What is the ultimate goal for every Christian, regarding the Spirits work in your life?

to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Who can tell me what the difference is between being:

indwelt by the Spirit
being filled with the Spirit.

Turn in your Bibles to Eph. 5:18

God's Command! "Be filled!"
Spirit's influence
When is a vessel filled? illustrate...

The importance of obeying this command:

This is when God has the most control over your life.

Yet, before we can get to being filled, we have to deal with Grieving and Quenching the Spirit of God. So long as weıre Grieving and Quenching, there's no hope of being filled during those times.

So let's examine...
Grieve Not the Holy Spirit: This is you working against Him! Eph. 4:30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." We can make the Spirit sorrowful by our actions and thoughts.

Think about those things you do that really displease God.
your words
your lack of godly actions
your lack of service to God

How can I please the Spirit?

Godly living,
Godly actions

Where do you begin?

Reading God's word.

Obeying God's word.

Praying to and Loving God!

Imagine what it's like for the Holy Spirit in you! He's a permanent quest that never leaves. He watches everything you do. Hears everything you say. Knows every thought that goes through your mind. Ask yourself, at the end of an average day in your life:

How does the Holy Spirit feel about being with me today?

Grieved, Happy, hoping tomorrow will be much better?

Yet, every day the Holy Spirit in you never stops working. He has His agenda to have you become more and more like Christ. He's working at enlightening you more and more. Convicting you more and more, but what are you doing with all that? Some will quench God's Spirit in them; 1Thes. 5:19 , "Quench not the Spirit." The Spirit is working against your sinful flesh, but you need to yield to Him. He wants to work through you to accomplish God the Father's will.

illustration: Think of fire in a useful way. Certainly fires have their usefulness. Let's say Iım trying to burn up the trash and rubish in YOUR yard...but you keep coming over with the garden hose and Squirting the fire out. What's wrong with that? Are you working with me? No! Yet, I'm trying to do something good for you. That's what it's like for the Holy Spirit as He strives to do Good and get out the bad in your life, but you're resisting His influence. You're actually Quenching Him.

Have you ever been convicted when you were about to sin?
What did you do? If you stopped, repented and confessed it to God - Even the desire, you let the Spirit have control.

Have you ever been convicted when you were about to sin - and sinned anyway?
What did you do? You Quenched the Spirit!

What happens when we continually do this? You can grow hardened to the conviction. Then you are Quenching and Grieving the Spirit.

How does one move towards being filled with the Spirit?

Yielding
Not Grieving
Not Quenching.

How does a person yielded to the Holy Spirit deal with sin?

No small sins ignored.
Confesses even: the bad attitude, bad motive, bad thoughts

The Spirit of God is not just concerned with what Others can see, He's concerned with having full control - from the inside out! He wants to control your heart and mind. This is the battle field that no one else can see except God the Spirit and you. Itıs easy for Christians to put up a front of being good:

But what are you like at Home?
What are you like when no ones looking?

The One who is trying to yield and be filled with the Holy Spirit is sensitive to God's will at all times. They don't have to have someone in their presence, because they know that God is ALWAYS in their presence.