FILLER UP

People filled with the Spirit, speak more of Jesus than anything else.

Ephesians 5:18, And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Our youth group use to sing, “Fill Up My Cup”. At any moment, we would begin that song...on a plane, at the Grand Canyon, in Mexico, in Vermont, on the way home from camp; it didn’t matter. The kids loved that song and I loved hearing them sing it. The chorus ended with, “Let it over flow with love”.

You know, I believe if we would fill our lives with the love of Christ, it would overflow into other people’s lives. The love of God would penetrate their black, dead hearts, transforming them into a sinner saved by Grace. Do you know Him this morning? If not, shoot me a message. I would love to share with you what Jesus Christ has done for you.

SPIRIT FILLED

           The Spirit of God first imparts love; He next inspires hope, and then gives liberty; and that is about the last thing we have in many of our churches. --Dwight L. Moody

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

            While the Baptism of the Spirit (being saved) cannot be lost, the filling of the Spirit can be. We can quench and grieve the Spirit. 1Thessalonians 5:19, Quench not the Spirit. Ephesians 4:30, And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. We quench and grieve the Spirit when we have sin in our life. Psalm 66:18, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: The loss of God’s filling comes because we are filled with sin. But praise be to the Lord that He convicts His children and has made the way for us to confess and repent. 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In our confession and repentance, we can walk and be filled with the Spirit as we once were.

            Are you living in a Spirit filled life or do you have your belly full of Satan’s spirits? Turn from those wicked ways and follow the path that leads to Spiritual Delight not destruction!

BE YE HOLY

            It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. Lighthouses do not ring bells and fire cannon to call attention to their shining-they just shine. -Moody

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:7

            When the Lord saves a lost and dying soul, He does more than just saving them from hell. He is saving them from themselves. Left to ourselves, we will always find ourselves not only drifting toward sin but running to it. When we follow the paths of sin, we will eventually find ourselves dying from the very thing that we chose to do in the first place. I am reminded this morning of James 1:14-15, But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

            The cure for unholiness is living a holy life. It is walking in His righteousness. But we can’t do it on our own! We have to have Jesus’ righteousness in us. When we got saved, He gave us His Spirit and when we follow the paths of righteousness, the Holy Spirit leads us along the way keeping us from self destruction!

            Want to avoid self-destruction and the old saying, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer that you want to stay, and cost you more than you are willing to pay? Then—Be ye holy!

I NEED TO SEE JESUS!

            Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything. --Peter Marshall

The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: Psalm 146:8

            Oh that we might always see the way to go for the Lord. Unfortunately, there are things keeping us from seeing which way to go. When I boil it all down I find two reasons we are blinded to God’s way; Sin and Sovereignty. When we have unconfessed sin in our lives God’s way is blurred. It’s blurred because He does not hear our prayers. It’s blurred because He will not condone sin. It’s blurred because God is holy and He wants us to be holy as well.

            The second reason is God’s sovereignty. Sometimes, God wants us to trust Him more. It’s not that we don’t but it’s when our faith needs to be deepened. It’s a time to hear what the Spirit is trying to teach us. It is a time we need to get focused a little more on the Saviour. It’s a time when doors are closed, and we need to get alone to see Jesus in His Word.

            Are you in a time when you need to see Jesus? He isn’t that far away! Open His Word and start reading. It won’t be long until He shows up in your life!

WITHOUT THE SPIRIT OUR LABOR IS IN VAIN.

We must not be content to be cleansed from sin; we must be filled with the Spirit. --John Fletcher

For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Acts 11:24

Notice how Barnabas was a good man, filled with the Holy Ghost and of faith. That is what makes the difference in our lives! The righteousness of Jesus was what made Barnabas good. When he repented and trusted Jesus as Saviour he was filled with the Holy Ghost. Each day that he walked with the Lord his faith grew stronger. It was not his education that made the difference. It was not fame, nor fortune that caused people to repent. It was the Spirit of God living and abiding in him that made the difference!

Do you have the Spirit? If not, your labor is like a bridge going no where, it's unless!

WHO’S GOT CONTROL OF YOU?

When it comes to the control of our lives, we are either "body" men or "spirit" men. --Eric Lindholm

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Romans 8:9

I once had a remote control car. I loved that thing. I would sit up ramps to jump, obstacles to maneuver around, and mountains of dirt to climb! I loved it, until the batteries went dead. It became nothing more than something on the shelf to collect dust!

Our lives are as useless as that remote control car with dead batteries without the Spirit of God dwelling within us! We can’t do anything for Him without His Spirit living and abiding within us! We can’t do anything for Him without Him having control of our life!

UNDER THE INFLUENCE…

The Spirit of God first imparts love; he next inspires hope and then gives liberty; and that is about the last thing we have in many of our churches. -Moody

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14

Let’s face it folks, we are judged everyday by someone. It may be someone in another car, the waiter at a restaurant, or the kid starring at you in the checkout line at Walmart. People judge us by what we wear, where we go, who we support politically, even the place we attended college at has astigmatism that comes with it.

As people look, inspect, and even judge our lives, do we share the Spirit that is living in us in a way that they know we are a Christian? Does the Spirit of God influence our lives so that others would see His light living and abiding in us? Do you share the love of God that inspires hope and gives liberty to the captives?

What’s influencing your life this morning? It will show up in your actions later today!

GET UP, GET READY, and GO!

The living Church, though never neat, keeps God's world from complete disaster. -Macleod

We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. Psalm 55:14

GET UP, GET READY, and GO WHERE; to church of course! There is no better place for you to be on a Sunday morning! The fish don’t bite any better and you won’t find better deals at the mall on Sundays either. Even though it may be the only day you have to sleep in and you get your best cleaning done, don’t forsake the day the Lord has set aside for us to come together and worship Him in spirit and in truth! So please join me in worship this Sunday morning somewhere!

Spirit versus Flesh

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies; for the hardest victory is victory over self. –Aristotle

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

How do we obtain this type of bravery? Throughout scripture we see men and women valiantly fighting against enemies abroad. But that type of enemy is easy to identify and fight against. What about the enemy within, the enemy that affects us the most…our flesh? Go to the same place to find strength—scripture. Consider with me Hebrews 12:1-2; “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Child of God; Confess and forsake sin. Die to fleshly desires by getting into the Word of God—DAILY. Quit making excuses why you can’t get to church and other church functions. Get busy doing something for the Lord. Share the Gospel with someone. The boldness and bravery that will follow will even surprise yourself! You can do it through Christ!