A Spirit-filled Life

Friends,

A young boy asked his father, “How can I believe in the Holy Spirit when I never see Him?” The father, who was an electrician, said, “I will show you.” The boy went with his father down to a power plant in their town. There, he showed his son the generators. “This is where the power comes from to heat our stove and give us light. We cannot see the power, but it is in that machine, and in the power lines.” “I believe in electricity,” said the son. “Of course you do, but you don’t believe in it because you can see it. You believe in it, because you can see what it can do. In a similar way, this is what takes place with the Holy Spirit. We may not see Him, but we see what He can do.” Jesus says a similar thing to Nicodemus in John 3, when he tells him, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (3:8)

We come to a memorable section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (5:18-20). Some might argue that it is the most important message in the letter, especially as it relates to Christian living. I would be remiss if I did not mention what it is not first, and that is -- an argument for acapella singing in assembly. I have heard the argument…and have made it myself...and I am not necessarily saying it is wrong to do so. But, I believe that this does not respect the context in which it is written, as this passage (along with v.21) describes five ways that we should be filled with the Spirit of God. Paul also shares in Romans 8:16ff that the Spirit helps us, and works with our spirits to help us know we are God’s children and to empower us. It is only by His power that we are able to live in harmony with one another. Paul shares a very important message for believers that are seeking to live as spiritual people.

Paul’s imperative is “to be filled with the Spirit” plural, meaning “Y’all.” This is something that is able to take place for all Christians, and not just a select few. And this is opposed to being “filled with the spirits” (alcohol), which Paul calls dissipation. Dissipation literally means a loss of self-control, which is just the opposite of the Spirit, who offers “the fruit of self-control.” God’s desire is for Him to be “in control”…Satan’s way is to be “out of control.” The drunk makes a fool of himself and calls attention to himself, whereas the Christian glorifies God and is a witness for Christ.

Referencing the John 3 passage once again, Christians experience a “water and Spirit birth” (3:5). We are baptized, cleansed in order to walk in a newness of life…a life filled with God’s personal power at work in our lives…a life filled with His Spirit. As John mentions, we are baptized once, whereas we are able to be “continually cleansed” when we ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:7). This is closely related to the fact that we are able to be continually filled with the Spirit. When we are cleansed, the Spirit is able to fill that void where sin once was residing. For any English enthusiasts, this is a present tense verb – “keep on being filled with the Spirit.” And passive voice, as we do not fill ourselves, but it is God who “fills us.” Once again, this is to be controlled by God’s power…our mind, our emotions, our will under His guidance. When our lives are made full by the Spirit, we are able to experience His fruit – love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23). We Christians are able to experience contentment, confidence in spite of circumstances around us. Instead of rising and falling with the temperature of the issues around us like a thermometer, when we are “filled with the Spirit”, He…like a thermostat…helps to determine the spiritual temperature of the circumstances. There is a significant difference between these two.

Spirit-filled people have songs in their hearts and on their lips. Through singing or listening to Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs from our hearts, we give glory to God and exemplify Christ. The Spirit is revealed in our eyes, smiles…in our lives. A famous preacher once said, “When speaking of heaven, let your face light up, let it be radiated with a heavenly gleam, let your eyes shine with a reflected glory…but, when you speak of hell, then your ordinary face will do.”

We must remember that Paul is a prisoner when he writes these things. Yet, he is thankful for what God is doing in him and for him. It is not so ironic that the words “gratitude” and “grace” have the same word root. As Paul indicates, if we have experienced the grace of God, then we ought to be grateful for what God brings to us. As the saying goes, “if God brings you to it, He can bring you through it.” When Spirit-filled people find themselves in difficult situations, they give thanks to the Father, in the name of Jesus, and by the power of the Spirit to resolve any fears, anxieties, or worries that seek to undermine their spirits. Being thankful to God is a great secret to a happy home and good relationships.

