Two Powerful Tools to Defeat Temptation – blog

One of the most important things every Christian should be doing on a daily basis is asking the Holy Spirit to fill them.  Here it is from Ephesians 5:18;

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.

Instead, be filled with the Spirit,”

Paul uses the drug of choice for many in his day to tell his readers what not to do.  They are to NOT be getting and staying drunk.  The verb in the Greek literally means “do not be being drunk.” Meaning that it was a state of continuous action because it leads to debauchery.

Debauchery is not a term I hear very often, so I looked it up and here is what it means;

“…excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures…”

The substance in his day was wine which contained alcohol and to be drinking it regularly causes you to lower your inhibitions, become somewhat detached from reality, and leads you to then indulge yourself in sexual pleasures.  Drunk people are not in control and more easily overcome by desire, passion and sometimes anger.

Alcohol, drugs and other mind-altering substances impact the way we think and seem to unleash our flesh so that we do sinful actions. You never hear of someone getting really drunk and then doing something good like going to a prayer meeting or helping the homeless.  The end result of drunkenness usually has a bad outcome. The mind controlled by alcohol tends to listen to the flesh and leads that person to indulge in sinful actions.

For believers, there is a much better alternative.  In this verse, we are commanded to instead “be being filled with the Spirit.”  That verb is in the passive voice which means the actual filling is being done by the Spirit.  We do not fill ourselves with the Spirit, but we ask Him, and He fills us with the Spirit.  When we are filled with the Spirit He is the one influencing us, and we tend to do good things instead of evil.

You probably knew that already … but do you know what the next verses say? He has just told us what being controlled by wine leads to … debauchery.  So, what should our being controlled by the Spirit do?

“…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.”

Seems weird to me but it appears that being filled with the Spirit leads us to worship.  It literally says; “talking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and stroking (making melody) in your heart to the Lord.”

Simply put, being filled with the Spirit should result in two things … worship and giving thanks always for everything.  I want to dig into this a little deeper over the next two days.

However, for today make sure you have asked the Spirit to fill you and to continue to be filling you through your day.  The result should be that you find worship and thanksgiving in your heart and being expressed to others.

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