The Spirit Led Life | Sunday Message

Struggling to answer someone's questions about your faith, Pastor Greg Laurie recommends a great book to help. You know, I remember the first time that I shared my faith. I was so young, and I was challenged by an atheist. I did not have a clue as to what I should say. And I wish I'd had a copy of this book by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler, and the title of it is "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist." And we want to send you this book for your gift of any size, available at.

Harvest.org. Hey there! Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to Harvest.org.

Let's pray together, and Father, that's our prayer. We're lost without you. We're desperate for you. We need your help. We need the Holy Spirit because we we can't do this on our own, Lord.

Apart from you, as the Bible says, we can do nothing. But then Scripture also says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And it's not by might nor by power, but by your Spirit, says the Lord.

So now we pray as we open your Word and learn more about the Holy Spirit, that you will help us. To embrace the work that He wants to do in our lives, we commit this time of Bible study to you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. You can all be seated.

Good afternoon, very hot afternoon. My goodness, it's supposed to hit a hundred degrees today. Wow, I'm thankful to God for air conditioning. Let's turn in our Bibles to two passages: John fourteen and Romans chapter eight. And the title of my message is "The Spirit Led Life." So I heard about this old farmer and his wife and his son who went to the big city for the first time, never been before.

So he left his wife in the truck. And he and his boy walked into this towering skyscraper. They'd never seen anything like this, and they saw these mysterious big metal doors open up. And they watched an elderly woman walk in. Then the doors closed.

A few moments passed. The doors open again, and a beautiful young woman comes walking out. The old farmer turns to his son and says, "Hurry, get mama. Get it." You didn't get it.

Okay, let me explain. It's an elevator, and he had never seen one, and he thought the older woman turned into a beautiful young woman, and he wanted it to happen to his wife. These are the jokes, people.

Okay, I'm sorry, but wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be great if you could go to church as one person and come out as another? In a way, that can happen. If you came to church as a non-believer and you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you would indeed come out of that church as a different person—not in every way, but your heart would be changed. Your eternal destiny would be changed, and so God can change us, but we can't do this on our own.

We need the help. Of the Holy Spirit, because life gets us down at times. Maybe I'm talking to somebody right now that is a bit depressed, and that could come for another of reasons, a number of reasons. Maybe you come filled with anxiety. People often have depression or anxiety when they are haunted by something in their past, or something they did, they wish they had not done, something they wished they had not said.

It may have happened hours ago. It may have happened decades ago. But you're haunted by your past. For another, you come anxious about your future. There are things that are troubling you.

What if this happens? What if that happens? That weighs on you, or you're weighed down by what you're experiencing at the moment. You have a big problem. Maybe it's with your business, or it's with your family.

It's with your health, or it's some other kind of problem, and I want you to know whatever you're facing, you are not alone. And Jesus tells us about the Helper that God has sent in our lives, and He is called the Holy Spirit. John chapter fourteen verse sixteen. Jesus says, "I'll pray the Father that He'll give you another Helper that He may abide with you forever. This Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for He dwells with you and He will be in you.

I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you." So Jesus is saying to the disciples, "Look, guys, I'm gonna I'm gonna leave. I'm gonna be crucified. I'll rise from the dead, and then I'll ascend from heaven. But you will not be alone.

I'm sending you a helper. It's from the Greek word parakletos, and it means one called alongside to help. I'm gonna send you an advocate. I'm gonna send you another of the same kind. As another translation puts it, another friend for you." And who is that other friend?

It's the Holy Spirit. But yet, the Holy Spirit is so misunderstood. He's so misrepresented. It seems like whenever something weird is happening, people blame it on the Holy Spirit, and it's just not fair. We need to understand who the Holy Spirit is and what it is He wants to do in our lives.

In fact, when writing about spiritual gifts, the Apostle Paul said, "Brothers, I would not have you ignorant." And on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out on the early church, people watching this happen said, "What does this all mean?" A few years ago, I had the privilege of going and visiting the ranch of Ronald Reagan.

So he built this place out in the hills of Santa Barbara, and it's a simple little house. It's fifteen hundred square feet. A lot of it, Reagan built himself. Reagan liked to get outside and chop wood and ride his horses. He built the patio for it.

