Three Keys To Being Continually Filled With The Spirit

Introduction:

God created the eye and all its power of perception. The garden He placed Adam and his wife in was filled with beauty. Every tree he planted was "pleasant to the eye" (Gen 2:9). God looked at everything that He had made and it was very good (Gen 1:31). It was pleasant and agreeable. God created beauty and the ability for humanity to enjoy it.

The eye is a sensory powerful organ. The prophet Jeremiah looked around at the desolation of his nation and said "Mine eye affecteth mine heart..." (Lamentations 3:51 KJV).

What we watch shapes who we are, what we do, our political preferences, and our actions and this is why everyone from retailers to political parties pay billions of dollars in efforts to get our attention. TikTok shapes trends and how young people dance. While Jeremiah was talking about the psychological and spiritual distress he experienced by witnessing war, it is true that the affects the heart in more ways than PTSD. The children's Sunday School song warns:

O be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

So, be careful little eyes what you see

Taken the wrong way it can almost seem like a warning against the eyes beholding beauty, but that is not what it means. There are many beautiful principles in God's word and world that can be taken out of context or abused. The letter to the Ephesians says:

Ephesians 5:8-20 (NKJV)

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

There was a time when our lives were characterized by darkness. Darkness is used as a metaphor for evil and what is contrary to God's plan for us. These things included sexual immorality, greed, and obscene and vulgar speech which Ephesians contrasts with thanksgiving (5:3-5). These things are the things that those who walk in darkness do, not realizing that greed is idolatry.

The text says that we are now characterized by light. The beautiful fruit of the Spirit grows in the Light. It is characterized by goodness, righteousness, and truth. These are things of beauty and a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Being a part of the community that is the children of Light is that path to knowing what God's will is. There are some things that there is no need to pray about. God desires for us to be good and right in our relationships. If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light, the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son continually cleanses us from all sin! (1 John 1:7)

You cannot do all the good in the world, but the world needs all the good that you personally can do. You are not darkness anymore, so your life should not be so much about worrying about the darkness, or cursing the darkness, as it is about lighting another candle. In another place, the apostle says, "Don't be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good!" (Rom 12:21).

When we live as we ought to, it has a way of exposing what is not right in the world. When we tend to our relationships as we should, the brokenness of the world is seen and the purpose of us being Light is to expose the enemy and to show the world what it's like to live in communion with the Father. There should be aspects of our lives that differ from the surrounding culture. We should be the example of genuine love in the world. When we walk into a new place the atmosphere ought to change. We ought to be so charged with faith, hope, and love that it is contagious. You are salt and light. Saly only affects what it touches! Light only makes a difference in contrast to darkness!