Meditations

Read Ephesians 5

“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.
Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.”
(Ephesians 5:18, NLT)

Thoughts… If you are a believer, the Spirit-filled life is not an option, it’s a divine expectation. Spirit-filled living is a Christian essential.

In the New International Version of the Bible, when Paul says, “Don’t get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery (meaningless, valueless, even self-destructive living), instead be filled with the Spirit,” he was speaking to believers who’d come out of the pagan culture of Ephesus.

In their pagan worship and ritual, one of their idols was Baccus, the god of wine and drunken orgies. And they believed that to commune with their god and be led by him they had to get drunk. In their drunken stupor, they believed they could know his will and how best to serve him. And often, the sick bi-product of their out-of-control intoxication was to engage in sexual immorality with temple prostitutes.

Just as depending on wine was a destructive counterfeit to Spirit-filled living in Paul’s day, so we need to be careful in our culture today where alcohol is the drink of choice to help people relax, feel confident, or take away the pain of whatever ails them, and make them feel good, that we don’t buy into that deceptive line. I am not preaching against drinking, because I don’t believe the Scriptures explicitly forbid it. But unfortunately, there are a lot of Christians today whose drinking habits are no different from unbelievers.

It is still God’s desire that we depend on being filled with his Spirit to make us confident, competent and joyful rather than a drink, or a relationship or position or a possession, for that matter. In truth, nothing compares to the Spirit-filled life to satisfy every longing of your heart and enable you to experience the good life. The greatest and longest lasting “high” in this world comes from Spirit-filled living.

Now in this passage, Paul is not referring to that instantaneous infilling of the Spirit like we read about in Acts 2, but rather the ongoing submission of our will to God’s work through an active yielding of one’s life to the Spirit’s control. Spirit filling in the book of Acts was an event, while this filling in Ephesians is an ongoing process. In Acts, it was evidenced by extraordinary, miraculous happenings while in Ephesians, it was evidenced by ordinary, everyday choices that submitted them to the Spirit. In Acts, the Spirit was received by asking in faith, while in Ephesians the Spirit is responded to by yielding in obedience. Both kinds of Spirit infilling are valid, and needed.

Being filled with the Spirit is not just a matter of eliminating sinful or unproductive behavior in your life and then passively waiting for God to supernaturally fill you. Rather, Paul is saying it is about eliminating those things that grieve the Spirit and then replacing them with passions that please him. Living the Spirit-filled life is about the daily choices you make to yield control to him—choices to imitate God and eliminate immoral or questionable practices; choices to find out what pleases God; choices to find out and then do what God’s will is; choices that give the Holy Spirit more of you.

The great evangelist D. L. Moody went to England for an evangelistic crusade, but was met with some professional jealousy. One pastor protested, “Why do we need this ‘Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated and inexperienced. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?” One wise pastor pointed out, “Moody doesn’t have more of the Holy Spirit than we do, but the Holy Spirit has more of Mr. Moody.”

Make a decision today to allow the Holy Spirit to have more of you! In every area of your life, yield control to him—that’s what it means to be Spirit-filled.

Prayer… Holy Spirit, take control of all of me—mind, tongue, hands, eyes—all my thoughts, words and actions. Have more of me, I pray.

One More Thing… “O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.” —Augustine

Read Acts 26

Then King Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost
persuade me to become a Christian.”
(Acts 26:28)

Food For Thought… Paul was on trial for his life. It wouldn’t be the last time, either. In this instance, he was holding forth before Governor Festus and King Arippa, giving an impassioned defense of his faith and the veracity of Christianity. Paul didn’t have much time, nor did he have a particularly friendly audience.

None of that really mattered to Paul. It didn’t matter if the conditions were perfect; in fact, they never really were. It didn’t matter if he was speaking before this majestic court or with the untold numbers of nameless folk he had met in his many travels. (Acts 26:22) It didn’t matter if he was able to stay in one city for many months to lay down his Christian theology, or if he just had a minute to proclaim the story of his conversion to a listening ear. Paul had a strategy: Wherever he was, no matter what his audience, whether big or small, friendly or hostile, Paul was going to get a word in for Jesus Christ. In this case, he made the appeal to King Agrippa to place his faith in Christ.

The conditions for sharing the Gospel were never perfect for Paul, but they were always right. And that is true for you and me as well. If we wait for the perfect circumstances before we are able to share our faith, we will be endlessly waiting. If, however, we will be ready at all times to get a good word in for Jesus Christ, like Paul, we will find opportunity aplenty.

Perhaps a good exercise for you would be to think through in detail your personal testimony of faith in Christ to the point where you could share it when the opportunity arises. It would also be good to get well acquainted with the plan of salvation, complete with Bible verses, so you can be ready to lead someone to faith at any time. There are many good pamphlets available to use as a resource, or even to keep with you for that special moment. My personal favorite is Billy Graham’s “Steps To Peace With God.” It is a simple, thorough and compelling explanation of how to receive Christ.

An equally helpful exercise would be to think through the “Cliff Notes” version of both your testimony and plan of salvation. What if you had just a minute to share? Could you do it? If you will be ready with the one-minute plan, you will suddenly find your available minutes have been generously increased.

Paul didn’t have much time in this case, but he was ready, and he got the job done. I trust that we will develop the same strategic mindset as Paul, and begin to look for opportunities every day to share the greatest story every told.

Even if we have just a minute!

Prayer… Lord, I want to be ready to share the reason for the hope I have in you—even if it is just a minute that presents itself. Help me to sharpen my testimony. Keep me ever mindful to look for open doors throughout my day. And give me the privilege to tell some person about you today.

One More Thing… “The preaching that this world needs most is the sermons in shoes that are walking with Jesus Christ.” —D.L. Moody