By John A. Huffman Jr.
Since that day until now, my life has had its spiritual ebbs and flows. The Holy Spirit has always been in my life, but not always in all of His fullness. I have had times when months have gone by when basically I was living in the flesh, not in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Then there were those crisis times of decision as to what career, who to marry, a particularly overwhelming doubt, a physical crisis or the death of a loved one in which I have been reminded of my total dependence on Jesus Christ. I needed the fullness of the Holy Spirit to make the right decision or to get through some horrendous difficult situation. Again, I can look back on my life and almost date on the calendar the times which I have known the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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What I have learned is that you don't have to wait for the crises moments. It is possible, although I do not always practice it, to live in the daily fullness of the Holy Spirit. I thank God as I look back on my 63 years of life, 58 in which I have been walking with Him, for those times, more frequent the older I get, in which I am able to live in complete surrender to Him.
Paul's command in Ephesians 5:18 is in the present tense, " . . . but be filled with the Spirit . . ." This means it is an action to be continued. Another way of translating this is, "Keep on being filled with the Spirit." Continuous action is implied. It is not a once-and-for-all matter, like walking on the moon. It is a continuing process of living with your feet firmly planted on earth, claiming through your surrender of life the fullness of the Holy Spirit, which is promised to you on a daily basis!
Are you willing to live this life? Don't settle for anything less!
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John A. Huffman, Jr., is Pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA. He is a Contributing Editor to Preaching.
