That circle we described yesterday works best when we are
open at the top to be filled up with God. But if like a glass we are ever turned
over, even slightly, we are never able to be fully filled with the fullness
of God. Our vertical relationship must always be aligned underneath God’s Holy
Spirit faucet, flowing through us and then out into the world. We must never
turn off the inflow of God’s power through us.
You probably have heard of the Dead Sea. The reason why
it is dead is because it only has an inlet from the Jordan River, but since it
is at the lowest part of the earth, there is not outflow. It only receives and
as a result virtually nothing lives within its waters.
A Christian who only studies the Bible, attends church,
prays, but never impacts the world may be filled with God, but that filling is
to have a purpose: to pour out into the world.
Read Eph. 5:18 and describe how being filled with the
Spirit is similar to being drunk with wine. What
are the better results of being controlled by the Spirit?
In Acts 2:1-21, it is interesting to see how the Spirit
was like the wind, blowing into the believers. In what ways is the wind of God blowing in you like being filled with
the Spirit? Can you, like the early
disciples, be misunderstood by the world when you follow the inblowing and
infilling of the Holy Spirit? What is
a the parallel about the disciples being understood by unbelievers in their own
“language”? Why is it so important that we share Christ in an understandable
way with the world?
The main request in prayer by the disciples in Acts 4 was not
for the removal of persecution. What was it for? (Hint: think about the cowardly
lion in the Wizard of Oz. No, better yet, read the passage!)
When we pray God can fill us not only with His spirit but
also with His Power and Presence to mightily face down the battle in this
world (See Galatians 5).
As we prepare for the final ten weeks of BELIEVE,
recognize that thinking and acting like Christ is not enough unless we actually
are becoming like Christ internally.
