Put up a 'no vacancy' sign.

Ever notice how quickly a newly emptied closet fills up again?  I clean off my desk, filing or tossing papers only to find it cluttered again in a day!  A man told me that when he retired he thought that he would have time to spare.  He found his days full of different activities. “I’m more busy now than when I went to work,” he said with a smile.

So what about your spiritual being?  Jesus taught us to be filled with the Holy Spirit for an important reason. “When a defiling evil spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn’t find anyone, it says, ‘I’ll go back to my old haunt.’ On return it finds the person spotlessly clean, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits more evil than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse off than if he’d never gotten cleaned up in the first place. “That’s what this generation is like: You may think you have cleaned out the junk from your lives and gotten ready for God, but you weren’t hospitable to my kingdom message, and now all the devils are moving back in.” (Matthew 12:43-45, The Message)

The Christian life is not just a philosophy, nor is just a few inspired thoughts at the close of the day. Living for Christ is an active life.  “Seek the Kingdom,” Jesus said.  The letters to the churches urge us to work at our faith, to make a difference for Christ, to resist evil. “Put on the full armor of God,” Paul writes, “so you can stand against the enemy of your soul.”  Is your faith active and robust or weak and ineffectual?  Do you pursue the Lord with real passion?

Some Christians confuse ‘legalism’ (teaching that a person can earn a place of acceptance with God by being morally scrupulous) with dedication and conviction. There is no escaping the fact that a rich Christian life demands real, consistent effort.  We absolutely know that new life in Christ is a work of the Holy Spirit. We know that love, joy, peace, and patience grow from the life of the Spirit in us. And, we know that we must ‘keep step with the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:25) if we desire to grow in the grace of God.  Just as light dispels darkness, so a life filled with the Spirit declares ‘no vacancy’ to the devil who is looking for a residence.

Are you leaving yourself open to renewed temptation by failing to be filled with worship, inviting the Holy Spirit to be your constant Companion and Guide?

Are you leaving an open door to the old devils that once controlled you by refusing to allow Christ to be the Lord of ALL?

The word from the Word calls us to action. 
"Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires."
(Romans 13:8-14, NLT)

__________

Fill Me Now

Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit,

Bathe my trembling heart and brow.

Fill me with Thy hallow'd presence,

Come, O come, and fill me now.

Fill me now! Fill me now!

Jesus come and fill me now.

Fill me with Thy hallow'd presence,

Come, O come, and fill me now.

I am weakness, full of weakness,

At Thy sacred feet I bow.

Blest divine eternal Spirit,

Fill with pow'r and fill me now.

Elwood H. Stokes | John Robson Sweney

© Words: Public Domain

Music: Public Domain