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Be Filled with the Spirit!
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” – Ephesians 5:18
If I were to ask you, “Do you try to obey that command, ‘Be not drunk with wine’?”, you would most likely answer, ” Of course, as a Christian, I obey that command.”
Now, let me ask you about being filled with the Spirit… Have you obeyed that command? Is that the life you are living? If not, then the question is, why not? And then comes another question… with God’s help, are you willing to make the decision to obey that command?
Would you be willing to say, “I will not rest until I have obeyed that command, until I am filled with the Holy Spirit”?
If we desire to be believers that are filled with the Spirit, there are a couple things that we can look at to help us determine whether or not we are obeying this command.
Have you forsaken all?
As we look to scripture, we can see the testimony of the disciples and how they were willing to forsake all they had and follow Jesus. They left their homes, their families, and even their jobs. They were mocked, laughed at, despised, rejected,and even hated.
“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” -Matthew 19:29
Could you look to the testimony of the disciples and say that no matter what you will forsake all ? Will you say to Jesus, “I forsake all to follow thee”?
Are you willing to say, “O Christ, let me be filled with the Holy Spirit. I will give up anything and everything. Accept my surrender!”
Have you denied yourself?
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” – Luke 9:23
If we are to be filled with the Spirit then we must be willing to deny our self and follow Him. When we surrender ourselves to God we are saying to God… “I yield myself to thee, My life is yours to control!”
Does the Lord control your life? Are you 100% yielded to the control of the Holy Spirit?
I will finish up and leave you with this:
Jesus Christ forsook everything so that he could do the will of His Father. He denied himself and yielded himself to God the Father.
He was despised, rejected, mocked at and even ridiculed… but through it all and through His sacrifice we have been given the most precious gift of all – Salvation!
Be Filled with the Spirit!
Meet the Author
Josh Braden
Husband, Father, Preacher of the Gospel
We encourage you to visit his Spiritual Investments Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/Spiritual-Investments-226944584896623/
