Filled Up or Falling Down?

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart
(Ephesians 5:19 – ESV)

It’s all too easy to fall into the same old traps. That is why in Ephesians 5 Paul says we need to be careful with our time, and wise about our walk (vs.15), rescuing our time from being wasted on evil things (vs.16). Don’t let the devil steal your day. We must stop being foolish and learn to be understanding God’s will (vs.17), and not allowing excesses and lesser things be our source of joy, but endeavoring instead to be filled with the Spirit (vs.18). If you are not doing this, then this is why you are having trouble.

Now going forward we see from Ephesians 5:19-21 what are certain results of being filled with the Spirit. We cannot ignore what the Bible says we need to be doing in this text and still think we are trying to consciously and diligently seek God. Speaking, singing, sanctifying, and submitting in the context of community; this is being in God’s will and how we can be developing a Spirit filled life.

Lots of people know that being filled with the Spirit is the key to the Christian life, but there are marks to identify what being filled actually results in. Too many think it just means being overly emotional and they act as if being filled with the Spirit means they lose self control, but the fruit of the Spirit IS self control (Galatians 5:23). Now it can be exciting, but there are markers of the Spirit filled life, and this text points them out. Too many are all barks and no marks when it comes to being filled with the Spirit.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©