Pastor Hill: Be filled with the Spirit

Eph. 5:18-20 – Maintaining a good marriage and a strong stable family is a monumental task.

How can two imperfect human beings become one in marriage? How can families be more stable in a world filled with conflict? Great marriages and great families requires more wisdom, spiritual insight, and power than we have in ourselves. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Speaking the Truth in Love by Pastor Tommy Hill

Speaking the Truth in Love
by Pastor Tommy Hill

How we become one is beyond human understanding. It is FAITH that makes the difference. Faith in a God who has not left us alone. Faith in a God who gets involved in our lives. We are a society that yields to many things as we search for happiness. Some are yielding to alcohol, some to drugs, some to pleasure, and other forms of emotional painkillers. But we are to be filled with the Spirit and yield to His guidance. He offers us something much different from what the world can offer. Without His filling, we are insufficient for the task before us.

When left to ourselves, we are often led by emotions, by issues of the heart, by culture, or by self-will. Each of these will take our lives in the wrong direction. We need a different guide. We need God’s personal and powerful presence every MOMENT of every day. God knows our future and He leads and guides us to eternal joy. If we are going to serve God, we must desire to be filled with the Spirit as Eph. 5 teaches. We do this by;

MAKING A DECISION. A decision to seek His filling, His guidance, and receive the comfort that He offers. Of course, we can ignore His presence and live a life of self-direction. The Bible has illustrated for us many who have chosen to ignore the presence of God and the outcome is never favorable. Let us make the decision to seek the Spirit daily.

SURRENDERING OUR WILL. We must surrender our self-will to the guiding hand of God. A sign of our relationship with God is found in Romans 8:14 where it says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” As God’s sons, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who is working to develop Christ like traits in our lives. As we add these wonderful attributes to our lives, we are being filled with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 teaches us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Who doesn’t want a spouse, child, or parent that possesses these attributes?

When we are filled with the Spirit, God changes our life by making us a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17); God changes our attitudes by developing within us the fruit of the Spirit; God changes our perspective by helping us seek those things above (Col. 3:1); and God gives us joy as we grow in the faith (1 Peter 1:8).

A great marriage and great families can be possible when we are filled with the Spirit of God and then when we yield to His leading in our lives. Will you be filled with the Spirit today?

Pastor Tommy Hill is the pastor of First Free Will Baptist Church in Hamlet. He is a Richmond County native. He can be reached at firstfwbchurchhamlet@gmail.com. His column will appear each Friday in The Pee Dee Post.

Filed in: Latest Headlines

You might like:

M. Bishop sinks putt for Mixed Division playoff win M. Bishop sinks putt for Mixed Division playoff win
Von Hagel wins drawing for Pixel Von Hagel wins drawing for Pixel
Application period open for club sponsorship Application period open for club sponsorship
S. Farris wins Player of the Year S. Farris wins Player of the Year
© 2024 AlleganyPlayground.com. All rights reserved. XHTML / CSS Valid.