10-10-23-ENG.

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. "
Isaiah 60:1 
WAKE UP, SLEEPER!
 
Read It: Ephesians 5:14-15 
We're going to tread some familiar biblical ground this week as we study together the filling of the Holy Spirit. But let me assure you, we won't even begin to wear the subject out. These are foundational, life-changing changing truths. I want to remind you of them and help you make them real in your daily Christian life. So let's begin with a simple review If you are a believer, you have been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. You are also indwelt by the Spirit, who will never leave you. These are givens for the true child of God. But neither of these realities guarantees you all the benefits of the Spirit. The Spirit can be in you, and you can know very little of His power and influence. You can be in the environment of the Spirit and the Spirit's family, the body of Christ, and still know very little of His power and influence. ence. To receive the benefits, you must be filled with the Spirit. Why is the filling of the Spirit so important? Because it is possible to be a Christian and yet be asleep-to be a Christian and yet be unable to make wise decisions. Now as we have said before, the problem here is not that you don't have the Holy Spirit. The problem is that He does not have you. The concern is not that the Spirit is not present in your life, but that you are not awake and alive to His presence. The more consistently filled you are with the Spirit, the faster you will grow in your faith.

The less filled you are, the slower will be your growth in your faith. So the fastest way to get from where you are to where you are supposed to be is to learn to live a Spirit-filled life. The absence of that means spiritual defeat and ultimately disaster. The reason God gave us the Holy Spirit is that He knows something we tend to forget: It is impossible to live the Christian life on our own. If we could do it, we would not need the Holy Spirit. Think About It The purpose of the Spirit's filling is that He might become the dominating influence in your life, that you might be spiritually awake and wise.