And as you walk to this really charming, humble little home that he lived in with Nancy, it was the Western White House when he was our president. It has the original furnishings and the actual books that President Reagan read there on the shelves. And then you go into the kitchen, and it's GE appliances, of course, because he used to be a spokesman. For GE for a time, and then you go into the bedroom, and they have two double beds tied together to make one single bed. And then there is a little footstool on the end of one of them for Reagan's height.

You go into the shower, and they have a Liberty Bell showerhead, and then his actual clothes are hanging in the closet. And I took some of them home, and I wear them often. In fact, this is Reagan's shirt. No, it isn't. But I didn't take anything.

But the thing that made me laugh was there are two remote controls for the television, and the original note that Nancy Reagan wrote to the president explaining how to use the remote controls. I thought, here's the leader of the free world. Here's the president of the United States, the man who walks around with the nuclear football, who needs help with his remote controls. Don't we all? Though it's always so confusing, but we all need help.

How does this work? And we wonder that when we ask that question, rather about the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus said of Him in John 16, "It's to your advantage I go away, because if I don't go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I'll send Him to you." And remember, we learned that the Holy Spirit is not an "it." He's not a force. He has a personality. He can be sinned against. He can be lied to.

He can be resisted. He can be quenched. He can be grieved. He has will. He has emotion.

He has intelligence. He has personality. And when we become Christians, he comes into our lives. The Bible says in Ephesians that he seals us. Effectively puts an ID tag on us.

We become God's property. I heard a story about an old man who was known for his godly life, and someone asked him, "Hey, what do you do, old man, when you get tempted?" He says, "I just look up to heaven and say, 'Lord, your property is in danger.' I love that you're God's property, and to show you that the Holy Spirit has come in you." Into your life to give you that ID tag, and then he also is our guarantee or our down payment from the Father, so we know he means business. He'll keep up his end of the bargain and fulfill all of his promises to us. Another thing the Holy Spirit does is he teaches us. Jesus told us in John fourteen, "The Helper, whom the Father will send in my name, He'll teach you all things." But you have to read the Bible because he's going to bring to your remembrance what you've read in Scripture.

You don't just hold it up to your head and say, "May all this information go into my brain now." You have to read it. You have to memorize it. But isn't it amazing when you're reading a passage of Scripture? And it just jumps off the page, and it applies specifically to what you're facing. When that happens, that's the Holy Spirit bringing it to you.

Now we're going to see some other things the Holy Spirit wants to do in our life, and things that we need to know about Him. Number one, if you're a spirit-led believer, and the title of my message is "The Spirit-led Life." If you're a spirit-led believer, you will be empowered for Service. We're told over in verse seventeen of John fourteen, the Spirit of Truth, and the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him or knows Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you.

Okay, so when Jesus gave them the statement, the Spirit wasn't in them yet because Christ was still walking with them. But then He's crucified, He rises, He ascends. And then remember, after he came back from his resurrection, he breathed on them the Holy Spirit in the upper room. He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." So now the Spirit's in them. But then he promises that the Holy Spirit will come upon them.

And in the Book of Acts, chapter one, verse eight, we read the Lord saying, "And power, you will receive the Holy Spirit, and His power will come upon you." You receive power after the Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses unto me, and that's exactly what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. The believers are gathered together. The Spirit comes upon them. They speak in unknown languages. They speak in tongues, and now they have this boldness that they've never had before.

Simon Peter, who only weeks before could not muster up the courage to admit he was a disciple of Jesus, is now preaching his first sermon, and it's so powerful. Three thousand people believe.

So God is going to give you power. To be a witness for him, and if we're all honest, we'll admit maybe we're afraid to speak publicly. Did you know the number one fear that most Americans have is not the fear of death, but the fear of public speaking?

So you go up to someone say, "I'll give you a choice: you can die or speak publicly. Kill me now." How many of you have a fear of public speaking? Raise your hand.

Okay, come on up here, ma'am. I want you to talk. No, seriously, you are gonna no.

Okay, yeah, that's how we are. I don't want to do that. Listen, trust me when I tell you, I never aspired to be a public speaker. This was not some goal of mine, but God called me to do this. And we're going to talk about the gifts of the Spirit and how to discover what your gifts are and how to cultivate and use them.

But maybe the reason I didn't want to speak publicly is I didn't have anything to say. But now we have something to say. We have the gospel, and He'll give us the power to be a witness for Him.

