Bro. Elwood Hurst has recently taken on the role of Missionary Mentor. He will be writing a monthly article for us to encourage and challenge our missions family. This is his first such article. If it is an encouragement to you, please email him to let him know. You may also visit ebarnabas.org to make an appointment with him for encouragement.
BE FILLED
Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
The reference above is a direct command and a simple one. But it seems frequently misunderstood. We are in no way to exalt the Holy Spirit above the Lord Jesus Christ, but He is a vital part of our relationship to our God and Savior. Without the filling of the Spirit of God, we cannot expect the fruit that God intends us to bear in our ministry.
In Luke 24:49b, Jesus told the disciples to “…But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Jesus states to the same people in Acts 1:8 that they will be witnesses, “…after the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” We realize that this is primarily referring to the Pentecostal event of the birth of the church. But, the truth still holds that we must be filled by the Spirit of God to be effective in the ministry of bearing witness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Often, we think we can go on our own until time to deliver a message, witness to a person, or participate in an event. It is good to pray as we begin that work and seek the leading of the Spirit of God. However, we may miss that state of being “filled with the Spirit” if that is the only seeking of the Spirit we have done. That filling involves a process of our turning lose the control of the fleshly nature and surrendering to the control of the Holy Spirit. As with the alcohol drinker, he ingests several drinks before the evidence of the control is known. We need to take action to have the Spirit “filling” us.
1. In being filled, we must fill our hearts with the Word of God and allow its instructions to take hold of our hearts and lives.
2. As the Word of God washes away more and more of the fleshly controlled parts of our lives, the control of the Spirit is more and more evident.
3. We need to spend our time praying and asking God as David did to search us for the unclean areas in our lives. As God reveals those things to us, we must confess and forsake them.
4. The more His Word controls our lives, the more we will be an effective witness and servant of our Lord and the more people will see God in us.
The Spirit of God indwells all who are saved. We long to be the vessel that He not only lives in but is revealed through to others by our witness and light in the world. Could we substitute programs, education, and other preparations for time on our knees and in the Book that God would be more known in our lives instead of our nature and ideas?