Manasseh Atsu – Be filled With The Spirit (Devotion)
Prophet Manasseh Atsu devotion on being filled with the spirit of God. Ephesians 5:18-20“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
When people get drunk their judgment is adversely affected. They resort to coarse jesting and chanting obscenities – things they would never do under normal circumstances.
It is because of this that we are admonished not to get drunk. Instead, we are to be filled with the Spirit. Like the Wesleyan translation puts it, “…drink deep of the Spirit.”
BE EVER FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
“Be filled with the Spirit” as stated in the above portion of scripture does not convey the idea of a onetime event but rather a continuous one. Rather than a bottle being filled to the brim at a single time, think more of a ship’s sail that is getting constantly filled with the wind on the high seas – driving the vessel on to distant lands.
This idea becomes more apparent when you look at the verse in the original Greek text; “be being filled with the Spirit”. We are to be ever (always) filled with the Spirit. We are to be continually filled with the Spirit.
THE NEED TO BE FILLED CONTINUALLY
Why should you be filled with the Holy Spirit? The answer is simple: in order to stay anointed.
The purpose of the Holy Spirit and His anointing is to give life to everything and to give everything a divine experience. This means that the Holy Spirit is here to help us experience everything God experiences.
Currently, life as we know it is not how God intended it to be at all. In fact, what we call ‘life’ – the natural human existence – is actually death. Everything ends up deteriorating, degenerating and dying. True life is the way God Himself lives.
And that is what the Holy Ghost seeks to make us experience. Everything that makes life worthwhile – health, strength, fulfillment, clear conscience, peace, joy, purpose and the like.
This becomes possible only when we get and stay filled with the Holy Spirit. There are degrees to (levels in) the abundant life. It can be lived out (‘exhausted’) fully! Many people are alive alright – eating, sleeping, working – but are not really living. To truly live one has to first of all receive life by receiving Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to reside in him and the abundant life is “shed abroad” in his heart. The Lord Jesus is actually the Holy Ghost – the life-giving Spirit – living in us. Everything available for us in Christ, we receive in the Holy Spirit. As scripture says, “…the Lord is that Spirit:” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
DANGER OF NOT BEING FILLED
Imagine a body that is deprived of blood supply to every part with only limited flow to selected parts. What will be the effect of that? The answer is quite obvious – death to cells of the deprived parts and subsequent loss of function. In a similar vein, a ship whose sails are not getting filled will eventually be ‘grounded’ on the high seas. This is akin to a generator that is low on fuel. It becomes literally useless (even the sound becomes irritating) and is unable to power even the most basic of appliances.
So it is with the Spirit. If you are not filled with the Spirit continually, the divine life will not flow to every part of your being and your life. Your peace and joy won’t be full and even your faith will operate at minimum; it won’t work properly.
Your spiritual lamp will burn rather low. Simply put, you will operate at minimum capacity in life because not every part of your life is exposed to the Spirit.
On the other hand, a life ever filled with the Spirit will ensure that faith is optimal, wisdom is optimal, joy is full, grace abounds and goodness overflows.
Just as we cannot do without physical energy, spiritual energy is very key for spiritual sustenance and progress. We need the ‘wind’ of the Spirit to move forward in life.
Therefore, make sure you are continually filled with the Spirit so you don’t get ‘grounded’ on the high seas of life!
HOW TO BE CONTINUALLY FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
Thank God the answer can be found in the very next verse; “…be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”
Closely connected to being filled with the Spirit is speaking and singing. Speaking spirit-filled words is so crucial if you are to stay anointed. This includes speaking in tongues, confessing scripture, praying (in prayer you speak to yourself and also to God) and prophesying. Prophesying is actually one of the most powerful ways of releasing the Spirit.
Singing – not the type for devotional purposes nor mere entertainment but ‘explosive’ ministration from the heart – is one sure way to release the anointing especially the prophetic anointing.
We should develop the habit of truly worshiping from our hearts with singing. “… singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord…” Paul added in 1 Corinthians 14:15; “What is it then? … I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
TARRYING LONG AT THE WINE
What does it take for a person to get really drunk? A few sips of even the strongest alcoholic drink on the market won’t do. It takes prolonged and intense bouts of drinking to totally come under the influence and get the full effects;
“They that tarry long at the wine” (Proverbs 23:30). To be constantly filled and influenced by the Spirit, you need to consistently spend quality time with Him. Spending time in prayer, the word and worship will get you filled.
Getting filled is a gradual process and there are levels in the anointing. When you get filled at one point the anointing will move from your spirit into your soul (your will, emotion and mind).
As you keep getting filled it moves into your body and the power becomes perceptible. As you continue, it moves into your clothes (reminiscent of Paul’s aprons and handkerchiefs in Acts 19:12) and subsequently to your environment – influencing people and things around you in the process.
The radius of the anointing keeps on increasing and thereby affects things in your world. By so doing, the anointing of the Holy Ghost flows to every part of your case and your life. We need to get filled and remain filled in order to harness and release the power resident in us and thereby unleash our fullest potential.
By spending time getting filled and remaining filled, what we are actually doing is creating space in our lives for the Holy Ghost to fully operate in us. Our entire existence will come under His influence and the divine experience will be normal for us.
It is worth noting that once we receive Christ, all that is left is to be filled with the Spirit and the word. Once this happens, every other thing will be sorted out. In fact, with these two experiences in place, almost all the other ‘dos’ usually associated with the Faith become mere footnotes.
GOD’S ULTIMATE FOR US
As far as getting filled is concerned, God wants us to get filled and soaked to the extent that whatever we touch is ‘infected’ with divine life. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says God has “made us able ministers of the new testament”. To minister means to “supply” or “dispense”.
In other words, we have been made competent dispensers of the Spirit! God expects us to be so anointed that we ‘stain’ everything and everyplace with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
As we mentioned earlier, God wants every aspects of His creation to have the divine experience. Even the rain drops, sun, moon, plants and the like will experience God – that is the purpose of the Holy Spirit.
But we need to understand that the Holy Ghost will not do this directly as He has been mandated to only operate in the Body of Christ – the individual believer and the Church.
So what God does is to get the believer filled so that he or she will in turn dispense the life to the rest of creation. That is our responsibility and hence the need to get and remain filled.
May we be continually filled as we drink deep of the Spirit! The Lord bless you!
SEE ALSO: I Have Nothing Against Brother Sammy – Cecilia Marfo
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