Be Filled with the Spirit

Scripture: Ephesians 5:18 (KJV)

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”

Personal Reflection

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not an optional experience reserved for unusually spiritual Christians. It is God's command to every believer. Paul deliberately contrasts drunkenness with the filling of the Spirit. As alcohol takes control of a person who yields himself to it, the Christian is commanded to yield himself continually to the Holy Spirit.

Every genuine believer already possesses the Spirit. At conversion, we are indwelt by Him, baptized by Him into the body of Christ, and sealed by Him unto redemption. Being filled with the Spirit therefore does not mean receiving more of the Holy Spirit. It means the Holy Spirit gaining greater control over us.

He desires our thoughts, affections, choices, habits, speech, relationships, time, money, and ambitions. Nothing is excluded.

This makes Spirit-filled living wonderfully practical. It is not primarily about extraordinary experiences. It is about ordinary surrender. Who controls my tongue when I am angry? Who governs my thoughts when I am tempted? Who directs my decisions when God's will conflicts with my desires?

We may gladly surrender certain areas while protecting others. Yet Christ claims the whole person.

Being filled with the Spirit is therefore not a single emotional moment. It is a continuing life of surrender. Every day we return to God and acknowledge, “I am not my own. I belong to Christ.”

The great question is not whether you possess the Holy Spirit, but whether you are yielding yourself to the Spirit who possesses you.

Contemplation

What area of my life am I still reluctant to surrender completely to God's control?

Puritan Quote

John Owen wrote:

“The Holy Spirit works in us and with us, not against us or without us.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, rule my thoughts, desires, words, relationships, and decisions. Show me where I resist You and bring every part of my life under Christ's lordship. Amen.

Application

Identify one area you have withheld from God and consciously surrender it to Him today.

 

Worship in Spirit and in Truth

Scripture: John 4:23 (KJV)

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth...”

Personal Reflection

Jesus joined together two realities that must never be separated: spirit and truth. True worship arises from a heart made alive by the Holy Spirit and is governed by the truth God has revealed in Scripture.

We therefore reject the false choice between doctrine and devotion. Biblical worship requires both. Truth without spiritual life can become cold formalism. Emotion without truth can become deception. God seeks worshipers whose hearts have been regenerated by the Spirit and whose worship is shaped by His Word.

The Holy Spirit is not honored when Scripture is pushed aside in pursuit of religious excitement. Neither is He honored when biblical truth is studied without producing love, reverence, thanksgiving, and obedience. His genuine work creates worshipers who know God truly and love Him deeply.

This provides another safeguard against spiritual counterfeits. We must measure every teaching, movement, and experience by the written Word. Genuine spirituality produces holiness, Word-governed obedience, Christ-centered worship, and gratitude for God’s saving grace.

This principle also applies personally. When we gather for worship, our primary question should not be, “Did I enjoy the service?” but, “Was God worshiped according to truth?”

True worship is not ultimately about atmosphere, music, personalities, or emotional intensity. It is the redeemed heart responding to the revelation of God.

The Spirit opens our eyes to truth; truth reveals Christ; and beholding Christ causes the believing heart to worship.

That is worship in spirit and in truth.

Contemplation

Is my worship shaped more by personal preference and emotion, or by the truth of Scripture and the glory of God?

Puritan Quote

Stephen Charnock wrote:

“Without the heart it is no worship; it is a stage play.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, make me a true worshiper. Fill my heart with love for Christ and anchor my worship firmly in the truth of Scripture. Guard me from empty formalism and deceptive emotionalism. Amen.

Application

Before your next time of worship, read John 4:23–24 and ask God to unite biblical truth with genuine affection in your heart.

 

Rejoicing in the Work of the Triune God

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 13:14 (KJV)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.”

Personal Reflection

Salvation is the glorious work of the Triune God. The Father purposes salvation, the Son accomplishes redemption, and the Holy Spirit applies Christ’s saving work to His people.

The Spirit is involved throughout the entire course of salvation. He convicts, regenerates, grants repentance and faith, indwells, seals, sanctifies, preserves, and will ultimately participate in raising our mortal bodies to glory. From beginning to end, our salvation is surrounded by divine grace.

Thomas Goodwin encouraged believers to contemplate the distinct love displayed by each Person of the Trinity—the Father choosing, Christ redeeming, and the Spirit revealing and applying salvation—until the heart learns to rejoice in the love of the Triune God.

This is profoundly practical theology. Christianity is not merely believing propositions about God. Sound doctrine should lead us into communion with God.

We should rejoice in the Father who loved us before the foundation of the world. We should adore the Son who shed His blood for our redemption. And we should thank the Holy Spirit who opened our blind eyes, gave us life, brought us to Christ, indwells us now, and continues preparing us for glory.

The deeper our theology becomes, the warmer our worship should become.

Doctrine should never leave the heart cold. When rightly understood, the doctrines of grace should bring us to our knees in wonder.

We are saved by the Father, through the Son, and applied to us by the Spirit—all to the glory of the one Triune God.

Contemplation

Do I consciously worship and thank the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for their gracious work in my salvation?

Puritan Quote

Thomas Goodwin described the believer delighting in:

“the love of Christ in redeeming” and the Spirit’s love in applying salvation.

Prayer

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I worship You for the greatness of Your saving grace. Teach me to rejoice in the distinct and harmonious work of the Triune God in my redemption. Amen.

Application

In prayer today, separately thank the Father for choosing, the Son for redeeming, and the Holy Spirit for applying salvation to your soul.