I want to finish with this – “standing on the deck of a ship in mid-ocean, you can see the sun reflected from its depths. From a little boat on a mountain lake, you can see the sun reflected from its shallow waters. Looking into a small mountain spring, you can see the same great sun. Look into the dew drops of the morning, and there it is again. The sun has a way of adapting itself to its reflection. The ocean is not too large to hold it, nor is the dew drop too small. So, God’s Spirit can fill any person, whether their capacity is like the ocean or the dew drop. Whatever be the capacity, there is opened up the possibility of being filled up with the fullness of God.” Perhaps, you are feeling empty -- being filled is just humble submission away…all we have to do is ask. We are not going to be able to put aside the distractions and difficulties of this life by tackling them on our own, but inasmuch as we allow God to fill us and battle for us are we going to be able to find success in the spiritual battle, and greater faith.

Blessings, Don

Conviction

Friends,

Missionary John Hyde went to India a little over a hundred years ago. He felt a strong calling to the nation of India and began to spend hours in an attempt to learn the culture.  Then the day came. It was in 1892 that he boarded a steamer in New York bound for the nation of India. On the ship, John received a telegram from a close family friend.  He opened it hurriedly on the deck of the ship. The only words of the telegram were, "John Hyde, are you filled with the Holy Spirit?"  John's response was one of frustration, anger. He crumpled the paper, put it into his pocket and went to bed. Unable to sleep, he tossed and turned all night.  He arose from bed in the early morning hours, took the piece of paper and read it again. He thought, "The audacity of somebody to ask me that question, 'Am I filled with the Holy Spirit?'  Here I am a missionary, sincere, dedicated, leaving my home and going to another country. How dare they ask me if I am filled with the Holy Spirit?"  Wasn't he equipped for his call? After all he had received a B.A. degree, studied the language, was even on the way and was determined to pursue his destiny.  Yes, he was on his way, but Hyde's spirit was challenged by the note. After much soul searching, he fell to his knees before the Father.  "O God," he cried out, "the audacity of me thinking that I could pray or preach or witness or live or serve or do anything in my own strength and power. Fill me with your strength. Fill me with Your power."  John Hyde became one of the great missionary statesmen of all time. Why? Because of the Spirit which enabled him to face the challenges of his life in the power of God. (From "Praying Hyde", Basil Miller, copyright 1943, Zondervan).  A rather poignant story, I believe.  And such is the case for anyone who is open to the call and leading of the Holy Spirit.  He enables us to be God’s people…and we will see more of this here in this passage.

As we were discussing last week, believers are going to face persecution in this world (John 15:18-27), but God has given us the opportunity to overcome through the power of His Holy Spirit (16:1-15).  For three years, Jesus has been with His disciples to protect them from attack, but now He is about to leave them.  He has already shared this fact with them (13:33).  These are His last hours with the disciples and so, He is trying to impress upon them matters of greatest importance.  Jesus explains why it is important for them that He must return to the Father.  The major reason is that the Holy Spirit might come to empower the church for life and witness.  Also, as their ascended Savior, He would be able to intercede for His people in the heavenly places.  How does the Holy Spirit encourage believers when they are facing the hatred and opposition of the world?  It is primarily through the Word of God, but certainly not exclusively so.  The Word is the sword of the Spirit that He uses to teach us and train us to be the people God has called us to be (Ephesians 1:16-17).  The Spirit wields the sword in our lives.  The Spirit also witnesses to us and through us during our times of persecution...as Paul shares with the Romans (8:16, 26-27), He helps us to know what to say, and helps us in our prayers.  And through all of these things, He bears fruit in the lives of those who belong to Jesus (Galatians 5:22, et. al.).

