Last week we looked at what it means to receive the Holy Spirit. This week we explore what it looks like to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit.
Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2)
The Holy Spirit testifies to your soul that you are God’s beloved child. With the Holy Spirit in your life, you no longer need to look for the approval of other people or be concerned about what other people think of you.
A life filled with the Holy Spirit is a life that is free from trying to satisfy our insatiable appetite for attention. A life filled with the Holy Spirit sees God as important in and of himself and not simply in relationship to what he can do for you. A life filled with the Holy Spirit is life that is lived neither seeking recognition or importance, neither desiring power or visibility, but rather seeking to glorify God. A life that is permeated by the Holy Spirit is a life that no longer presumes to be the center of the universe but honors God as the center and sustainer of the universe.
The cost of receiving the Holy Spirit
There is a cost to receiving the Holy Spirit. You have to choose to surrender your self-will, your ambitions, your desires to the one who created you. You have to surrender your desire for the praise of other people and the prizes of this world, so that God’s name is glorified. You have to choose to yield up your most precious things to the one who created all things. In faith you choose to receive the Holy Spirit by believing that .
The Joy of the Holy Spirit
A life filled with the Spirit doesn’t mean that your human nature won’t rear its head. There will still be times when you are slow to understand what God is doing. You will still make judgment errors, and mistakes. Your memory will still fail you. You will still struggle with doubts and addictions.
Sin rearing its ugly head in your life is not the end of the story. Life in the Spirit is like standing constantly under a waterfall gushing with warm water cleansing you from all your sins.
The Holy Spirit and Human Nature
A life filled with the Holy Spirit can experience the agonies and ecstasies of life with joy and delight because joy comes from the Holy Spirit and not the circumstances of life. You will still experience all the emotional and physical pains of this world. But you will also know the joy of sins forgiven, and the assurance that nothing that happens in this world can separate you from God’s presence.
A Spirit Filled Life in Community
When the Holy Spirit permeates every aspect of your life people will see God’s spirit in your life. While you receive the Spirit of God personally, the life of the Spirit is lived out in community.
A life filled with the Spirit is a life that shares God’s love with other believers. A life filled with the Spirit is one in spirit and mind with other Christians. God builds us up together through the Spirit to become a dwelling place where God lives.
Because you have received the Holy Spirit you have much to offer your fellow Christians. You are able to bring the message of Christ to your fellow Christians with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit encouraging them to remain faithful, and to never lose hope.
When your life is filled with the Holy Spirit your love is contagious towards all people, even difficult coworkers, because your love comes from the eternal well of God’s love. When your life is filled with the Holy Spirit your joy overflows even in the most oppressing circumstances because your joy comes from the Holy Spirit not from your circumstances. A peace that passes understanding in the most stressful moments of your day radiates into the lives of those around you when you are filled with the Holy Spirit.
