Monday Rhapsody Of Realities - "...Being Filled With The Spirit"

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:18-19).

Receiving the Holy Spirit and being full of the Spirit are two different things. You receive the Holy Spirit once, to live in you, but "being filled" with the Spirit is something that should happen continually. Actually, the latter part of our opening verse is literally rendered, "be filled with the Spirit", which means it's a continual experience. You ought to be perpetually filled with the Spirit, and it's something you can make happen for yourself.

It's not God's responsibility to get you filled with the Spirit. The instruction is that "you" get yourself filled with the Spirit by doing the things listed in our theme scripture: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord". This means speaking the Word to yourself in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, and then singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord through the Spirit - through praying in other tongues. Paul said, "...I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also" (1 Corinthians 14:15).

"Singing with the spirit" is singing in other tongues, and that's what he means by speaking to yourself in "spiritual songs". Therefore, to be filled with the Spirit, you ought to speak in tongues, sing in tongues, and make melodies in your heart to the Lord.

Maybe you're facing challenges in your marriage, in your home, your job,your academics, finances, or even in your health, if you've received the Holy Spirit, happy are you! Get into your closet and act on the Word. Tell yourself, "I'm what God says I am! Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world! I am a victor in Christ Jesus!

I can never be disadvantaged!" Then sing the Word in Psalms, and hymns and make melody of the Word in your heart to the Lord. Speak in other tongues and by interpretation, declare the wisdom of God.

PRAYER: Dear Father, I thank you for the infilling of your Spirit. Your glory is manifested in and through me today, and your wisdom is seen and heard in my words and in my actions, because I'm full of the Spirit, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further Study: 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. ; Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Daily Scripture Reading
1-Year Bible Reading Plan: Luke 11:1-13, Judges 1-2
2-Year Bible Reading Plan: Matthew 27:45-54, Leviticus 6.