Ephesians 5:17-21 says: “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit. Speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
Christians sometimes struggle in life wondering what the will of God is for their lives. God does give specific direction to His people concerning His plans and purposes for our lives. But even in those times when God doesn’t seem to be saying anything specific to us about His plan, believers can know and do the will of God in their everyday lives simply by being doers of the word.
Notice our text says, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit” (Eph. 5:17-18).
These verses are telling us it’s possible to know what the will of the Lord is for our lives. For one thing, God’s will is that believers be filled to overflowing with His spirit.
How can you tell if someone is filled with the Holy Ghost? Someone said I’m filled with the Holy Ghost because I spoke in tongues years ago.
I like what D.L. Moody once said: Living on past experiences is living on stale manna.
Notice what Ephesians 5:18 said: But be filled with the spirit. In other words, to be filled with the spirit is to be filled now in the present tense. It’s a continual, ongoing action, not something that occurred sometime in the past.
Greek scholars tell us that in Ephesians 5:18 the Greek words for “be filled with the spirit” means being filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, we are to maintain a constant experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The will of God for our lives is that we be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:11 says: Not slothful in business: Fervent in spirit: Serving the Lord. Notice the expression “fervent in spirit.” The Weymouth translation says: Have your spirits aglow, while the Moffalt’s translation says: Maintain the glow.
That’s the will of God for our lives. God wants us to maintain the glow of the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the spirit ana maintaining the glow is God’s will for us because it’s written in His word and we know that God’s word is His will.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken to us by His son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things.”
The Bible is God speaking to us personally and the Bible says it is God’s will for us to be fervent in spirit or to maintain the glow of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 1:7 says: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.” The Apostle Paul wrote the letter of Romans to the church at Rome, but it applies to every one of us who belong to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, wherever we might be. God wants each of us to maintain a spirit-filled life and be fervent in spirit.
Maintaining a spiritfilled life is as much a part of following God’s plan for our life as receiving specific direction from the Lord about something He wants us to do. For example, you could receive specific direction from God about part of His plan for you, and you could obey it. But, if you obeyed His directions strictly from a sense of duty, it still wouldn’t be God’s best for your life.
There would be not fervency of spirit or glow about it and it would be tough sledding! In other words, God’s will for your life would be difficult to fulfill.
No, God wants you to be filled to overflowing with His spirit and maintain the glow. That’s God’s will, His purpose for your life.
Because God knows that you’re filled to overflowing with His spirit, it will be much easier to successfully follow His plan for your life.
