Day 18: Not an Empty Shell Walking With the Holy Spirit
SENT: 21-DAYS OF PRAYER AND FASTING
Not an Empty Shell Walking With the Holy Spirit
Written By: Marvin Luzinda
Read Acts 19:1-20 & Ephesians 2:14-16
The city of Ephesus was a melting pot of religions, idols, and competing voices. When Paul arrived, he encountered people who called themselves disciples, yet they had never heard of the Holy Spirit. They knew about John’s baptism, but not about Jesus. They had fragments of truth, but they had not yet encountered the fullness of life found in Christ.
As Paul later wrote to the Ephesian church, he began by pointing them back to God’s grace, the cross of Jesus, and the miracle of Jews and Gentiles being united as one family. Reflecting on this caused me to think about different seasons of my own life. Seasons where responsibilities increased through work, family, ministry, and caring for my health. In those moments, I noticed how easily my time of stillness with God could shrink. Prayer became shorter, and the space where God refreshed my soul was reduced.
Before long, I found myself busy with good things. Serving others, starting new ventures, and doing meaningful work, yet my intimacy with God felt quiet and stale. I was active, faithful, and productive, but inwardly I was becoming an empty shell. Full of good works, yet lacking depth of fellowship with the Lord.
Good works, discipline, and ministry are gifts from God, but they were never meant to be carried out in our own strength. In Acts, some tried to imitate Paul’s power without sharing his dependence on the Holy Spirit. Paul’s boldness did not come from ambition or self effort, but from a life yielded to God.
The Lord invites us to live from fullness, rooted in His love and continually filled with His Spirit. When our hearts remain anchored in what Jesus has done, our lives point people to God, not to ourselves.
As Paul later wrote to the Ephesian church, he began by pointing them back to God’s grace, the cross of Jesus, and the miracle of Jews and Gentiles being united as one family. Reflecting on this caused me to think about different seasons of my own life. Seasons where responsibilities increased through work, family, ministry, and caring for my health. In those moments, I noticed how easily my time of stillness with God could shrink. Prayer became shorter, and the space where God refreshed my soul was reduced.
Before long, I found myself busy with good things. Serving others, starting new ventures, and doing meaningful work, yet my intimacy with God felt quiet and stale. I was active, faithful, and productive, but inwardly I was becoming an empty shell. Full of good works, yet lacking depth of fellowship with the Lord.
Good works, discipline, and ministry are gifts from God, but they were never meant to be carried out in our own strength. In Acts, some tried to imitate Paul’s power without sharing his dependence on the Holy Spirit. Paul’s boldness did not come from ambition or self effort, but from a life yielded to God.
The Lord invites us to live from fullness, rooted in His love and continually filled with His Spirit. When our hearts remain anchored in what Jesus has done, our lives point people to God, not to ourselves.
Reflect
Are you serving God from intimacy with Him, or from habit and routine?
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your grace. Forgive me for relying on my own strength. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit and draw me back into deep fellowship with You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Posted in SENT: 21-Days of Prayer and Fasting