“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God…” (Ephesians 3:14-21, NASB).

The Holy Spirit at work in us strengthens us through His power in the inner person, making in us a place where Christ may dwell; and that, by faith. Note this: as we surrender by faith to Christ’s indwelling, we begin to grow to understand the depth and breadth of His love for us. The more we surrender to allowing Christ to continue to live in this life through His presence is us, the more we will grow in our understanding of His love toward us. The knowledge of that love enables us to be filled up to all the fullness of God. The greater our understanding and our receipt of His love for each individual of us, the more His Spirit will be housed within us.

As we understand and surrender to this love of God found in this vital relationship with Christ, we are prepped and equipped to be filled with His
Spirit; filled to all the fullness of God—all that He is, available and working in and through us to the glory of His name. Is that not an awesome truth to grasp! And what is the proof of His fullness at work in us?

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (5:1-2).

Love is the proof. And not just any love, but that unconditional love that is self-sacrificing; that love that will die to one’s own agenda in order to honor God in our love-walk through benefitting others through love; even when that love hurts or requires sacrifice on our part. It is through our example of Christ’s love that others around us can begin to comprehend the unfathomable love of God that allowed His Son to get on that cross where the sins of all time weighed down his shoulders. And our filling through understanding and receiving and giving that love becomes a fragrant aroma to the nostrils of our God, bringing rejoicing to His heart.

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit” (5:16-18).

Our time is short in this life. There are only so many hours in a day, so many days in a month, and just 12 months to a year. And our years are truly just a breath in eternity. So few days to make a difference in the lives of those we say we love. There is no time to waste—which is what drunkenness is; whether that drunkenness is with wine, our own sense of self-worth and self-exaltation, the pursuit of riches in this life that are doomed to destruction; you name it. Any pursuit, any preoccupation that deadens our spiritual senses and robs our time from giving into the lives of those we love is tantamount to drunkenness. So we must choose wisely how we use our time, and we must have right motives in it all if we are to walk in the power and filling of the Sprit to make the most of our short time here.

“…Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:14-21, NASB).