185: Outflow of a Spirit-Filled Life
Ephesians 5:20
“Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
If you point out to me a Christian who is characteristically, significantly, constantly, overflowing with thanksgiving you know what I would say?
- You are looking at a Spirit-filled Christian.
Thankfulness is a result of being filled with the Spirit
- Thankfulness is one of the realities that attends or follows or comes along with or is a result of being filled with the Spirit.
There is a story that I recall when Pastor Chuck Smith served at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, and not only would he teach on Sunday Mornings and have time after to pray with the congregation after and chat with everyone, but he would also even go out to the parking lot afterward and clean up trash that was left out on the ground or spilling out of the garbage cans. A true servant, just because he was Senior Pastor, that did not matter to him, what mattered was serving God and keeping HIS house clean. When I see people serving unto the Lord, I see a true servant’s heart. This podcast made me look back at all the people in my life and most are amazing Servants of God, some love God but not so many servants, and it made me ponder how I am perceived by others, I can only hope that as I grow more and more in Christ that its HIM others see and not me. I need Jesus all day every day.
I loved this podcast. Such a great reminder to dig deeper into the original meaning of the words we read in the Bible, and to do some self-examination of our ‘self’ to make sure we are not walking in our own might and right, but by the Holy Spirit, filled, so we may represent the Lord for His sake and not our own. Good, good word.
I believe the beginning of everything, whether it be the day, or relationship , or counseling, we should examine ourselves. What motives are we approaching anything. Is it with our own agenda with our presuppositions of what we think should happen, or are we serving with the Spirit in all things…
I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. This podcast and reading everyone’s comments has caused me to reflect on and be thankful for the Godly Spirit-filled examples in my life from a very early age. I was blessed to have a pair of Spirit-filled Great Grandparents that made a big impact on me. GGpa went home at 67 when I was 12. His wife continued to the ripe old age of 93. I had all 3 of our kids by then. The oldest remembers her vaguely. I was almost 30. They were always ready to help anyone, give encouragement from the word, had a song (hymn) in their heart all the time, always thankful for what they had been given from the Lord. I have an Aunt (not related to GGs) that is the same way. At times when I have had significant troubles in my life she listens and prays, encourages from the Word and even though she can’t carry a tune there is a song in her heart. I have been blessed and inspired by a few others and I am very grateful for God’s abounding graces and mercies to me from all of them. I am thankful for this course and for all of you who inspire and challenge me as well.
What being filled with the Holy Spirit looks like. It is an overflowing of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Keep being filled with the Spirit: Giving thanks and submitting to one another in Christ. I believe it is essential to be humbled and submitted to the Holy Spirit in order to experience the overflowing of the Holy Spirit. Evidence is being thankful, speaking and ministering to one another in love. ( loving, encouraging, supportive, patient, edifies, focused on others-not self). My challenge is getting rid of my “self mode”. But we are able to give up self through submitting to the power of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to live through us.
Amen, when we start to live in submission to God we then are filled with HIS Prescence, being led and guided through HIS Spirit.
A Spirit filled Christian that is overflowing with thanksgiving is a beautiful thing. Sadly there are to few Christians walking this way. I feel that that there is a lack of understanding of the Holy Spirit in the Christian community and we fail to ask to be filled on the regular and rely on His power. When we do this we take a large weight off our shoulders (a weight to heavy for us to move) it allows us to have a posture of thanksgiving. I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit!
So true Mike. There are very few who walk in the filling of the Spirit regularly. I believe it’s part of the reason Satan is able to have so much influence over the world today. I pray to God that we Biblical counselors can make a small difference with people’s lack of understanding.
Mike, I agree, There are too many people that say they are believers but not allowing The Holy Spirit to reside over them. There is a lack of understanding in the Christian community, we have direct access to an amazing power source that we can receive at any time.
Good word Pastor Jeff. Serving with joy and knowledge of who we belong to and whose authority we are under. The Holy Spirit does bring us understanding in order to observe, interpret, and apply to our own life and those we counsel. I always, always, always counsel this way. Such a good word.
Serving through thankfulness is an outflow of the Holy Spirit. It is one thing to look back at what we are thankful for, but being thankful always and serving others is not an easy task unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit and are in tune with him daily through prayer and reading God’s word. This morning, I read In Mark 12;30-31, when Jesus was questioned about the greatest commandment. First, “We are to love our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.” Second, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.” Without loving God, we will not understand how we are to love others, and in loving others, we serve them and love them with thankfulness for what God has done for us. Many want to be served but will not help others in need. We can only accomplish this with the Holy Spirit living in and through us daily. I like all of Psalm 100, A psalm of Thanksgiving. Verse 2 says, “Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Verse 4 Enter into His Gates with Thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name.” Serving becomes easy when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and His guidance—serving in big and small things, even with loving encouragement toward others.
Kristen, isn’t it amazing how the Bible flows with the conversation and message of serving others and doing so with joy? From Genesis to Revelation we find the heart of our Heavenly Father is in loving service. Jesus said in John 5:17, “My Father is always working and so am I.” Wow, I pray to become more like Jesus every day.
Yes, Laura, it’s a redemption story from beginning to end. I am so thankful for the word of God to teach love and guide me as I go.
