"Be Filled with the Spirit" 7-26-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I surrender as much of me as I can to You, and I receive as much of You as I can. Help me surrender and receive more tomorrow and every day after that. You must increase and I must decrease. Let this be more than words and more than an event, let this be my life. ... You have commanded us to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5.18).Your Holy Spirit fills us to the degree that we are emptied of ourselves. You are not replacing us, You are changing us. And our flesh resists the change. Our flesh is "at war" with the move of Your Spirit to put our flesh to death, that we may live to Christ, in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 7.22-23). You strip away our flesh as You cleanse our soul -- our mind, will, and emotions -- and fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Our "flesh" is the part of our soul that is not yet sanctified by Your Holy Spirit, the part of us that is not yet like Jesus, the part of us that needs to die to self and be crucified to Christ. You increase and we decrease in this way, as we choose to submit every area of our lives to You, layer by layer and day by day. By Your grace, we choose "to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul" (1 Peter 2.11). "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit" (Galatians 5.24-25). Give us the grace and the desire to embrace this process. Though it is painful, it is worth it, because it brings deeper measures of Your love and peace and joy with deeper measures of Your Spirit filling our soul. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com Our mailing address: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502. God bless you!