The apostle Paul prayed that God the Father of glory would open "the eyes of your understanding...that you may know...what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us...".(Eph.1:17-19) The Holy Spirit is given to help us see the greatness of God that is in Christ and His fullness which is given to the believer. The Holy Spirit is given to us so that we can grow because His Presence is with us - not just with us but in us. A Christian is in fact someone who has the Spirit of Christ on the inside. (Rom.8:8)
The Bible teaches that the believer is "to be filled with the Spirit" (Eph.5:18) This is to be a constant evidence of His Presence. The purpose of God can never be accomplished without being filled with His Spirit because they require more than human effort. Put bluntly the destiny of God will kill you unless you stay filled with the Spirit. Moses knew this when he said to the Lord "if your Presence does not go with us do not bring us up from here." (Ex. 33:14) He recognised his own limitations as well as the fact that unless the Presence of the Lord was with them they would be no different from all the other people around them. The Presence of God marks the believer and empowers the believer for service. The response of the Lord to Moses was that Moses had found grace in His sight and that He would relate to Moses "by name" (Ex.33:17)
Perhaps the greatest miracle for humanity is that God wants to live inside of us by His Holy Spirit. He wants us to be filled with Himself so that we can enjoy Him and at the same time give Him pleasure. Ephesians 5:19 expresses one of the signs of His Presence - being filled with joy. Joy will manifest in wanting to 'sing as unto the Lord'. By the way the Bible doesn't say that you need to make a tuneful noise just a joyful one1 Joy comes from a heart that is filled with His Presence. A second manifestation of being filled is a grateful and thankful heart, "giving thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."(Eph.5:20) A third sign of being filled is how we relate to one another, "submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord." (v21) A spirit of submission honours the worth of people reflecting in fact how people are highly valued by Father God. The proof of His value of people is that God the Holy Spirit wants to reside inside of people.
This blog is based on a message given by Ross Smith at The Vine Church, Springwood, Logan City, Queensland, Australia on 08/02/15. The full message can be accessed by podcast from www.thevine.org.au/teaching
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