Spirit-Filled

If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:25 Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®)

Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.
(Galatians 5:25 Complete Jewish Bible)

A phrase made popular during the Charismatic Renewal from the 50’s through the 70’s makes me chuckle when I hear it anymore: “Spirit-filled.” It usually meant that someone had encountered the Spirit of God in a life-changing way. It was always used in present tense, though, which is the funny part to me, because it doesn’t last long. We are filled, and we immediately begin to either leak, or pour, or both. Leaking is the process of being distracted from the Kingdom. Pouring is the process of being useful in the Kingdom.

Like a bucket in a well or a gourd at a spring or a goat skin in the desert, we are vessels. We need to be filled frequently with the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, and we need to then be poured out in the lives around ours to distribute the abundance of our lives. Then we need more filling, and we are sent out to be emptied again. It should be no more wearisome than drinking water to stay hydrated. Be filled! Be emptied… Be filled… Be awesome!