Staying Filled With The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV) "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." 

The words "be filled"  in the Greek is a COMMAND to ALWAYS BE. (present tense, passive, imperative verb) God is telling us what to be filled with! He says not to be drunk with wine, "in which is dissipation." but literally: BE FILLED ALWAYS WITH THE  HOLY SPIRIT!

The Greek word translated "filled" means to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full.  to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally. The bible teaches us that there are different measures of the Spirit one can receive as is demonstrated in the case of Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings.

Walk Close to God

In order to maintain the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life he or she must walk close to God by daily Bible reading, study and meditation in the Word. By daily prayer with ones understanding (mind) and praying in tongues. If you haven't been "baptized in the Spirit", or "received the Spirit" when you "received Christ" you need to (Acts 19:1-7! This is an experience subsequent to salvation (receiving Christ as Savior and Lord of your life.)You will speak in tongues as the Spirit is giving you utterance (Acts 2:1-4). This is the Early Church's pattern that we have in the book of Acts which must be followed by the church today! 

Tongues are for Today!

Some have said that tongues are not for today. I say this humbly and with kindness that they are wrong! They haven't rightly divided the word of truth. I'm talking about good Christians who love the Lord. I'm not talking against them. I love them. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ! You don't need this to go to Heaven but you do need this to be obedient to Jesus the head of the Church! Those who don't believe this have just been taught wrong. Whether in seminary or by their church or their denomination. We just stated that verse 18 is a command to be filled always! 

(1 Cor. 14:14) "If I pray in a tongue MY SPIRIT PRAYS..." Our human spirit prays directly to God enabled by the Holy Spirit. The Amplified Bible says it this way: "...my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays..." When we pray in tongues we are "building ourselves up..." ." When we exercise with weights, we build ourselves up physically. Our
muscles become stronger. So it is when we pray in tongues. This also keeps us filled with the
Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues daily to God is the only way of spiritual edification! Some have called it in Christian circles the believer's 'prayer language.' Tongues are for today, for the Bible is pattern in which the church in Corinth spoke in tongues so much that the Apostle Paul had to give them guidelines (1 Cor. 14). He concludes in Chapter fourteen: "do not forbid to speak with tongues" and "Let all things be done decently and in order. THIS IS GOD'S WILL AND PLAN TODAY!

 Have been filled...don't speak in tongues

Some people have said they have been filled with the Holy Spirit but don't speak in tongues. They also are wrong. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians (12:28-31) and verse 30 say: "...Do all speak with tongues? Many say, see, not everyone is to speak in tongues. This verse in context is talking about "ministry gifts", NOT "spiritual gifts!" This is a ministry gift to be used in the local church congregation publicly by those anointed and called to full time ministry (Eph. 4:11). The other verses ask the question, "are all apostles, are all prophets, etc.,etc. and of course the answer is no to these questions because not everyone is called to "full time ministry" and would have these "ministry gifts!"

Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs...

Notice that verse 19 gives us even further insight:  "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
'One another,' I believe is an incorrect translation. I'll tell you why. The King James, Young's
Literal Translation and the New American Standard Bible Update (foot note) translates it "yourself" referring to you individually. You are speaking to God not others. This is in agreement with other scripture and in practice. 
1 Corinthians 14:4 says: "He who speaks in a tongue EDIFIES HIMSELF.." When YOU SPEAK in tongues  YOU EDIFY YOURSELF! This is the reason why God has given the Church this supernatural gift of tongues for personal worship and communication with Himself!
PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS are given by the Holy Spirit to aid in worship and for your personal edification or building up of yourself spiritually! Notice the last part of verse 19 tells us what we are doing when we speak in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs!
These are given by the Holy Spirit and comes by His inspiration.

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit gave King David inspiration in the many Psalms that are recorded.  Over and over again He would describe his feelings and adverse circumstances he was in but they always concluded with praise and glory to God because he was trusting Him for help and  deliverance. We can relate with what David experienced in our own lives. In James it says for us to "COUNT IT ALL JOY"  when we encounter various trials so we  would not lack anything from the Lord! The rest of verse 19 says: "and making melody in your heart to the Lord." That's what we are doing!  As we GIVE WORSHIP TO HIM, one on one, WE ARE BUILDING OURSELVES UP SPIRITUALLY!