Reading: “be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” Ephesians 5:18

The Holy Spirit is not a power to be invoked, but a Person to be enjoyed. He dwells in us as the Spirit of Emmanuel; God with us. We can be conscious of his presence, commune with and enjoy Him. We trust Him in the affection of the heart, the attention of the mind and the enjoyment of communion. We know His power only by faith through the Word, not by random and selfish invocations. This is being filled with the Spirit; singing, thanksgiving, submitting to one another and to the authority of providences (Ephesians 5:18-21 cf. 1 Peter 2:18ff).

“If you think of the Holy Spirit merely as an influence or power that you are to get hold of and use, your thought will necessarily be, ‘How can I get more of the Holy Spirit?’ But if you think of Him in the biblical way, as a person, your thought will be ‘How can the Holy Spirit get more of me?’” —R. A. Torrey (The Holy Spirit)