Last time I wrote about being born of the Spirit, the quiet, enormous beginning of the Christian life. This week, the next movement: being filled. If you're born of the Spirit but you've plateaued, tired, dry, running on your own fumes, this one is for you.
A command, not a memory
Paul writes, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). Notice it's a command in the present tense. The old wording captures it well: "be being filled." It isn't "get filled once and coast." It's a continual thing, a repeated, daily yielding to the Spirit who already lives in you.
So being filled is not a trophy you win at a conference and put on a shelf. It's more like breathing. You did it a minute ago, and you need to do it again now.
What filling actually produces
Look at what happened when the first believers were filled. At Pentecost, "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak" (Acts 2:4). A few chapters later, under pressure, "they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (Acts 4:31). Both times, the fruit of being filled was the same: witness. Courage to open your mouth about Jesus.
That's worth sitting with, because we often want the Spirit's fullness for the feeling. God gives it for the mission. Being filled makes ordinary, timid people bold enough to love their neighbors out loud and point them to Jesus.
Filled again, and again
Here's the freeing part. You can be genuinely born of the Spirit and still need to be filled again this morning. The same disciples who were filled at Pentecost were filled again later. There's no shame in needing more. The Spirit-filled life is not a state you achieve; it's a posture you keep returning to, hands open, saying, "fill me again."
At Arise, that's why we pray the way we do, and why we call ourselves Spirit-filled without embarrassment. We're not claiming to have arrived. We're admitting, out loud and together, that we can't do this on our own steam, and we're asking God to keep filling us.
So, keep asking
If you feel dry, that's not a disqualification, it's an invitation. Come back to the well. Ask him to fill you again, and expect that he will. Being filled isn't reserved for the spiritually impressive. It's for anyone willing to keep yielding.
Next in the series: as the Spirit fills you, he also forms you into the likeness of Jesus. Until then, come be filled with us, text Pastor Brian and join us this Sunday.
Pastor Brian