FILLED BUT CONTROLLED BY WHOM?

"THEN JESUS, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit" (Luke 4:1,

Amplified).

The key to Jesus' success is not just that He was filled with the Holy Spirit. The more important factor is the fact that Jesus was

consistently controlled and led by the Holy Spirit. This means that Jesus had the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit also had Jesus. He never did anything just because He felt like doing so. Everything He did was what the Spirit of God instructed Him to do. If Jesus had only been anointed and filled with the Holy Ghost, the life that He lived here on earth for thirty-three years, which was entirely pleasing to the Father would have turned out differently.

The average Christian may be filled with the Holy Spirit, but far too few of us are controlled and led by the Spirit. The result would be as much as you being in a car but not in control of the car. Then in such a situation, you could be taken to where you don't want to go and your purposes thwarted. That is what many of us believers do to the Lord, frustrating and grieving the Spirit.

Yes, you have the Holy Spirit, but because the Spirit does not have you, He is not in control of your affairs. You are the one in charge, doing what you like, going where you wish, when you want. That way, many so-called Spirit-filled Christians have repeatedly taken the Lord to liquor parlours, and got themselves drunken with the Spirit inside of them. Others went with the Spirit of God in them to drug joints to sniff cocaine or something else. Others still, too numerous to count carry 'their Holy Spirit' to brothels, expending their energy on harlots and women of easy virtue.

Stripping the Lord of His authority over you and acting as if you own yourself is not just good for that dynamic relationship with God which your heart craves for. You must let the Lord take over. Don't just sing, "Father, take control; Son take control; Holy Ghost take preeminence; Father take control". Take those commitments out of the realm of singing and let them become the reality of your daily living.

That way, you will be able to live a life that truly pleases God and also enjoy fully the blessings of such a life.