Living in the Spirit's Fullness...Continued from page 7

That one more thing is found in Chapter Four of Ephesians.  Look at what it says in Chapter 4, verse 30: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed," clearly tying into Chapter one.  "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed."  Then notice what He goes on to say:  "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, malice."  A little earlier on, he says, get rid of unwholesome talk in your lives.  Verses 3 and 4 of Chapter 5, He says, “Get rid of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, impurity, immorality." 

You say, "What in the world has all of this got to do with it?" It's got everything to do with it. Because when the Holy Spirit came into your life, your old, sinful propensities were not eradicated. What you are as a fallen human being did not cease to exist.  In fact, the Bible basically says that when the Holy Spirit came into your life, you became a battlefield. The Spirit fights against something that resists it, and that something that resists it is that old, fallen self.  That old, fallen self will show itself in rage, and bitterness, and malice, and sexual impurity, and greed -- in other words, the flesh.

What it means to be captivated by the Holy Spirit on an on-going basis is this:  To be aware of who the Holy Spirit is, and where He is, and why He is, who He is and where He is. Be equally aware of the fact that there is, militating in you, something that will grieve the Holy Spirit. You have the privilege and responsibility of tipping the scales, which way at a given moment you're going to go.  

So, in your marriage when there's an opportunity for you to lose your temper, there's an opportunity to misbehave, when there's an opportunity to do all manner of things, that would wreck the marriage, ruin the relationship, but more importantly, grieve the Holy Spirit, at that moment in the power of the Holy Spirit, you yield yourself to Him, and you say, "No" in the power of the Spirit to that which is contrary to Him.  You don't do it once, and then you're okay!  You do it continually. For we are commanded on an on-going basis to continually insure that we are being captivated and motivated and activated by the Holy Spirit. That's the key to healthy relationships. 

Let's pray together: “Lord, sometimes our aspirations are not particularly noble, and sometimes we settle for mediocrity and simply make excuses. But clearly this is not what You have in mind for us, because You set the bar considerably higher.  You set the bar for us, and then, say, ‘I will empower you to do it!’ Help us begin to draw on your resources, and translate them into obedience, so that we will see progressively our thinking, and our desiring, and our acting changed. It's called transformation, and our relationships will be changed, and people in our sphere of influence, will be blessed, and You will be honored, and that's why we are here.  So take your Word home to our hearts, dear Lord, and make it make sense -- that is, mix it with faith, render obedience to it, that we might be profited by investing an hour here this day. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.” 

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Stuart Briscoe is Minister at Large for Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He is a Contributing Editor of Preaching.