Devotional Thought
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Submit To The Spirit
Ephesians 5:18 "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" Well good morning to everyone. I trust, hope and pray that those who follow along, with us daily, will act on yesterday’s thought ! That is, as you got out of bed to start your day, you made a conscious decision, “Today I am going to Walk in step, in Harmony with the LORD. The Holy Spirit is going to direct my every step! I give myself totally over to the Holy Spirit." That lesson taught us to Walk in the Spirit. That can only be done by total submission to the Holy Spirit. Total Submission, not partial, not just a little, nor just for a little while but rather Total... that means all. Now “All”, leads me into our next Devotional Thought. Have you ever met someone who after being around for just a few minutes you realized that person is full of themselves? Do you know how you knew that? All they likely talked about were themselves. All they thought about were themselves. All they wanted you to think and talk about were themselves. Please get this down boldly into your heart and head; You can be full of the Holy Spirit or you can be full of yourself, but you cannot be full of both ! I want to call your attention to and for you to notice clearly, the strange comparison the Apostle Paul makes in Ephesians 5:18. Here he could have used so many comparisons. He could have written, “Don’t steal, but be filled with the Spirit.” “Don’t lie, but be filled with the Spirit.” Or, “Don’t kill, but be filled with the Spirit.” Instead he makes a comparison between being drunk and being filled with the Spirit. As strange as it may seem at first, it is a perfect fitting analogy. When someone is drunk, it is because they went seeking to drink alcohol. They make a conscious action to take the first drink, and then another, and then another. So it will be the very same way for you. You will only be filled with the Spirit if you seek to be filled with Him. You must choose, by making a conscious choice, to place yourself under His control. While under the influence of alcohol you are literally under its control. You do whatever that alcohol tells you to do. You get to a point where you are no longer consuming the alcohol; the alcohol consumes you. How does a man get drunk? By drinking. How does a man stay drunk? He keeps drinking. So now, Likewise, we are to continuously seek to submit to being filled with the Holy Spirit. We have to have a thirst to be controlled by the Spirit of God. The term, “be filled,” in Ephesians 5:18 is a nautical term. It refers to the filling of a ship’s sails by the wind, that will result in that vessel going wherever the wind blows it. When you submit to the filling of the Holy Spirit, you are giving Him complete control of your life. You are hoisting the sails of your heart and asking the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow you wherever He wants you to go. Dear Lord, I pray that as I walk through life, you would fill me with the Holy Spirit. Please direct my life in whatever way is best so that I might bring you glory and honor and that i might point other's to you so that they might be filled with the Spirit as well. Amen. Looking Forward Titus 2:14 |