 

Conformed to the Image of Christ

Scripture: Romans 8:29 (KJV)

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...”

Personal Reflection

What is the great goal of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer? It is not merely to make us happier, more successful, or more religious. It is to make us increasingly like Jesus Christ.

The Spirit illuminates Scripture, magnifies Christ before our hearts, strengthens us in weakness, guides us into biblical obedience, and uses other believers to exhort and sharpen us. All of these ministries move toward one great purpose: conformity to Christ.

This gives us a much better way of measuring spiritual maturity. The question is not simply, “How much Bible knowledge have I accumulated?” but, “Am I becoming more like Jesus?”

Am I more humble? More patient? More compassionate? More truthful? More willing to forgive? More zealous for holiness? More obedient to the Father?

Christlikeness also involves self-denial. Jesus said that His disciples must take up their cross and follow Him. The Spirit-filled life therefore runs contrary to a culture centered upon self-expression and self-fulfillment. Christianity calls us to deny ourselves so that the life and character of Christ may increasingly be seen in us.

This transformation is gradual. God normally shapes His children over years of obedience, suffering, correction, prayer, Scripture, and fellowship. Sometimes His greatest work occurs in the very trials we wish He would remove.

The storm may be the workshop in which the Spirit shapes us most deeply into Christ’s likeness.

Therefore, instead of asking only, “Lord, remove this difficulty,” perhaps we should also ask, “Lord, use this difficulty to make me more like Your Son.”

Contemplation

In what specific area of my character does Christ need to become more visible?

Puritan Quote

John Flavel wrote:

“Providence has ordered the state of every man better than he could have ordered it for himself.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, conform me increasingly to Jesus Christ. Use Your Word, Your people, and even my trials to remove what is unlike Him and reproduce His character within me. Amen.

Application

Choose one characteristic of Christ—humility, patience, mercy, purity, or obedience—and deliberately seek to display it today.

 

Not by the Flesh

Scripture: Galatians 3:3 (KJV)

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

Personal Reflection

The Christian life begins through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, and it must continue in dependence upon that same Spirit. We could not regenerate ourselves, and neither can we sanctify ourselves by sheer determination.

This does not mean we become passive. Scripture commands us to put on the whole armor of God, wield the sword of the Spirit, resist temptation, confess sin, and pursue holiness. Yet beneath every act of obedience must be dependence upon divine grace.

The Holy Spirit uses the Word to expose Satan’s lies, dismantle our excuses, strengthen faith, and nourish spiritual growth. Walking in the Spirit therefore involves moment-by-moment dependence, continuing repentance, repeated submission to Scripture, and deliberate rejection of fleshly and worldly desires. This is not mystical spirituality; it is disciplined, Word-saturated obedience empowered by God.

One of our greatest dangers is beginning by grace and then attempting to mature through self-reliance. We create rules, make resolutions, and promise ourselves that we will “try harder.” Discipline has its place, but discipline without dependence eventually produces either pride or despair.

When we succeed, we become proud. When we fail, we become discouraged.

The better way is to obey vigorously while depending completely upon God. We work because the Spirit works within us. We resist because He supplies strength. We pursue holiness because He has already created within us a new desire for holiness.

Christian growth is neither “God does everything while I do nothing” nor “I must do everything myself.” It is Spirit-empowered obedience.

Contemplation

Am I presently trying to overcome some spiritual weakness primarily through my own strength?

Puritan Quote

John Owen wrote:

“The Holy Spirit works in us and with us, not against us or without us.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, deliver me from self-reliance. Teach me to obey diligently while depending completely upon Your power working through Your Word. Amen.

Application

Before confronting your greatest temptation today, consciously pray for the Spirit’s strength and answer the temptation with Scripture.

 

The War Within

Scripture: Galatians 5:17 (KJV)

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other...”

Personal Reflection

Conversion does not end the Christian’s battle with sin; in many ways, it begins it. Before regeneration, the sinner is dominated by the flesh. But when the Holy Spirit gives new life, a new conflict arises. The believer now possesses desires for holiness that oppose the remnants of the old nature.

This inward warfare can sometimes discourage sincere Christians. We may wonder, “If I truly belong to Christ, why do I still struggle with temptation?” Yet the very struggle can be evidence of spiritual life. The unbeliever may resist certain sins because of consequences, reputation, or conscience, but the Christian grieves over sin because it dishonors the God he loves.

The believer has something the unbeliever does not: the indwelling Holy Spirit and, through Him, the ability to say no to sin and yes to righteousness. Yet victory is not automatic. Neglecting Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and other means of grace leaves us vulnerable. Feeding the flesh strengthens the very enemy we are commanded to resist.

Sanctification therefore requires vigilance. We must identify sin, confess it, resist it, starve it, and replace sinful patterns with obedience. But we do this through the Spirit rather than through mere human determination.

The battle will continue throughout this earthly pilgrimage. Do not mistake warfare for defeat. Keep fighting. The presence of conflict does not mean the Spirit has abandoned you; it often means He is actively opposing the sin remaining within you.

Contemplation

What desire of the flesh is presently resisting the Spirit’s work most strongly in my life?

Puritan Quote

John Owen wrote:

“Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, strengthen me in the warfare against remaining sin. Expose the desires of the flesh and give me grace to resist them and pursue righteousness. Amen.

Application

Identify one recurring temptation and deliberately remove one source that continually feeds it.

Encore Presentation: I Don't Think You Know What That Means Part 3

 https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-2hq2a-18673c2