In context of this passage, times of persecution have always been times for the church to be able to witness for the Lord.  We must always be ready “to give an answer” when we are called into question or are attacked.  Apart from the power of the Spirit of God, we cannot give a clear witness for Christ.  It is important to note that the Spirit comes to the church and not to the world.  He works in and through the church…at least He is supposed to do so.  The Holy Spirit works in and through the people in whom He lives.  And in this section, we see that the Spirit comes to reprove.  “Reprove” means “to bring to light, to expose, to refute, to convict and convince”…which is quite a mouthful.  It could also be translated, “pronounce a verdict.”  The world may think that it is judging Christians, but it is Christians who are passing judgment on the world as they witness to Jesus Christ.  In a sense…to use a court room illustration…believers are the witnesses, the Holy Spirit is the prosecuting attorney and the unsaved are the guilty prisoners.  However, the purpose of this indictment is not to condemn, but to bring salvation.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of unbelief, in general, and it also convicts the sinner of the need for righteousness, who is Jesus Christ, in person.  The Spirit reveals Jesus Christ in the lives of believers.  It is important to note that we are not to be “the prosecuting attorney” in and of ourselves…we are not to be the judges…but, are to be receptacles whereby the Holy Spirit can convict and convince.  So, the world cannot receive or see the Spirit of God, but they can see what He does as they observe the lives of believers.  What the Holy Spirit convicts the lost sinner of…is judgment.  When a lost sinner is truly under conviction, he will see the folly and evil of unbelief.  He will confess that he does not measure up to the righteousness of Christ, and he will realize that he is under condemnation because he belongs to the world and the evil one (Ephesians 2:1-3).  Jesus is the only one who can rescue him (as with any of us).  There can be no conversion without conviction, and there can be no conviction apart from the Spirit of God who uses the Word of God and the witness of the child of God.  When the Holy Spirit would come to the disciples, He would teach them and remind them of what Jesus had taught them.  The Spirit would also guide them into all truth.  And as we have seen, the Holy Spirit does the very same thing for all of us.

Susan Cosio, a chaplain at a medical center, writer, and mother of three, writes one of the best messages I have seen regarding the Holy Spirit and life, “I believe in a daily walk just to listen. I believe I have to remove myself from the voices that barrage me in order to find my true compass. This includes a daily walk just to listen. The guiding light of my life is the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. In our hectic, noisy world, I have to slow down or withdraw in order to hear it. Prayer, I have discovered, is less about what I say and more about what I hear.  Discerning God’s voice is not so hard when I make time to listen closely. Sometimes I hear it as a sudden insight when I step back from a situation. Other times, it’s a deep sense of my priorities, or a conviction about something I should do or say. I often take a walk with a pencil and notepad in my pocket, and return with notes for a speech or a piece of writing. Later, someone tells me she was moved by the words I’d scribbled on that paper, and I know my prompting came from God.  My pursuit of spiritual truth is not about religion as much as it is about relationship.  I believe in a daily walk to listen because it is when I am close to God…and that is when I find my way. And I am most at peace when I tune out the voices of the world long enough to hear the still, small voice of God directing me. “Be still,” Psalm 46 reminds me, “and know that I am God.” [This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, “A Daily Walk Just to Listen,” Susan Cosio, (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), 43-45]  When we listen to the Lord and how He desires to work through the Holy Spirit, we are able to hear His voice, and this is the beginning of wisdom and growth.  Submit yourself to His leading in order that God can grow you to be the person that He desires for you to be, and so that you can withstand the persecution that comes from the world.

Blessings, Don

Enabled

Friends,

Years ago, a great European artist sought to portray his concept of Jesus Christ on canvas. Unfortunately, his good friends expressed disappointment with his production.  Later, he made a second attempt and it was met with the same disapproval.  After visiting galleries and examining famous paintings of Christ by other artists, he made a third attempt and was told it was not as good as the first.  Disheartened with His failure, he determined to give up painting altogether, and he retreated to a country resort.  During the second night, he dreamed that Jesus came to him and asked him why he was so disheartened.  After he told of his grief, Jesus said to him, “didn’t you know that you cannot paint me for anyone else? You have to do it for yourself.” 

We humans often fall into this trap…that is, we believe that we have to try to please other people all of the time.  This is, as Solomon says, “chasing after the wind.”  We will only make ourselves miserable.  We cannot live to try to please others, nor can we seek to live other people’s lives for them.  What is our goal?  It is to glorify God and allow Him to enable us to live for Him…and in doing so, to live life to the fullest.  This is my hope and prayer for all of us.  I think we often get caught up living to please a parent, spouse, significant other person…and in so doing…we also may not be pleasing to the Lord.  In 3:14-21, Paul challenges the Ephesians believers to consider these matters when it comes to living according to faith.  There were a lot of other voices vying for their attention, just as there are for us.  We need to hear what Paul has to say…and he says it wonderfully in prayer.

