Be Filled With the Spirit

Some days ago, I saw a man who was so drunk that he had lost control of his body; he staggered, sang, clapped and gesticulated as he tried to find his way home. Because that man was drunk with alcohol, I could easily observe the influence of alcohol over him?

Have you seen a man filled with the Holy Spirit before, what did you observe? The fruit of the Spirit, right?

You see, like a man under the influence of alcohol loses control of himself, so is a man under the influence of the Holy Spirit; he is unable to respond to the sinful desires of his flesh because he is under a greater influence, the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 (KJV) reads, ‘‘this I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’’

If you find yourself responding so easily to the [sinful] desires of the flesh, it is a sign that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment. The wise thing to do would be to turn to your Heavenly Father and ask Him to fill you again (see Luke 11:11-13).

You see, to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you is different from being filled with Him. When a cup is filled with water, it has no space left for other things, right? So, when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will have no space for the [control of the] flesh.

Go into today knowing that if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, the lust of the flesh will fill the vacuum.

Pray like this, Father, help me to be filled with the Holy Spirit always,  in Jesus’ name, amen.

—Dr. Emmanuel James