Aligned with the Spirit

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

–Galatians 5:25

The Bible says every Christian has been baptized with the Holy Spirit. At the moment of our salvation, we receive all of the Holy Spirit. He indwells each of us. So why do we still struggle with sin? Why do we find it difficult to pray? Why do we have trouble breaking addictions?

The reason is that we don’t understand the difference between being baptized with the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul wrote, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Notice that this verse is a command, not a promise. Nowhere in the Bible are we told to be baptized with the Spirit–that’s something God does for us. But we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In addition, being filled with the Spirit is a continual experience, not a one-time action. The Greek word translated as “filled” refers to wind filling the sails of a ship, powering the ship and giving it direction. Does the wind fill the sails once, and that’s enough to send the ship across the ocean? No, the wind comes and goes. In the same way, we must continually allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives.

Think about a generator. The moment we’re saved, God gives us a spiritual generator in the form of His Spirit. But unless we are plugged into that generator, we won’t experience His power. There are things we can do to allow the Holy Spirit’s power to flow into our lives: reading God’s Word, communicating with God through prayer, gathering with God’s people, and obeying God’s commands.

In the same way, there are things we can do to flip the circuit breakers and cut off that power. That’s why 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Things like immorality, worry, and bitterness are Spirit-quenchers that stop the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Writer Anne Lamott once recalled a passage she came across in a little book on prayer: “The Gulf Stream will flow through a straw provided the straw is aligned to the Gulf Stream, and not at cross purposes with it.” Here’s an even more amazing thought: The same power that flung every galaxy into existence and raised Jesus from the dead can flow through our lives if we are properly aligned with the Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote in Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Today’s devotion is adapted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anchor Books, 1995), 112–13.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.