore Roosevelt
died and ascended to heaven. There he bustled about and made himself
quite a nuisance by insisting that he be entrusted with some major
responsibility. After all, he had run a huge country, so surely he should be in
charge of something significant in heaven.
At last, weary of his insistence, the heavenly powers
instructed Peter to authorize TR to organize and train a celestial choir to
replace the old one, which they felt had gone to seed. So Peter gave TR
the good news.
TR continued to be a nuisance, though, by the fierce
persistence with which he pressed his requisitions for the new choir.
"I must have ten thousand sopranos," he told the bewildered
and weary Peter. "And I need ten thousand contraltos, and ten
thousand tenors. And hurry. Hurry! Everything is waiting on you."
"Yes, yes, all right," said Peter, "and how about basses?"
Roosevelt fixed Peter with a scornful glare and bellowed,
"I'll sing bass!"
Perhaps TR could hold down the bass section alone, but if my
dad is around, I predict TR will be sitting second chair.
Thank you for music, Father! It is a source of such beauty
and contentment for me. I will sing your praises as long as I have
voice. Amen. [The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter by Mary
Hollingsworth]
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present
you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to
the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,
majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.
Amen. Jude 1:24-25 (ESV)
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20060928-0940.html
HYMN: COME, HOLY SPIRIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQPcrH0y1P0
EXCELLENT VIDEO SERIES ON EXPERIENCING GOD:
http://sda.biggytv.com/watch/Revive!_-_Dwight_Nelson:_Experiencing_Gods_Grace/revive/
