Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—where there is always an encouraging word for Christians, and hope for those who are not.

 

In his book, Come Thirsty, Max Lucado suggests that trying to live the Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit is like starting the engine of your car, setting the transmission control to neutral, and then getting out of the car, moving to the rear of the vehicle, and manually pushing the car forward. No one in their right mind would do this, right? Yet the author says that is what is wrong with many Christians today. They ask God to forgive them of their sins, beginning their new life in Christ, and then they ignore the new spiritual power available to them from God, and they take control—manually pushing their life forward. Watching someone do this would be humorous if it weren't so tragic. Lucado says,

 

"To your amazement that's what they do! Shoulders pressing, feet digging, lungs puffing, they muscle automobiles up and down the street. Rather than sit behind the wheel, they lean into the trunk." What is the logical destination of such people? "Tuckered Town," Lucado says. They end up frustrated, disappointed, discouraged, out of (spiritual) breath, and completely tuckered out. "Who would live in such a way?" Lucado asks. And his answer is that many do. How much better would it be to start the engine, slide over into the passenger seat, and let the Spirit of Jesus take over.

 

The Apostle Paul proposed a similar question to the Galatian Christians. "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). Paul has a remedy for those who discover they are spiritually "tuckered out." The answer can be found in five words recorded in Ephesians 5:18: "Be filled with the Spirit." That is the theme for this week's epistle. The title is "Open the Vents." It is attached below. Follow the directions and begin to enjoy the spiritual benefits God intends for you to receive.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourager

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Open the Vents

Tom Barnard

 

ur home has central heat and air. It came that way. It was part of the original construction. Our mortgage covered the cost of both. How nice is that? In the summer we have air-conditioning. In the winter we have heat. All of this is controlled by a device on the wall that allows us to set the temperature for either heat or air-conditioning. It’s called a thermostat. Ours is a digital one.

 

Personally, I prefer manual settings, rather than automatic ones. I’m not a control freak, but I like the idea of setting the temperature control and knowing that the thing will obey me. We have two zones for our heating and air-conditioning system—one for each floor. Again, how nice is that?

 

Having two zones requires that we have two compressors for air-conditioning (again, one for each floor). Separate thermostats allow us to set the temperature on each floor exactly the way we want them to be. If we want the temperature on the second floor to be 2 degrees cooler than the temperature on the first floor, we just set the thermostat, and it is done. The compressors are located outside the house; the thermostats are located inside the house, along with two fan units that distribute air to each room in the house.

 

That being said, there is something else that needs to be said in terms of how our heat-and-air system works. This is very important. There is a duct system that allows the heated or cooled air to move throughout the house, activated by the fan units. And there is one more thing—actually, about a dozen more things. They are the vents that are located in each room. Vents are manually controlled. They allow for a certain amount of air to be distributed to each room. I adjust each vent myself. If the vents are closed, very little air will reach the intended destination. If the vents are open, the air flows freely.

 

Is there a point to all of this? Absolutely. In Ephesians 5:18 the apostle wrote, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Paul wasn’t offering a suggestion; he was making an imperative command. Bible scholars tend to agree that the command was collective. It was for all believers. Paul was not saying, “Some of you be filled with the Spirit.” He was not saying, “When you are young, be filled with the Spirit.” He was saying, “You all be filled with the Spirit.” That means young and old; rich and poor; new converts; mature Christians. Everyone!

 

His command was also continuous. He was saying, “Be filled now and continue to be filled with the Spirit.” Every day. Every week. Every month. For the rest of your life. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul said, “Your body is the temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you.” Our souls were designed by God to be the place where his Holy Spirit dwells. God wants us to enjoy his saving grace and his staying grace.

 

Who determines how much of his Spirit dwells in us? Who decides how “Spirit-filled” we are? You do. I do. God establishes the “system”—he is the Spirit-maker. I didn’t create the system; God did. He has designed our spiritual “system” in such a way that is can receive maximum power. The potential has been perfectly created in us. The “mortgage” has been paid in full. The “warranty” is for life. All that remains is for us to turn the system on, and when we do, we can enjoy the privileges of being filled with the Spirit of God.

 

What do we have to do to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ask! Are you kidding me? No. Jesus said,

 

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened…If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

 

The directions are pretty straight-forward. Make your request to God. Open the vents. Enjoy.