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Day 3: Under the Influence:
On day 3, we’re breaking down what it means to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit!

The apostle Paul said for us not to be drunk with the wine of this world, but be filled or “drunk” with the Holy Spirit: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

The word intoxicate, according to Webster’s Dictionary, means to make drunk, to be elated with enthusiasm or madness; delirious with excitement, to overdose, excessive, more than enough. God wants His relationship with us to be elated with enthusiasm and excitement. On the day of Pentecost, as they waited in that upper room in Jerusalem, they were all filled with incredible joy. They came out of that upper room “under the influence.” We need to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit. (Instead of a DUI, we have an LUI—Living Under the Influence of the Spirit.)

When you are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit life flows, just like Psalm 23 expresses with our cup overflowing. Romans 12:2 says that when you are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit overflows, through the avenues of your mind and through the process of renewing the mind. The Holy Spirit will renew the deep places of your heart with great power (or excessive force, deep throbbing). The person of the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, and you will sense His prompting, urging, and nudges, like something on the inside of you is telling you to go ahead. (A divine nudge?)

The Holy Spirit is the very presence of Jesus Christ on planet Earth in us—in our bodies—for our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The life, ministry, and relationship of Jesus Christ in this world are being carried, preserved, and activated in our mortal bodies until Christ returns; then, we too, shall be like Him. To be filled with the Spirit, intoxicated, or under the influence is to be the closest possible to Christ and to be the most like Christ. Our heavenly Father wants us to get drunk on this new wine! You do not get drunk by accident! If you get drunk, you get drunk on purpose! You must be intentional in your pursuit of this intoxicating relationship.

John 7:37-39 (NKJV) describes it like this:

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.

If you are going to get “drunk”, then YOU must do the drinking! No one else can drink for you! (You have to determine to grab the cup, allow it to be filled, then drink from the cup of God’s goodness). There are too many sipping saints in the church! These are the people that only participate in certain activities at certain times or seasons. They just drink on special occasions.

We need to be serious drinkers in that we need to drink the new wine of the Holy Spirit continually. We need some folks that are so full of the Holy Spirit, they are completely intoxicated, totally under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Are you living under the influence of the Holy Spirit? If you aren't, what's stopping you?