Filled and Empowered

Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is God and a member of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit has a distinct personality, a will, and a purpose. And the Holy Spirit has a specific work that He wants to do in our lives.

Before we were Christians, the Holy Spirit convicted us of our sin and drew us to Christ. And once we believed in Christ, the Holy Spirit sealed us. The Holy Spirit also will lead us, empower us, and fill us each day as we seek to live the Christian life.

Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5:18–19 NLT).

Being filled with the Spirit has nothing to do with our emotions. Unfortunately, some people take the work of the Spirit and make it look bizarre. But that has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit simply means letting the Holy Spirit control us. When we ask God to fill us, we are asking Him to control our lives. In fact, the term “filled” that Ephesians 5:18 uses to describe the filling of the Holy Spirit also carries the meaning of permeation.

For example, think of how people used salt in the first century. They didn’t have refrigeration, so they rubbed salt into meat to permeate it and, as a result, preserve it. Our closest modern comparison would be jerky.

So, Paul was saying the Holy Spirit wants to permeate our lives. The Holy Spirit wants to be a part of every aspect of our daily living.

It isn’t about trying harder. It’s about realizing the Holy Spirit will give us the power we need to live this Christian life.

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