THE SPIRIT WEEK 1:
BE FILLED
Have you ever found yourself in trouble, not knowing quite where to turn… and you needed more than your best effort or ideas? You find yourself with your back against the proverbial wall and you just need someone to help.
Imagine how the followers of Jesus must have felt when he announced that he was going to be leaving them after only three short years. They had left everything behind to follow him, and now he is telling them that it’s over as they know it. They must have felt devastated and probably a little bit confused. After all, he was promising them a new kingdom (and they had witnessed the miracles)… but now, he’s leaving. Putting myself in their shoes, I can speculate how they must have felt: probably hurt, maybe a bit confused, and maybe even abandoned. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Jesus tells them that when he goes, God will send “another that is like him,” the Holy Spirit. Sounds nice, but I’ll bet it didn’t seem so sure for them in a world that now seemed chaotic and in crisis.
In the scripture from John 14, we are introduced to the Holy Spirit as an advocate, a counselor, and a comforter. Again, that all sounds nice, but how does being filled with the Holy Spirit help us navigate life? Well first, it can bring peace into our lives, even when everything around us seems in turmoil. Knowing that God’s Spirit knows and understands the situation we are in can calm our nerves and stress, but it can also can help us by giving us good sound direction in the middle of the upheaval. The Spirit can also speak to us and speak through us. In Romans 8, Paul writes that when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways we don’t understand.
Another reason we need the Spirit in us is because it helps us to develop Christ-like character in our lives. When we are tempted, or when sin rears its head enticing us to do something we shouldn’t, God’s Spirit will direct us away from those things as long as we are willing to obey. But perhaps the most important reason we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit is what Jesus said just before he ascended back to the Father after his resurrection.
Acts 1:8 gives us the last recorded words of Jesus to his followers, and it says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere…” (NLT). We are here because we are to be God’s witnesses to the life and salvation found in Jesus. This filling of the Spirit is what emboldens us to share our faith, to serve in a ministry, and ultimately to follow our calling from God to fulfill his purposes in our lives.
But it us up to us. We must desire to be filled. We must believe that God will fill us, and then we must receive the gift of the Holy Spirit into our lives. We must welcome the Spirit into our lives. And not just into part of it, but into the whole life! God doesn’t want to be a bystander. He gives us His Spirit so that we can be a power and a force for his Kingdom. He wants to fill us and overflow through us. He wants to guide, comfort, counsel, and strengthen us. He wants to be our source, our hope, our leader, and our helper. So the question is, will you receive the Holy Spirit into your life?