Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)
Our response to the Holy Spirit determines how we live today and our eternal destiny. How should we respond to the Holy Spirit who lives in us, leads us, and empowers us?
First, we are to be in fellowship with Him: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor 13:14).
Being in fellowship with the Holy Spirit means experiencing and practicing the presence of God in your life. Always be aware that the Holy Spirit is personally with you.
Seek comfort in His presence. Speak to Him, knowing that He hears you. Discover everything good in Him: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17).
Be attentive to Him as He speaks to you through the Word. It’s easy to miss His gentle whisper in our lives, filled with what distracts us. Take downtime to devote yourself to being still and listening to Him.
Our own standards and the ways of the world desensitize us from being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. We should remove anything that would hinder us from listening to the Spirit of God:
“If we say, ‘We have fellowship with Him,’ and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:6-7).
We must also be filled by the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18-20). Being filled with the Spirit means Him taking over your life. It is about living completely reliant on His power. It is about surrendering all of you to Him, turning your plan, will, and desires over to Him so He can live through you.
Being filled with the Spirit means not being filled with yourself. The degree to which God will direct you, use you, and conform you to the image of Christ will always depend upon the degree to which you allow the Spirit of God to fill you.
This is how Paul characterizes a Spirit-filled life: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
Abandon your own thoughts and ways. Get rid of your selfish motives. Acknowledge that you are not the one living now—it is Christ living in you. Live by faith in Him who loved you more than you can imagine and gave Himself to save you. Make Him the Master of your life.
Allow the Holy Spirit to permeate your heart, your mind and your spirit so that He is living the life of Christ through you:
“You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:9-11).
You belong to God. So, follow the desires of the Spirit: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Gal 5:17).
Ask the Holy Spirit in every situation, “What is Your absolute plan?” He will give you a definite answer to your conscience. Stop worrying. Start asking. The Holy Spirit is real and personal. He will answer your prayer. Do not be shaken, as the Holy Spirit is eternal.
Finally, live a life that produces the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23): love, joy, peace (toward God); patience, kindness, goodness (toward others); faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (toward yourself).
You will naturally bear these fruits as you walk with the Holy Spirit. When the people see you bringing good things out of the good stored up in your heart, they will see the light of the gospel and praise your Father in heaven (Mt 5:16).
This is the reason why God called you: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” (Jn 15:16).
When you become a person of the Spirit, God will open your eyes to make judgments about all things and give you the heart of Christ. You will think the way Christ thinks. You will desire what Christ desires. You will go where Christ would go.
This is the kind of life God called you to live.
Prayer. Father, thank You for inviting me to live a life led by Your Spirit. Govern all my thoughts, speech, and actions through Your Spirit so I may live a life that pleases You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.