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It's
the key to a powerful Christian life.
The source of joy, victory and fruitfulness.
And yet, many believers neither comprehend
or experience the Spirit-filled life.
Just
how do we follow the command to "be
filled with the Spirit?" (Ephesians
5:18b) And how does it affect our daily
life? Here are six "word pictures"
that you can use to deepen your understanding
and illustrate for others what it means
to be empowered by our Helper, the Holy
Spirit.
1.
Driving a car - Think of your life
as a car, and that when you invited
Jesus Christ into your life, He came
in and took the driver's seat. He is
the best driver and He knows the way.
But time and time again we think we
know better, so we take the wheel back.
When we realize that we have taken over
the wheel, we need to confess it and
move over and let Him have it back.
2.
Hurricane lamp - Light cannot shine
through the glass of a hurricane lamp
if the chimney is dirty or foggy. When
we realize that our "chimney"
is dirty, we need to get rid of the
dirt (confess the sin) and clean it
up (ask the Spirit to fill us anew).
Then the light can shine more brightly
again.
3.
Throne checks - When we ask Christ
into our lives we give Him the throne
of our lives. However, there are times
we nudge Him off, and because He is
a gentleman, He won't take His place
back on the throne until we ask Him
to.We need to get off the throne (confess
our sins) and allow Him to retake the
throne (ask to be filled with the Spirit).
4.
Putting on a glove - A glove without
a hand in it can do nothing. That would
be like us without Christ in our lives,
working through us. Put a hand in the
glove however, and suddenly it can do
amazing feats! We need to allow the
Holy Spirit to work through us and we
will see God do amazing things!
5.
Chocolate syrup - Pour chocolate
syrup in a glass of milk. Stir it up
and let it take control, and you have
chocolate milk! If we want to reflect
Christ in everything we do, we need
to allow the Holy Spirit to be stirred
up and fill all of our lives. If we
are showing our old nature, then we
need to confess that, and stir up the
Spirit again by asking Him to fill us
again.
6.
Paddling and sailing - If we were
to use a paddle while in a sailboat,
it would take a lot of effort and we
would not get very far. In the same
way, when we try to live our lives for
God in our own strength, it is a struggle.
Instead, when we put up the sail, the
wind carries us and it takes very little
effort. Similarly, in our spiritual
walk the Holy Spirit is the wind that
carries us. We simply need to allow
God to do the work in us and work through
us.
There
is perhaps no message more life-changing
you can share with a fellow Christian
than how to experience the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. Be bold. Ask God
to help you take opportunities to share
this truth with the believers you meet
online.
A
full explanation of the Spirit-filled
life and related Scriptures can be found
here.
Another
great resource is Spiritual
Oxygen: Are you getting it? found
on Christian
Women Today. We encourage you to
read this excellent article that explains
the concept of spiritual breathing.
We warmly welcome your thoughts.
Feel free to e-mail
us with any questions you might have.
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