Filled with God

“Be filled with the Spirit.”
(Ephesians 5:18)

 

Reflection:
There are certain truths we need to grasp about what Paul is saying to us.

The first is that it is written in the imperative mood – that is it is not a suggestion or some spiritual advice but an authoritative command addressed to us by an apostle of Jesus Christ writing under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit. It becomes, therefore, a responsibility that we are not at liberty to avoid. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is not optional but necessary for all followers of the Lord Jesus.

Secondly, Paul is addressing himself to the whole Christian community – made up of each individual. All of us, singly and together, are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This fullness is not something reserved for an elite few but is available to, and required of, every individual.

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)

Thirdly, it is written in the passive voice and is interpreted in the New English Bible as ‘Let the Holy Spirit fill you.’  As the Holy Spirit comes to us as the gift of the Father and the Son He is not something that we earn but on the contrary are not to avoid, block or hinder. In fact we are to seek more of His presence and fullness and open ourselves to Him at all times.

Fourthly, Paul is writing in the present imperative tense, the meaning of which is to go on being filled. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not a once-off experience but ‘a privilege to be renewed continuously by continuous believing and obedient appropriation.’ We need to be filled with the Spirit and go on being filled every moment of every day. In this way our relationship with the Lord will deepen and develop.

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

We can ask God every day to continue to fill us, we can turn to the Spirit for guidance, wisdom and strength, and we can soak ourselves in the Scriptures – particularly the New Testament. The Spirit cannot be separated from the Word that He inspired and will never act or have us act contrary to that Word. By a regular and prayerful reading of Scripture we open ourselves to God and allow the Spirit to both inform and form us in the process.

The Holy Spirit is God within us – seeking to transform us more and more into the living reality of the sons and daughters of God.

Response:
Read the New Testament (again) praying that He will speak to you personally as You read.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, please fill me and continue to fill me with the wonderful gift of Your Holy Spirit –and help me to recognise and to be attentive to Him. Amen.

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Purpose

“For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do”
 (Ephesians 2:10)

Reflection:
I came across a comment, some time ago, by a man who said, “I spent all my life climbing to the top of the ladder, only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall!” What a devastating realisation and terribly sad waste. This is not what God has in mind for us. And yet so many people seem to either speed off in the pursuit of some material goal, or wander aimlessly on the ‘misty flats.’

God has a plan and a purpose for each one of His people. He has equipped and will empower us for that purpose. It is in that purpose that we will begin to find our satisfaction – not because of any material rewards that it might bring, but because it is so worthwhile doing.

Chesterton famously wrote, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” That was not an excuse for sloppy work – its truth is in the fact that if we are only able to do a worthwhile thing badly it is still worth doing! If we are only able to love Christ poorly, it is far better than not loving Him at all. And of course, in all of this, who is the one who will decide?

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew He said to them, “I will make you fishers of men.” In other words, in the new identity that He would give to them this would be their purpose. Paul, in the passage above, affirms that in our ‘new creation’ as God’s sons and daughters, we are the workmanship (again) of Christ. A focus of that workmanship is that we will have been (re-) formed to do the ‘good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.’ He has a plan and a purpose for us. Through the Holy Spirit, living within us, He equips, empowers and calls us into that purpose. Our peace will lie in recognising our calling, accepting it, and living it out. Some may be called to high and public office, others to quieter and less visible ministry. Each one is important in the plans and purposes of God. What we are called to is where we will be most effective.

Every Christian is called to be a person who receives and passes on the love of God in the situation in which He has placed them, and in others to which He might call them. Every person, including you, has a God given purpose in this life. Don’t envy other people or their ministry, recognise your own. Start by being a person of quiet trust and love just where you are. You will be allowing God to work in you and through you.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.”
(Psalm 32:8)

Response:
God knows where I am. He can use me here. He will lead me on to wherever He wants me to be.

Prayer:

Father God, please help me to trust you with my life. Help me to be more open to You, so that I will not waste the opportunities open to me now, but also hear you when you call me. Amen.

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My Purpose

“For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do”
 (Ephesians 2:10)

Reflection:
God has a plan and a purpose for each one of us. He has equipped, and will empower, us for that purpose. It is in that purpose that we will begin to find our satisfaction – not because of any material rewards that it might bring, but because it is so worthwhile doing.

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew He said to them, “I will make you fishers of men.” In other words, in the new identity that He would give to them this would be their purpose. Paul, in the passage above, affirms that in our ‘new creation’ as God’s sons and daughters, we are the workmanship (again) of Christ. A focus of that workmanship is that we will have been (re-) formed to do the ‘good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.’ He has a plan and a purpose for us.

