So, are you? You know...filled with the Spirit? We asked the question yesterday in our services, "What is the Spirit of God doing in your life right now?" Is He bringing you comfort? Convicting you of sin? Leading you on in your understanding and obedience to God's Word? If we claim to be Christ-followers, yet the Holy Spirit is seemingly absent from our daily lives - if everything in our life is explainable - then aren't we missing something? Christ himself told His disciples, "It is to your advantage that I go away" so the Holy Spirit could come and guide us, comfort us, and fill us. Yes, FILL US. That said, what the heck does it mean - what does it look like - to be "filled with the Spirit"?
Paul opens his letter to the Philippians by telling them "...it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and be so pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (v.1:9-11) When we come to faith in Christ, we are instantly overtaken by the Spirit of God. Our heart becomes His home. But this doesn't mean we have allowed Him to invade every nook and cranny of our life. We have to willingly surrender every piece of ourselves to Him. Daily. And every time we lay down our life and our self - every time we allow ourselves to be emptied at the foot of the Cross - is an opportunity for the Spirit of God to invade us, indwell us, and to fill us. And evidence of this begins to take shape. Paul wrote explicitly about it in Galatians 5 as he described the "fruit of the Spirit". He says, "Here are the things to look for that will evidence you're growing in your walk with Christ". More importantly, Christ spoke about this as well. Check it out:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.... My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to the Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in His love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15
Don't miss it: The growing doesn't happen without the pruning. The filling doesn't happen without the emptying. But if we allow the Lord to prune us, refine us, empty us...we will be FILLED! We will overflow! And yes, OBEDIENCE leads us to being filled. When you obey God, He will fill you to the point you can't even contain it! I don't know about you, but I want Jesus Christ spilling and spewing over the top out of me, splashing onto every person I come in contact with.
So, what is the Spirit of God doing in your life right now?
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