There are several people in my life who are prime examples of overflowing with the Holy Spirit, whose faces came to mind as I was listening to this episode.
One is a young man in our Young Adults ministry. He has had a bit of difficult home life growing up. About a year and a half or two years ago he joined our group and very soon after gave his life to God. Since then, he has been one of the happiest, most appreciative, and humble people I know. Whenever I bring a prayer request or even thank him for something he has done, his first response is always a resounding “Praise God!”
The other is my Grandpa (Pa). For as long as I can remember, Pa has been one of if not the most passionate and Godly men I have ever met. His vigor and passion for the Word and the Spirit are displayed in every area of his life. From his work in AstroChemistry to something as remedial as taking out the trash; everything is done with excellence and to bring glory to God.
I am genuinely honored to know these two men, and to be challenged to live with them as examples. I pray that my life would display even a fraction of the outpouring that I see in theirs.
Agh, Timothy! Your post is wonderfully convicting! To do everything with excellence – I am such a guilty party, haha! There is a lot to be said about being humble before God and doing all things for His glory. I will pray that God continues to use those wonderful examples in your life to encourage and build you up in your faith – and that God would sanctify you by His working and saving Grace.
Timothy, I have also had the delight of knowing joy-filled, Spirit-filled, grateful-to-God types of people. Not only is it a refreshing breath of fresh air in an often hostile world, but it brings me conviction and a desire to love God by serving others better. I pray that I will submit to greater acts of love and service towards others.
Thanks for sharing that Timothy! Just based of your comments through the past episodes, I would presume that you display more than just a fraction of their outpouring!
I agree that it is always a work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome the Adamic nature because He sanctifies us. I also totally agree that the outworking of the Holy Spirit must be a daily reality. I love to study the original language of the Bible. And like the observation through to application comment. I heard a comment recently about the difference between dispensing the word of God and ministering the word of God to people. As biblical counsellors only the Holy Spirit can help us to do that. And only He can enable us to be submissive to the word of God in our own lives and live that word and help us to encourage counselees to do the same.
Ann, your comment reminded me of John 15, where Christ is explaining that He is the Vine and we are the branches and the branches cannot bear fruit without the vine. While we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive in Christ Jesus. We could do nothing to save ourselves, God raised us up in Christ – He is the power and He has a purpose. Praise God for His great mercy and intimate desire for our sanctification through His grace.
That passage in John is one of my favorites! Amen Kayla! Thank you, Jesus for coming and paying the price to free us from our trespasses. And thank you, Jesus for sending the Holy Spirit to live inside us in order to enable us to walk daily in His filling.
I agree that it is always a work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome the Adamic nature because He sanctifies us. I also totally agree that this out working of the Holy Spirit must be a daily wa
I couldn’t agree more with Pastor Jeff. The actions of a spirit filled Christian will be evident in all areas of their life, Church, work and home. I will be giving the message at our church on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The title of my message is, “Be Thankful”. Part of my message is from 1 Thess. 5:18 where Paul talks about giving thanks in all circumstances. Often in our society and our churches our actions are dictated by circumstances. A Spirit filled Christian does not let circumstances dictate their actions. Paul understood it was the filling of the Holy Spirit that helps us to overcome our human tendencies. This is what our counselees and we need to hear and remember.
I agree Don. Without the Holy Spirit we become pharisees. He alone is able to change our hearts in all circumstances. Happy Thanksgiving.
I agree Don, circumstances often dictate our lives. I love the last little section of 1 Thess 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” All the emphasis for sanctification is on God Himself – He is faithful, He will surely do it. How epic that being Spirit filled is not only the Holy Spirit working and overflowing within us, it is also God working in us for His sanctifying purposes.
I agree, and when we focus only on ourselves and circumstances, we miss the opportunity to be thankful for the circumstance as God is teaching us through the challenging situations in life so we can then serve others who may face the same trials. It strengthens us as we are continually growing.
I agree that to often our actions are dictated by our circumstances. I would like to here that message Don. Does your church record them?
Good morning Mike, yes our church does record and post the messages on our website. https://www.fccsantamaria.org/ This is the address for our churches website.
Great message Don, thanks for sharing! Circumstances really can effect the level of thankfulness at times. I will be prayerfully focusing on it now that I listened to your lesson. Thanks and God bless
Christ-likeness ultimately leads to sacrificial service to benefit others – as is the example that Jesus gave to His disciples in John 13. I 1,000% agree with Jeff, that in our Adamic, sinful nature, we live selfishly. At work I am always ready to serve, but when I get home, I unfortunately decide my comfort should be accomplished. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would convict me in this area of my life, to put off my selfish nature and to seeking to do good and serve my family with thankfulness and a heart of love for the others.
It is true Kayla when we lose our focus and fall back into our sinful nature our selfish nature rises to the surface. I too am guilty of letting my selfish nature service at home. I will be praying for both of us.
Praying
(#185)
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I overflow with Praise for Pastor Jeff and BCA!
I agree that Servant-hood is a great definition of being Spirit-filled. Its spoken and unspoken attitude is from Philippians 2:3, “…consider others as more important than yourself.”
Jesus said in Matthew 20:26, “whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant.” A Spirit filled live leads to a life filled with service to others. Happy Thanksgiving. Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.