Through the Holy Spirit, living within us, He equips, empowers and calls us into that purpose. Our peace will lie in recognising our calling, accepting it, and living it out. Some may be called to high and public office, others to quieter and less visible ministry. Each one is important in the plans and purposes of God. Where we are called is where we will be most effective. I cannot fulfil your purpose nor can you fulfil mine – each one has their own.

Chesterton famously wrote, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” That was not an excuse for sloppy work – its truth is in the fact that, if we are only able to do a worthwhile thing badly, it is still worthwhile doing! If we are only able to love Christ poorly, it is far better than not loving Him at all. And of course, in all of this, God is the One who will decide.

Everyone is called to be a person who receives and passes on the love of God in the situation in which He has placed them, and to which He will call them. We can begin and continue right where we are – living as the light and love of Christ in our particular world.

Every person has a God given purpose in this life. We are not to envy others but to recognise our own.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you”
(Psalm 32:8)

Response:
God knows where I am. He can use me here. He will lead me on to wherever He wants me to be.

Prayer:

Father God, please help me to trust you with my life. Help me to be more open to You, so that I will not waste the opportunities open to me now, but use them to Your glory. Amen.

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Jesus Reigns

“He sat down at the right hand of God”
(Hebrews 10:12)

Reflection:
The second insight we gain from this scripture comes from where Jesus is sitting. He sits at the right hand of God – in the place of the highest possible honour. It is the supreme place of majesty, power and authority in the entire created order. And from here Jesus reigns.

• God “raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:20-22)

It is from here that

• Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to His people on the Day of Pentecost
• Jesus continues to send out His people on mission and ministry to the lost and suffering
• Jesus continues to give light, life and power to His teaching through the Holy Spirit

Although the powers of evil have not yet surrendered Jesus showed quite clearly during His earthly ministry that He is able to exercise authority over them. When He decides that the time has come He will exercise that authority fully and finally.

Prayer:

 Lord the kingdom, the power and the glory are Yours now and forever. Amen

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So Much More

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine”
 (Ephesians 3:20)

 

Reflection:
God is far more able than we imagine or ask.  His supreme majesty, almighty power and complete authority are far beyond the needs of any situation that may face us now or in the future.

Selwyn Hughes wrote that ‘the problems ahead of us are never as great as the power behind us.’ So often, though, we give the impression that the opposite is true. It is as if the more advanced our theology and scientific progress the less powerful and personal it has made God in our minds and lives. This is the result of developing great thought of man and little thoughts of God – who created humans in the first place.

This Scripture does not say or infer that God is some miracle-making genie waiting only for our command. Not at all. What it does say is that God is more than able do anything that He chooses – including things beyond the scope of our imaginations – like creating, sustaining and redeeming everything seen and unseen!

“nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

We are challenged to increase our vision of God to be more in line with the revelation of Scripture – and to approach and relate to Him in that light. The hints to our faith are all around us,

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”  (Romans 1:20)

Response:
How mighty and able is God to me?

Prayer:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might – nothing is impossible to You in my life or in the life of the world itself. Help me to know this and allow it to build my faith and prayers accordingly.  Amen.

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Abundance where it matters

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing in Christ”
(Ephesians 1:3)

 

Reflection:
Paul is almost in raptures as he begins his letter to the Ephesians. In fact John Mackay wrote that

• This rhapsodic adoration is comparable to the overture of an opera which contains the successive melodies that are to follow.

In thinking of all the blessings that are available to Christians Paul identifies for us that each and every one has its source in God the Father. For it is He who has

• Blessed us (v3)
• Chosen us (v4)
• Destined us … to be His sons and daughters (v5)
• Freely given us His grace (v6)
• Lavished His grace upon us (v8)
• Made known to us His will and His purpose
• And will work out everything in conformity with His will and purpose (v11)

It is a wonderfully uplifting and re-assuring list and filled with present and eternal significance. Paul stresses the fact that these particular blessings are spiritual. That is they are not material and for our present and bodily pleasures but are of the Holy Spirit Himself and with both a present and an eternal significance. Their source is God and their focus is love, intimacy of relationship and the building of faith and purpose.

Therefore we are not insignificant nobodies. As a Christian and an adopted daughter or son of God you are blessed, chosen, destined for glory, a recipient of His lavish and freely given grace and a part of His will and purpose which He is working out to His satisfaction. And as such we know with absolute certainty that no matter what the state of the world in general, or our particular world, at the moment

• His name is and will be hallowed
• His Kingdom has and will come
• His will has and will be done
• On earth as it is in heaven.

