“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”

— Ephesians 5:18

God gives every Christian the Holy Spirit when he or she accepts Christ as Savior, but not every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you know whether you’re filled with the Spirit? Perhaps you wonder how you can know. Paul gives us some answers. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul lists three results of being filled with the Holy Spirit. First of all, we will sing and make melody to the Lord in our hearts as God fills us with His joy. Second, we will give thanks for all things. We will know that the Omnipotent, sovereign God holds us gently in His hands. Nothing can come to us that does not first pass through the filter of His love. Nothing happens to us that He can’t make good. Therefore, by faith, we can give Him thanks for all things. A third result of being filled with the Spirit is that we will submit ourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord. Why does that indicate being filled with the Holy Spirit? Because when we draw close to Jesus Christ, we see our sins clearly; we see how unworthy we are of the least of His favors. Our pride diminishes, and we become filled with humility. We, therefore, willingly submit ourselves to one another.

Do you see those results in your life? Whether or not you do, invite the Holy Spirit to fill you today. Some suppose they can be filled with the Holy Spirit once for all time, but such filling needs to occur daily, moment by moment. Ask God right now and each day to fill you with His Holy Spirit, that the Spirit may empower you to serve Him with joy.

“By ‘riches of grace’ the apostle means all the spiritual resources
that are at the disposal of Christians through the redeeming
work of Christ and the gracious presence of his Holy Spirit.”
Henry W. Dubose