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READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-16; GALATIANS 5:16-26; EPHESIANS 5:1-20\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve always had a sweet tooth. On one special occasion, this served as a great qualification for a unique job. My family and I had joined with others in our community for a fun-filled summer day, complete with a barbecue, picnic, games, and a dessert contest. I had been asked to arrive early and help judge the desserts. My mouth watered at the idea!\n\n\n\nOver one hundred people were there, and multiple people in each family submitted a dessert to be judged. I ate just a small amount of each sweet treat entered in the competition. But after dozens and dozens of cakes, cookies, and pies, I was too full for the barbecue. I skipped the meal because I\u2019d eaten so many bites of dessert that I couldn\u2019t hold anything else.\n\n\n\nThat day, fulfilling my role as judge, I filled up on sweets and had no room for more nutritious food. In our spiritual lives, we\u2019re invited to be filled as well\u2014but with something more than sweets. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul writes, \u201cBe filled with the Holy Spirit.\u201d\n\n\n\nWhen we put our trust in Jesus\u2014believing in His life, death, and resurrection\u2014our sins are forgiven, we become God\u2019s children, and He sends His Spirit, who is God, to live in us. Isn\u2019t that amazing? The Holy Spirit indwells all believers, comforting us and helping us understand God\u2019s Word, know His love, follow His leading, and pray according to God\u2019s will.\n\n\n\nNot only does God the Holy Spirit dwell inside followers of Jesus, He wants to fill us. Whatever fills us sets the direction for our choices and actions and leaves room for nothing else. When we have a relationship with God in His Son, we can choose to live filled with His Spirit. \u2022 Allison Wilson Lee\n\n\n\n\u2022 If we know Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us, or indwells us. Consider taking a moment to thank God for this amazing gift! (If you want to dig deeper, read more about the Holy Spirit in John 14:15-27; 15:26; Romans 5:5; 8:1-39;Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:7.)\n\n\n\n\u2022 We are called to pursue God first and foremost. When we do, all our other desires and pursuits find their right place in our hearts and in our lives. What are you tempted to pursue over God?\n\n\n\n\u2022 When we are yielding to the Spirit, we are empowered to follow God\u2019s good ways, we can confess and turn away from sin, and we see the fruit the Spirit produces in our lives: \u201clove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control\u201d (Galatians 5:22-23). What does a Spirit-filled life look like? (Hint: reread today\u2019s Bible passages.)\n\n\n\n\u2026be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 (NLT)