Powered by the Holy Spirit

As Christians, we often imagine the filling of the Holy Spirit as an emotional experience. It may be emotional. And it may not be. But we should ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit on a regular basis.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 NLT). The term filled is interesting because in the original language, it speaks of wind filling the sail of a ship and carrying it along.

So, to be filled with the Spirit means that God’s Spirit fills our sails, so to speak. And that makes following His commands a delight, not a drudgery.

But the word filled also carries the idea of permeation. The idea is that God wants His Spirit to permeate every area of our lives. He wants to fill our thought lives, our work time, and our free time. He wants to be a part of everything that we say and do.

A few verses later, Paul wrote to husbands and wives, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. . . . For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her” (verses 21–22, 25 NLT).

We need the power of God’s Spirit to do this. We need His constant help and work in our lives.

David, a shepherd, wrote in Psalm 23, “You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings” (verse 5 NLT). Shepherds often used oil to ease the pain experienced by their sheep when flies attacked during the summer months. They took a special oil, poured it over the animals’ heads, and applied it to their ears. This not only helped their wounds to heal but also repelled insects.

In the Bible, oil often symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Thus, not only is it important for us to feast on the Word of God as we spend time in green pastures and beside still waters, but we also need the Holy Spirit to fill us.

The phrase “be filled with the Holy Spirit” in Ephesians 5:18 is a command. God is not asking us to do this. Rather, He commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. From the original Greek, we could translate it to say, “Be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit.”

This isn’t something we do once in life. We want the Holy Spirit to fill us again and again.

If your car runs out of gas, what do you do? You go to the gas station and get a refill. It’s the same in our lives as believers. We need the Spirit to refill us.

Be constantly filled with the Spirit. Let His wind fill your sails and permeate every area of your life.

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