So now I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit works in your life in a practical way.

So number one, as I pointed out, the Spirit led believer is empowered for service. Number two, people who are Spirit led are spiritually minded. Spiritually minded, it starts with the way that you think. Over in Romans eight, I had you turn there. If you haven't turned there, go there now, if you could.

Romans eight, verse five: Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, and those who are controlled by the spirit think about things that please the spirit. Things that please the spirit. Thinking about things that please the spirit.

Now, what would those be? What thoughts could we have that would actually please the Holy Spirit? This phrase "think about" can be translated "be preoccupied." Have you ever spoken to anyone who's preoccupied? Let me restate the question: Have you ever talked to anyone who's on their phone? You ask them a question, they're not listening to you.

Why? Because they're preoccupied.

So God wants us to be preoccupied with things that ineffectively that effectively preoccupy the Holy Spirit.

Okay, what does the Holy Spirit want us to think about over there in Romans eight? Again, it tells us, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, the sons of God, you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by which you cry, 'Abba, Father.' Here's what God wants you to think about. You are adopted, you are loved, and you are welcomed by God. This is important because sometimes we get discouraged. We feel like everyone's forgotten about us.

Nobody cares about us. You are adopted by God. Is anybody here adopted? Any adopted people? I am okay.

I am adopted. I am adopted, and not only was I adopted by a man named Oscar Lory, who gave me his name Oscar. You didn't know that. No, it's Lory, which is spelled like a girl's name, which I hated when I was younger, especially when I was in military school because you go by your last name.

So my name was Lory. But that now I love the name, but I didn't love it when I was younger. But I'm also adopted into God's family, as you are. And the Bible says you've not received a spirit of bondage again the fear, but one of adoption, whereby you cry, "Abba, Father." Abba, Father is the Hebrew equivalent of daddy or papa.

So it speaks of relationship.

So when you're discouraged, when you're feeling down, when you're feeling unloved, when you're feeling unwanted, remember you have been adopted by God, and you are loved by God, and God has a purpose in your life that He is fulfilling.

So think about that. Be preoccupied with the simple fact that you're adopted, you're loved, and you're welcomed by God. Also, number three, the Holy Spirit is at home in the Spirit-led believer. The Holy Spirit is at home in the Spirit-led believer. Romans eight nine says, "You're in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." This is fascinating because this phrase "dwells in you" means He's at home in you.

Have you ever been into someone's home and you can't wait to get out of there? Maybe they're a hoarder, and everything, all the junk is stacked up. Or maybe they're cooking something that doesn't smell so good. Or, or so. Or how about this?

Have you ever had a guest in your home that begins to critique it? Wow, your decor is so out of date. Or they critique your food. Or they come with all these diet restrictions.

Sorry, I'm lactose intolerant, and I have to have a gluten-free diet. And I'm vegan, and I'm also a pescatarian, which means I only eat seafood. And to make it even more complex, I'm a Presbyterian pescatarian. Get just get out. Get out without your diet restrictions.

You know that person doesn't want you in their home. Are there things that we do that would make the Holy Spirit not feel at home in our lives? And I'm sorry if I offended all of the gluten-free people and lactose intolerant. How many of you are lact? No, I'm not going to ask that.

Just seems like an inappropriate question, doesn't it? But see, in doing so. We can actually grieve the Holy Spirit, reminding us He's a personality. In other words, you can only grieve someone who loves you. You can offend other people, but you grieve someone who loves you.

Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. You ask, "What would grieve the Holy Spirit?" The answer is given in Ephesians four thirty. Says, "Don't grieve the Holy Spirit," which means don't bring sorrow God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God.

Through Christ has forgiven you. What grieves the Holy Spirit? Bitterness, rage, anger, slander, all types of evil behavior. My goodness, can you imagine that people practice this on social media? If over on X they got rid of all slander and evil behavior and harsh words, there wouldn't be anything left to post for a lot of these people because that's all they do post.

They fabricate things about people, they slander people, they attack people, and they manage to monetize this and get more followers as a result.

Now that that grieves the Holy Spirit. Instead, be tenderhearted. Forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

So, if you're harboring a grudge against someone, that grieves the Holy Spirit. If you're slandering someone, that too brings sorrow to the Holy Spirit. If you find yourself flying into fits of rage, all of this grieves the Holy Spirit. Not only can we grieve the Holy Spirit, we can also quench the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said to the people of Thessalonica, "Don't quench the spirit.

