To maintain your life full of the Holy Spirit
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Ephesians 5:6-18
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things, which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”
What do we have to do in order to
maintain our lives full of the Holy Spirit?
We have to abandon ourselves, take up the cross,
and deny our evil thoughts, devoting ourselves
to preaching the gospel.
In order to “maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit,” we must devote ourselves to preaching the gospel. To live a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must first receive the blessing that makes the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts. To receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we must have this kind of faith, that is, we must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God gave us. By having this faith, we will receive the blessing that makes the Holy Spirit dwell in us.
Do those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit want a life full of the Holy Spirit? Of course they do. But why is it that some of them cannot live this life? The reason is that their own problems take precedence over the works of God, meaning that they cannot walk with Him. To maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must learn and believe in the words of God. First of all, let’s look in the Bible to find out what kind of life and faith we must have.
What is the reason that some people cannot live a life full of the Holy Spirit?
First, we can say that it is because they cannot abandon themselves. The Bible said that only those who abandon themselves could walk with the Lord. Since achieving a life full of the Holy Spirit is not possible through one’s own power, everyone must have faith of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in order to abandon himself. Even for those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is difficult for them to abandon their selves without having some concern for the Kingdom of God. Thus for a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only then can a person abandon himself and live as a servant of righteousness.
In Matthews 16:24-26 it says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’”
The reason that some people who are born again cannot live a life full of the Holy Spirit is that they failed to deny the lusts of their flesh. Even people who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can follow the Holy Spirit only when they give up the lusts of their flesh. There are many aspects of the life of the flesh that we must give up in order to follow the Lord. The Lord said, “Let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow Me.” To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. People who wish to walk in the Spirit must abandon the life of the flesh. Only those who dare to make this sacrifice can maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit. This is the truth of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Which do you want to follow, the Lord or the world? According to your choice, a life full of the Holy Spirit or a life of the lust is yours. If you really want to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, the choice is yours. God saved us from all our sins and gave us the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it is up to you to decide whether you live a life full of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the life full of the Holy Spirit is not predestined or fated by God. The life full of the Holy Spirit depends only on the wills of those of us who believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit.
You must have the will to live a life full of the Holy Spirit
If you have the will to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, God will allow it. He will help and bless you. But if you do not want it, you must give up the life full of the Holy Spirit.
You can receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit only by faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and not by your will. But to live and maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit is totally dependent on your will. Therefore, if you want a life full of the Holy Spirit, you must examine your own will and ask for God’s help. If we really want lives full of the Holy Spirit, God will bless us and fulfill our desires. But to achieve our goal, we must deny the lusts of the flesh.
Second, to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must take up our own crosses. We must live and walk by the will of God even in difficult situations. This is what it means to live a righteous life full of the Holy Spirit. And third, the Lord said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” This means following the Lord is relevant to our lives. Indeed, if we follow Him, our spirit and flesh will prosper but if we do not follow Him and choose to live lives of our own, our spirit and flesh will perish.
Why can’t we have lives full of the Holy Spirit? The reason is that we don’t deny our thoughts, namely the lusts of the flesh. When we follow Jesus, the Spirit strengthens our inner selves and therefore He can lead us with greater forcefulness.
In Ephesians 5:11-13 it says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.” Christians must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. But when we indulge ourselves in the unfruitful works of darkness, God tells us to expose them. We should be reproached with our works of darkness, for it is shameful even to speak of those things that are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light.
Who is capable of exposing and talking about all these shameful things? If others, your brothers or sisters and the servants of God cannot expose them, you must expose them on your own. It is said that all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. Therefore we must admit our evil deeds to be not right, and be led by the Holy Spirit to expose the unfruitful works of darkness by ourselves or through our leader.
In this world, all things that are exposed end just as they are rebuked but in the world of God, all exposed things are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Since we are far from perfect, we commit many sins unconsciously in this world. However, when we shed the light of the words of God on ourselves, we become conscious of certain sins and are able to admit them. And so it is that we come to give endless thanks to God.
Because Jesus took away all our sins and iniquities, and all the righteousness of God was fulfilled when He was baptized in the Jordan River, we are able to be manifest by the light through the righteousness of God. The billions of sins that humanity has committed were transferred to Jesus when John baptized Him. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, died on the Cross to be judged for them, and was resurrected. Jesus forgave all the sins of humanity and when He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), all of mankind was saved. We become sanctified through our faith in what Jesus Christ did. Since our sins are forgiven, we can come into the light again and follow God righteously.
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