I love to write in a card, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace." What better thing to wish for someone than ALL joy and peace? Remember joy is not an emotion like happiness. I call joy an "all knowing" that we are in the presence of God and I am so very grateful for that! Romans 15: 13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." How do you get filled?
The apostle Paul commands us in Ephesians 5: 18, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit..." How can we be filled with joy? Nehemiah 8: 10 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. That means that there is power in this joy that gives us strength to overcome sins and for being bold in witness. When we are filled with the Spirit we are caught up in the joy that flows between the Holy Trinity (the Father, Son, Holy Spirit). We find ourselves loving God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit in us with the love they have for each other.
We are commanded to be full but we are not the filler, the Spirit is. Acts 6: 5, "This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit..." Luke said that about Stephen and he said it about Barnabas in Acts 11: 24. "He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord." If a person is filled with faith, they are also filled with the Spirit.
So when I say, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace" remember the rest of the verse. Romans 15: 13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Did you catch that? "AS YOU TRUST IN HIM". It is believing that we are filled with joy and peace. When we add both parts of the verse together we see that it is through our faith (believing) the Spirit fills us with His hope!
As one of my pastor says about being filled with the Spirit. "It is a choice. D you want to be filled?"
Comentarios