Paul shares and exemplifies for believers some thoughts concerning prayer, just as Jesus does in the Lord’s Prayer.  He speaks of “bowing the knees”…perhaps this where we get the concept of “being on our knees” in prayer.  Although, the Bible does not command any special posture for prayer, there are some examples -- Abraham and Solomon “stood”…David “sat”…and Jesus “fell on His face.”  However, in praying, it is important to understand that what matters most is the posture of the heart.  We must bow our hearts, wills to the Lord in humility.  In his prayer, Paul addresses the Father through the Son (and as part of the usual pattern…in the Spirit vv.14, 16-17…which is also the case here).  So, even though the concept of “trinity” is nowhere mentioned in the Word of God, it is evident here.  This provides a glimpse of the perspective which all men in general, and Christians in particular, should have – we all share the Fatherhood of God.  He is Father and we are family.  All people originate from the Father as children by creation, but only we who are in Christ “through birth” are special sons and daughters.  He can only be “Father” in the fullest, truest sense for those who believe in Him through the Son.

Paul proceeds to pray for strength.  I believe that this is one of the most important things that we can do, as well.  He prays that the Ephesian believers have spiritual strength in their inner person. This, in turn, leads to a deeper experience with Christ.  And strength must run deep…it must be grounded, rooted in Christ, so that it will not grow weak, nor be easily swayed.  This reminds me of a tamarack tree that we saw up at some friends’ property one time…it was 18 feet in circumference and 180 feet high.  That one had some deep roots…it was solidly grounded.  We will be able to comprehend God’s truths through prayer  This means not only to mentally grasp, but also to apprehend the truths, to experience them and hold on to them.  We can understand such truths without making them our own, and this is not a good thing.  God wants us to experience His fullness, and we do so through the Holy Spirit.  He fills us up spiritually when we seek Him.

Nonetheless, it is easy for us to want to use people as our measuring stick.  In fact, it is often an easy excuse when we do not “measure up.”  Satan can easily manipulate us and our pride when our focus is in the wrong place.  All too often, instead of allowing God to enable us to be “better” for Him, we enable others in the wrong way to continue to go down wrong paths.  In fact, it has become a psychological definition.  Paul says elsewhere, “imitate me in as much as I imitate Christ.”  The true measure is – “am I being like Christ”?

After contemplating the wholeness of his spiritual experience, Paul finishes with a powerful doxology…and it is all about the power of Christ.  Some power is dormant…available but unused (like the power stored in a battery).  This is not supposed to be the case with Christ. Jesus’ power is always available to all of us.  We need to have hearts that are filled up with Him…filled up with His Spirit…filled with praise, wonder.  In all of this, we are to give glory to God.  What we do in His power today will glorify Christ forever.  What we do now…how we live our lives today…will have eternal ramifications. 

Rob Chaffart shares this -- what is the devil's biggest weapon? Discouragement! He tried this on Jesus Himself, 2000 years ago, using one of his closest disciples: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, 'Never, Lord!' He said. 'This shall never happen to you!' Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'" (Matt 16:21-23 NIV)  Those who gave up quickly never were able to fathom the wonders that God would have performed through them. They could have reached the stars, driven by God Himself!   “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9 NIV)

"Giving up" is music to the ears of the enemy.  However, we serve One who is bigger and more powerful than all the possible obstacles that could face us.  We serve One who is interested in “filling up.”  “Giving up should never be an option in relationship to learning lessons in life when “filling up” is the blessed alternative.  We can learn from the prophet Micah and stand firm, watching attentively where God invites us to join Him in His work and reach out to those who have no hope.  "But me, I'm not giving up. I'm sticking around to see what God will do. I'm waiting for God to make things right. I'm counting on God to listen to me." (Micah 7:7 The Message)  We have the power available to us to live life abundantly (John 10:10).  But, it is up to us…it is our choice as to whether we access it or not.  As Paul says, we must by “enabled” by the Father through the Spirit in order to live like the Son.  Living right and powerfully for Christ is very much about position (of the heart)…about power (recognizing whose matters)…and about praise (the Lord for whom He is).  As Paul exemplified, all of this…in a great way…is comprehended and apprehended through prayer.  Paul reveals to the Ephesians and to us what should be the focus of our prayers.  The ability to be filled to the full, to be enabled to live life abundantly is the greatest and most fulfilling thing that we can do with our lives. 

Blessings, Don