Quench means to extinguish, sort of like extinguishing a fire. Maybe you went on a camping trip and it's time to break camp and go home, and so you had a fire going.

So you quench the fire, you extinguish the fire." There are things that we can do to quench the spirit.

So the Holy Spirit might lead you to do a certain thing, and you say no. Holy Spirit prompts you. You need to go share the gospel with that person. No way. Quench.

The Holy Spirit says you need to spend more time praying. Oh, forget about that. Quench. Hey, you need to spend more time reading my word instead of checking your social media. No, you say again, quench.

We can quench him, and we quench him with our unbelief. The Bible tells us that Jesus could do no mighty work in his hometown of Nazareth because of the unbelief of the people. Here's another one: the spirit-led believer overcomes the old life. How do you do it when you live by the Spirit? Look at Romans eight thirteen.

If you live according to the flesh, you'll die. But if you by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. This phrase "put to death" means to deprive something of oxygen.

So, what is the best way to resist sin and walk with God? It's to put Christ first. It's called one nineteenth-century preacher summed it up this way: the expulsive power of a new affection. I love that. Let's turn the screen.

The expulsive power of a new affection. In other words, my love for Jesus is so strong; it's stronger than anything else. There's a movie out, The Odyssey. Of course, it's based on the writings of Homer, not Simpson. And and you may recall a scene from the film or from the book, where the sirens are singing so beautifully, the sailors that steered toward them would crash their boats on the rocks.

So you have Ulysses who has himself strapped to the mast. He hears the songs of the siren. He wants to give in to them, but he can't.

So it's just rejection and willpower strapped to the mast. But then you have Orpheus, who instead of going toward the songs of the sirens, goes a different direction and doesn't even look. He takes out his lyre, his musical instrument. He plays it. And it drowns out the songs of the siren.

So instead of just resisting its replacement, or another way to put it, the expulsive power of a new affection, I experienced this myself before I was a Christian. I looked at the lifestyle of my mother, married and divorced seven times, husband or boyfriends in between, radical alcoholic. Miserable life, and I said, I don't want her life, and I'm going to go find my own life. But sadly, I started making a lot of bad decisions. I started partying.

I drank. I used drugs, and it wasn't long before I discovered I didn't want that life either.

Okay, I don't want the life of my mother. I don't want the life that I've chosen. What life do I want? Then it came across the Christians. Who are in love with Jesus and walking closely with Him, and I said, "That's the life I want, and that's what I want.

I want Christ in my life. And when He came into my life, all those other things fell off. Why? Because I discovered the expulsive power of a new affection, and we can all have that in our lives." Maybe if you're struggling with all of these things, still the songs of the sirens, so to speak, you you know you're strapped to the mast, all just resistance. Maybe you need to get your eyes off of all that and get them on Jesus and discover how amazing He is, how wonderful He is.

It's far better than just mere resistance because the best way to not go backwards is to go forward in the Spirit. Again, walk in this. Spirit, the Bible says, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It means you think about spiritual things. I mean, if you look at a fit person, they're probably that way because of a lot of discipline in their life.

Now, there are some freaks of nature. There are some people who their metabolism never changes. They look fit even if they don't go to the gym. I hate those people. I wish I was one of those people, but I'm not.

But then you look at other people, you think they probably eat right, they probably work out. I think of my friend Skip Heitzig. Skip is very thin, and he's never put a pound on. I remember we went to New York City some years ago, and we went to a place called the Meatball Shop. Which was one of my favorite restaurants in New York.

Now is shut down, unfortunately. But we went in, and I said, "Skip, these guys have the best meatball sandwich ever." But you have to order it the right way. You got to get spicy meatballs. You get spicy sauce, and you get it on the white bread because the white bread absorbs the sauce better than the wheat bread. Don't get wheat bread.

And Skip orders chicken meatballs on kale. What? Chicken, no pork, pork meatballs in spicy sauce. He gets chicken meatballs, and of all things, on kale. Then again, he's very thin, and I'm not.

You look at some people. How did they they walk with the Lord like that? They're so strong spiritually. I think it has something to do with the way they live. I think it has something to do with the way they think.