Response:
Receive the word on which to feed to day – and ask God to make it live within you

Prayer:

Father thank You so much for Your wonderful blessings, and particularly for the sacrificial gift of Your Son Jesus. Please let Your Word live within me and bear abundant and glorious fruit to Your honour and glory. Amen.

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I Leak

“Be filled with the Spirit”
(Ephesians 5:18)

 

Reflection:
We have a large swimming pool. It looks marvellously attractive and appealing when clear and sparkling. However that does not just happen. It needs a deal of maintenance –part of which involves clearing out the debris of old leaves and other things that end up there, as well as regular topping up. It surprises me just how much water is lost to daily evaporation.

Like this pool of water we also need regular clearing out and filling up again – to keep us fresh, clean and alive rather than stale and sluggish.  On the one hand we require a fresh release of the Holy Spirit – because as D.L Moody says “we leak.” On the other we cannot avoid becoming clogged now and then by the dirt of the world in which we live. We will need forgiveness when (not if) we sin, and healing of the pains and hurts that we have encountered on the journey.

Paul is writing in the continuous present tense which means that this ‘being filled with the Spirit’ is not a once off event but an ongoing process. Rather like the branch of a vine keeps drawing its sustenance and life from the vine all the time, so we cannot stop drawing on God. Another picture would be a river flowing into a pool of water – it cannot stop if the pool is to remain clear and alive.

Response:

As I need to keep breathing the air of life so I need to keep receiving the Spirit of Life

Prayer:

Father thank You for the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit please keep filling my life – cleansing me and setting me free from the sins and stains of the past and bringing me into the fullness of the life that You have for me in Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Amen.

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Identity 3

“Having believed,
 you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance
until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–
to the praise of his glory”
(Ephesians 1:13-14)

Reflection:
Our new identity in Jesus Christ is not merely a matter of words on a page, or of a promise of something to come – it is a present reality for believers.

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come to us in a new way – in a relationship that was even closer to the one that His disciples enjoyed with Him. For whilst He was with them the Holy Spirit would be in them – and in us too.

“But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you”  (John 14:17)

Furthermore, Paul tells us now that He will be to us the ‘seal’ of God. That is a sign of ownership from God, indicating that we belong to Him in a new and unbreakable relationship. It is also a sign and a guarantee that we are under and within the power and protection of God Almighty. Lastly the Holy Spirit represents a deposit, or first payment, of our inheritance from God. The remainder of the blessings that God has provided for us are eternally secure and we will enter into and receive them in the fullness of time.

Paul underlines this new identity for us again when he writes,

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Very clearly something remarkable has taken place. We are no longer the people of the world. We are no longer the products of our past with all its influences and allegiances. Our new and primary identity now is as the people of God – even more, as the children of God, His daughters and sons, both now and through all eternity. And as such

nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39)

This is what we are called to live out with Him.

Response:
As a believer I have received the Holy Spirit – I am a precious daughter/son of God – He is my eternal Father

Prayer:

Holy Spirit I am so glad that You are a part of my life. Please fill every part of me with Your presence and light, cleansing, healing and growing me, and filling me with the Father’s great love. Amen.

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Belt of Truth

“Stand firm then
with the belt of truth
buckled around your waist”
(Ephesians 6:14)

 

Reflection:
Paul is describing the armour of God to be worn by all God’s people. The first piece of equipment to be put on is the belt of truth. Buckled around our waists it is central to our life and living –and so much else will depend upon it.

There are two complementary strands to this belt of truth. The first is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and in Scripture. Day and night we need to be clothed with the Word of God to keep us safe from the lies of the enemy, to feed and strengthen our faith and to guide us in the way we live.

The second strand is that of our own sincerity and integrity. As people of the Truth we are called to be those who live truthfully and honestly at all times and in all areas.

There may be times in life when we need to ‘tighten our belts’ as we face some particular challenge. This would mean holding on to a central truth – rather like Paul when he said that,

“I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

This belt of truth worn at the centre of our being reminds us that we are to

“Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11)

Response:
Is my belt secure and strong – or are there holes in it?

Prayer:

Lord God, as Your redeemed and beloved child, help me to embrace the truth with delight, and seek to make it a part of my everyday life to You honour and glory. Amen.

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God of Love 20

“But because of his great love for us,
God, who is rich in mercy,
 made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions–
it is by grace you have been saved”
(Ephesians 2:4-5)

Reflection:
God is a God of Love.

LOVE

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.

“A guest,” I answered, “worthy to be here”:
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”

“Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.

(George Herbert  1593 – 1633)

 

Response:
His love is a gift – not to be earned but to be received. We cannot serve God unless we allow Him to first serve us.

Prayer:

Lord I come to You because You have come to me. Amen.

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