Col.3:3, For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Eph. 5: 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
What does it mean to be Spirit Filled. Does it simply mean that you have a testimony about a day sometime in the past where you started to become a charismatic Christian who now believes in the gifts, and is freer in worship and praise than you used to be. Of course, that is all good but it is not at the heart of what it means to be Spirit filled. The Holy Spirit has come to emphasize, or glorify Jesus, and therefore to be Spirit filled is for the risen Christ to be reigning in your heart as your very life, and to be allowed to live His story through your miraculously. In both of those passages from the Ephesians 5, and Colossians 3 the context is about living the Spirit filled life. Ephesians 5:18 admonishes us to live continually filled with the Holy Spirit; and Colossians 3 verse 3 and 4, says that Christ is in us, and is our life, therefore our true life is hidden with Christ in God. Verse 11 concludes that Christ is in every believer that He is all that we need. This is another way for Paul to say you are Spirit filled therefore live a Spirit filled life. Notice from both Colossians and Ephesians that one of the consequences of Christ being your life (being spirit filled) is a heart and a life of Thanksgiving. Do you find yourself giving thanks to God for all things? Do you find there is a song and a melody in your heart of Thanksgiving always going on inside you being lifted up to God? I’m not saying there aren’t painful things that we go through in this fallen world. Of course there are things that break our hearts, but even in that, because we are in Christ, and He is reigning in us by the Holy Spirit, there should be a song a melody of Thanksgiving in our hearts being offered up to God. Christians should be the most grateful and thankful people in the world. Even Paul whohad a pretty severe and serious personality said that in times where he sorrowed, he was always rejoicing. This is one of those accountability things for me. If I find myself not being thankful in, and for all things, and if I find that there is no longer a melody of joy and thanksgiving going on in my heart that’s being offered up to God, then that’s an indicator to me that somewhere I stopped allowing Christ to reign in my heart and to live out His story and His will through me.