I assume they probably get up in the morning and open the Bible up before anything else. I bet these people attend church every Sunday. I bet these people have a prayer life. I bet these people are always listening to things when they're driving around that will build them up spiritually. And then there's other people; they don't have time for the Bible, or they don't make time for it.

They're erratic in their church attendance. They rarely pray, and they wonder why they're always having trouble. Again, the best way to not go backwards is to go forward in the spirit.

Now we shift gears to an interesting twist.

Now, the spirit-led believer restrains evil and promotes good. The spirit-led believer restrains evil and promotes good. Second Thessalonians two seven says the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. And he who is now restraining will do so until he is taken out of the way.

Okay, that verse is talking about the restraining work of the Holy Spirit through the church in the world in the last days. I believe we're in the last days. I believe Christ could come back at any time. How many of you believe that with me?

Okay, he could come back at any time, and he will return for us to call. All true believers, some on what we sometimes call the rapture of the church, where we're caught up to meet the Lord in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. And after we're raptured, after we're taken off of this earth, the great tribulation period begins that lasts for seven years, and it's inaugurated by a person the Bible calls the beast and the antichrist. He's a charismatic world leader. Initially, a peacemaker.

Ultimately, he's revealed to be the ultimate troublemaker. And then the tribulation unfolds, and then the battle of Armageddon takes place, and then Christ comes back to the earth in what we call the second coming.

Okay, why has the Antichrist not emerged on the scene? Because the Holy Spirit is still working through the church, where the restraining force in the world today. Which reminds us to not waste our time trying to figure out who the Antichrist is. The Bible does not tell us to look for Antichrist; it tells us to be looking for Jesus Christ, right? Go ahead and applaud.

That's a good line. That's a that's an applause line. Maybe it wasn't to you. I don't know. I like it, but yes, we're a restraining force in the world.

We're speaking out against evil. We're speaking up for what is true. How do we do that?

Well, you know. People, you walk into a room. Christian changes the temperature of a room. Here's a question for you: Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? A thermometer tells you what the temperature is.

A thermostat controls the temperature. We all know about that, right now. We're setting our therma or thermostats lower, probably, so the house stays cool. And so, do you? Set the temperature of a room.

In other words, when you walk into a room as a representative of Christ, does it change things a little bit? Does suddenly people behave a little differently or speak a little differently? That's just you doing your job as a follower of Jesus Christ. And if something isn't right, you speak out against it. I'll tell you one way that we can be a restraining force in the world is by voting.

Every Christian should vote. Politics matter. Elections have consequences, and there are many Christians that don't vote. Listen to this: if every Christian registered and vote, we could decide the future of our country. But so many don't, and it's really an awful thing.

In fact, I would even say it's irresponsible. Because the Bible says when the righteous are in authority, that people rejoice.

Now, there's no perfect candidate. Politicians are going to let us down. They're going to fall short. But I'm going to try to find that candidate that is as close to my biblical worldview as I can.

Some people say, "Well, vote your conscience." I don't know if I agree with that. Depends where your conscience is at. You have to make sure your conscience is submitted to Scripture. I would say instead, vote biblically.

Well, I don't know what that means.

Okay, let me just give you a few ideas. When I'm looking for someone to vote for, that's going to be a candidate that is pro-life, that supports the right of the unborn. We have candidates today that support abortion up to nine months. I would never vote for such a person. I'm going to vote for someone who is pro-family.

When I say pro-family, I mean a man and a woman together in a marriage, not gay rights. I'm going to vote for a candidate that's pro-Israel.

Now, I know this is, I know this is controversial among some, and I don't know why. Read your Bible. The Jewish people are God's people. He placed them in the land. Israel is their homeland.

And I could help you. I think a little bit, and we could explore that a little more deeply. There's a lot of misinformation about what's going on right now over in the Middle East. But I'm just saying that I want a candidate that is pro-Israel, and I'm not going to vote for a candidate that supports child mutilation.

Now, I know they call it gender affirmation surgery. I just can't believe these parents that would give their parental permission for a doctor to surgically mutilate a child whose brain isn't even fully formed. To make decisions such as, "Well, I think I'm I'm actually a little girl when I'm really biologically a little boy." It's ridiculous. I would never support a candidate that supports that. I am going to vote for a candidate that is pro law enforcement.

