Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein in excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
I don’t know about you, but since Sunday I’ve been having a time just meditating on the things of God. The Lord has given me an anticipation for the coming weekend and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store. If you have adhered to God’s call to fast this week, and obeyed the call for the right reasons, you undoubtedly have felt the Spirit preparing you for his weekend.
Today’s verse is Paul’s commandment to Christians to be filled with the Spirit of God. This fast will fill us with the Spirit if that is what we seek. There are numerous instances in the Bible of those being filled with the Spirit, but there are three I wish to discuss. All three are examples of people yielding their life to God and becoming saturated with the presence of God. Being saturated with the Holy Ghost will cause at least 1 of 3 outcomes:
1.) Proclamation – In Acts Chapter 2 you find the 120 in the upper room all being filled with the Spirit. As a result of this saturation Peter was given boldness to preach and 3,000 souls were added to the church. Additionally, those 120 were spurred to go to all of Jerusalem and tell of what Jesus had done for them. The scripture makes it clear that the Spirit does not bring attention to Himself, but Christ. If you are filled with the Spirit you’re compelled to tell others about the one that redeemed you. Therefore, use this fast to fuel your burden for the lost, because if the Spirit resides inside then you’ll leap at the opportunity to share the name of Jesus.
2.) Praise – If you become saturated with the Spirit you’ll get a good case of the “can’t-help-it’s” and take every opportunity to glorify the name of God. In 2 Samuel 6:14 David danced before the Lord in praise for the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. David was filled with the Spirit because he had made a sacrifice every six paces (between 12&18 feet) that the Ark travelled. After the hundreds of trips to the altar David couldn’t help but praise the Lord with all his might. If you get saturated with the Spirit of God, you’ll be overcome with humility and realize the miraculous and extraordinary truth the God cares about you. If it ever dons on your soul how great God is, and how unworthy we were when he found us, you’re liable to dance up and down the aisles in a linen ephod praising the name of the God.
3.) Persecution – I’d be lying if I said that being saturated with the Spirit would ensure that your life would be all sunshine and roses. The truth is that the saturated Christians are those that pose the biggest threat to the Devil. Those who make an impact in reaching souls are those that Satan wishes to destroy most vehemently. In 1 Kings 18 & 19 we find an example of this. In chapter 18 Elijah witnessed God send fire from Heaven, saw all the people in attendance repent and proclaim that the Lord was the true God (essentially a great revival), saw God end an oppressive drought, and at the end of the chapter you find God’s hand upon Elijah. Needless to say, Elijah was saturated with the Spirit and enjoying every second of it. Yet, despite being in the exact will of God and being filled with the Spirit, Chapter 19 tells a very different story. After receiving a death threat from the queen, Elijah allowed himself to become saturated with fear and despair instead of the Spirit as he sought out the famous juniper tree. The point of this example is to understand how to remain in saturated despite the fire darts of the Devil being volleyed our way. When we react to persecution with the realization that God has not changed, we can remain filled with the Spirit. God remains the same as He was yesterday and will continue to be tomorrow. My situation doesn’t undermine any of the things the Lord has done in the past. If we prepare our souls with this truth before persecution arrives our faith will remain unwavering once it arrives.
Take full advantage of the opportunities God wishes to fellowship with you throughout this fast. Christians have no excuse to be filled with anything other than the Spirit. Purpose within yourself that even after this fast has ended you will remain saturated with God.
Your fellowservant in Christ,
Bro. Jordan Foster
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