FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
January 1, 2020 Blog Admin
In Devotionals

TSP DAILY DEVOTIONAL
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
1st January 2020
Dr. Phil Ransom-Bello

KEY SCRIPTURE/ MEMORY VERSE: Ephesians 5:18-21;
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

In our text for today, a very intriguing comparison is made between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit. Being drunk with wine takes a delibrate effort and that’s how being constantly filled with the Holy Spirit happens.
At the new birth, we receive the Holy Spirit.
However, “to be filled” of the Holy Spirit requires a daily consciousness and consistency. Just as one can’t be drunk with wine that one had last week, we can only be filled in the spirit by constantly yielding our hearts and minds to the in-filling of the Spirit.

When you are full of the Spirit you will overpower the works of the flesh. You can’t be filled with the Spirit and be depressed or sorrowful. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, your view, countenance and character will be Spirit inspired.
To be drunk with wine is to walk in the influence of the wine, likewise we should be controlled by the Spirit when we are drunk with it.

Everyone must desire the infilling of the Spirit everyday. The in-filling of the Spirit is important for our daily activities, things that are not necessarily spiritual.
It’s important for all things, including the mundane.

In Acts 6, Peter chose men filled with wisdom and the Spirit to arrange the tables. This in-filling is something we must all desire daily and every time.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not having more of Him but the Holy Spirit having more of you. You can tell when you are in control and when the Holy Spirit is.
Let’s not deceive ourselves, we are not always filled with the Holy Spirit even though we have the Holy Spirit. There are times when we are filled and times where we are not.

There is nothing God requires you to do that you will do effectively when you do it from the flesh. It must be of the Spirit to be effective. You can’t express Jesus from the flesh. Christ can’t be known from the place of the flesh.

The easiest path to greater glory is to be filled with the Spirit of God, so that we don’t permit the desires of the flesh

Galatians 5:16 tells us;
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh”.

Flesh is not weakness, it is confidence in self!
The flesh is limitation, the Spirit is endless possibilities.

To be filled with the Spirit is to constantly remain in prayers. When we stay in that place of not just praying, but praying in the Spirit, we come to that place where we surrender control of everything that is in us, to God.

This is why 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tell us to pray without ceasing. This should be your mantra this new year.
Decide to engage in the place of prayer.

REFLECTION
Will I decide to be filled with the Spirit today?

DECLARATION/PRAYER
Dear Lord, thank you for the instruction in your word. May the desire to increase in our experience of the in-filling of your precious Spirit well up in our hearts.
We ask that by the help of the Holy Spirit, we are drawn to drink till we get drunk and may our lives be lived consistently from the Spirit and not the flesh.

HEARING BY THE WORD
(Recommended Listening)

Listen to Walking in the Spirit >> Dr. Phil by The StandPoint Church on #SoundCloud