I support law enforcement. Actually, when you read the Bible. It tells us that those that service in uniform and law enforcement and the military are appointed by God. In fact, the same word that is used to describe what they're doing is the same word used to describe ministers.

So, as clearly as I'm called and others are called to preach the gospel or teach the Bible, they're called to defend us and to bear the sword. And on the list goes. But this is something that is so important.

So vote biblically, and do vote. That's one way to restrain evil. But the most important thing that we can do is seek to change culture, and that's going to happen through the proclamation of the gospel. When hearts are changed by Jesus Christ, Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." And one of the uses of salt in the first century was to stop the the rotting process.

So, if you caught a fish, you better eat it, or you better rub salt in it to preserve it. But you can't just leave it laying around. And so, we're the salt; we're stopping the spread of evil. But He also said, "You are the light of the world." And a better way to translate that would be Jesus speaking: "You and you alone are the salt of the earth. You and you alone are the light of the world." Wow, me and me alone.

What kind of view would the world have today of Christianity and of Christ Himself if you were its sole representative? Say, well, that's a lot of pressure. I know, but in some cases. You're the only representative of Jesus Christ some people are ever going to meet. They may never read the Bible, but they're going to read your life.

It's been said Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men. They're looking at you. As I've said before, there's five Gospels in the New Testament: five Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and you. You're the fifth Gospel.

So be the salt of the earth. I heard it said, "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. What I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do." Last point: the spirit-led believer is filled with the Holy Spirit again and again.

And again, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out. We know that, but did you know that they were refilled not long after that? In Acts four, they were having a prayer meeting, and the Bible says, "As they were praying, the room shook, and they were all." Filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word with boldness. And then when they were run out of town in Acts thirteen, we read they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. God kept filling them over and over again.

Why? Power to be a witness. This is what the power is for. It's practical power, not power to be weird, power to change the world. Power to tell others about Jesus Christ, but you need help.

You need the filling of the Spirit. Imagine if you got a brand new car, you're driving it around week and a half. This is an awesome car. I love this car. And then one day it just stops running.

Oh, they sold me a lemon.

So you have it trailer back to the car dealer. You sold me a lemon. This car doesn't drive anymore. The guy gets in the car, checks, and goes, "You're out of gas." You need to put gas in the car. Oh, really?

Okay. Yeah, you need to put gas in. You have to do it again. Do it again. Refill it.

Fill it again. And we need refills too. We need to be filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit. I think sometimes we think this should be a big emotional thing.

Well, it's not always an emotional experience to be filled with the Spirit. You say, Lord, fill me today. Do you have an emotional experience when you put gas in your car?

Well, maybe you do when you see how much it costs now. That's emotional. What? It's crazy, isn't it? But it has nothing to do with the motions.

You may feel something. You may feel absolutely nothing. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Paul gives the answer in Ephesians five eighteen. He says, "Don't be drunk with wine; that will only ruin your life.

But be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." Few little. Things to understand about that statement: Number one, in the Greek, it's a command.

So Paul is saying God is commanding you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Another thing is this word "filled" means to do it over and over again.

So Paul is saying God commands you to be filled again and again and again with the Holy Spirit. Another idea that's communicated in the original language is it's like wind filling your sails.

So think of yourself in your little boat floating around, and all of a sudden you get a gust of wind. You need the Holy Spirit to fill your sails, and another way. This is happens as it speaks of salt permeating meat, which we already talked about.

So let's put it all together. God is commanding you to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again, filling your sails, carrying you along, and permeating every level of your life. Permeating the way that you think, the way that you live, the way you treat your wife, the way you treat your husband and your children, the way that you vote, the way that you spend your money, the way you worship, the way you do everything. Let the Holy Spirit fill you again and again and again. This is what we all need in our lives together.

So I think we should pray for that.

Well, how do I receive it? Let's pray. Ask. Jesus said, "If you be an evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him?" So, why don't we pray together now?

Now, Father, as we prepare our hearts to receive what you have for us, as we prepare our hearts to receive the power of your Spirit into our life, we ask that you will give it to us. And give us all the power and all of the gifts that we need to honor and glorify you.

So we commit this time to you now. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Hey everybody! Thanks for listening to this podcast.

To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest dot org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest dot org and click on Know God.