Filled, Refilled, and Filled Again

Let’s say that you just bought a brand-new car and were enjoying everything about it, from the new-car smell to the beautiful new paint. But it suddenly started sputtering and then stopped completely. You have it towed to the dealership, where you demand an explanation. A technician gets into the car and turns on the ignition. Then he informs you that you’re out of gas.

The Christian life can be like that. Sometimes, we run out of gas, or we start shutting down because our batteries are low. I can barely make it through an entire day without my cell phone going dead. I need to plug it in and recharge it periodically.

If you’re losing momentum in your walk with God, maybe you need a recharge. You need to be filled, refilled, and filled again with the Holy Spirit.

In the Book of Acts, we read about God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit onto a group of believers gathered in Jerusalem in what we now know as the Pentecost. This outpouring on that day set the Church in motion.

But what does being filled with the Holy Spirit mean? Sometimes, we think it means that we’ll have an emotional experience. Maybe we will, and maybe we won’t. It would be nice if, at the start of each day, we could get a zap of sorts that fills us with energy and passion. However, I think that our being filled with the Holy Spirit may not even affect us emotionally. If we want this to happen, we will have to ask for it.

Lastly, the Holy Spirit isn’t an “it”; the Holy Spirit is a He. The Holy Spirit is God and a member of the Trinity. He has a will and a purpose, and He wants to accomplish something in your life and mine.