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Writer's pictureMatt Beaney

#585 (22/4/22) A FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT TO GO ON BEING FILLED



We began this series by reminding ourselves that the Spirit is a person and not just a power. He wants a relationship with us. How are we doing with this? What changes have we made in our thinking and habits to encourage a deeper relationship with Him? In the natural, many people ‘go on a diet’ to get fit, only to return to their old patterns of life. For health one must have a healthy diet as a lifestyle. Likewise, the ‘Spirit-filled life’ is not a phase, it’s a call to a totally new approach to life. We are commanded:

‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Ephesians 5:18)

There are so many other things that we can be ‘filled’ with. Our lives are littered with the debris of things that offered empty promises, and for a while, we gave ourselves to them. Are we too busy to be filled with the Spirit? It’s always the most important things – which tends to be people! - that get neglected as we allow our calendars to be filled. There is no app/gadget that can shortcut the requirement that we give quality time to important things and people - the most important person being The Holy Spirit. Here are a couple of quotes that speak so inspiringly of the kind of heart attitude that we, surely, want to have:

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.” (Psalm 63:1-2)
“Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’” (Exodus 33:15-16)

RESPONSE

Can we say of the Spirit, “earnestly I seek… and thirst for…” Do we, like Moses, know that nothing but the presence of God distinguishes us from all the other people…?


How we start the day sets the tone of that day. If at all possible, let’s begin each day by spending quality time (you could start with 20 minutes) with the Father and being filled with the Spirit. That would make a world of difference. You could use Ephesians 5:18 as a guide:


Worship – Sing ‘psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit’

Get creative and make up your own songs of worship – ‘Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord’


Be thankful and address God as Father – ‘always giving thanks to God the Father for everything’


Re-remember the gospel and how God saved you – ‘in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’


Jesus invites us to ‘come to me and drink’ the promise is for ‘rivers of living water’ to flow from us. May this promise stir in us a faith that comes to Him to be filled constantly.


 

This week is our week of prayer and fasting. We will be praying most days on Zoom. Please go to the latest church news or contact the church office for details.










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