Being Filled

What’s been your experience of the Holy Spirit?

Living the Christian life in our own strength is impossible. The only way to live as a Christian is for Christ to come and live in us, directing and empowering every aspect of our lives. He does this through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit in John 14v15-18:

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

From these verses we learn much about the Spirit:

The Spirit is not a force but a personal being
In the Greek, "another counsellor" means "another counsellor of exactly the same kind as Jesus"
It is by the Holy Spirit coming and living in us that Jesus is with us

What do you understand to be the work of the Holy Spirit?

The Role of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit has many functions in the life of a believer:

He gives us new birth when we become a Christian (John 3v1-7)
He makes our relationship with God real in our experience (Romans 5v5; 8v15-16)
He guides and leads us (John 16v12-15; Acts 16v6; Matthew 10v18-20)
He empowers us to overcome sin and live a Godly life (Romans 8v1-4; Galatians 5v16-25)
He gives us boldness and gifts to serve God and people (Acts 1v8; 1 Corinthians 12v7)
He works in others to bring them to faith in him (John 16v7-11; Acts 16v14-15)

All believers have the Holy Spirit but not all believers are filled with the Spirit. The critical question is not how much we have of God, but how much God has of us. When we sin we take control of our life and run it to our own ends in our own strength. To be filled with the Spirit we need to confess all known sin, surrender our life fully to God and ask him to fill us with his Spirit.

Read Luke 11v9-13:

What are the promises in these verses?
What are the conditions?

We know that it’s God’s will for us to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5v18) and that he promises to answer when we pray according to his will (1 John 5v14-15). When we’ve asked God to fill us with the Spirit our confidence that he’s done so does not primarily come from any experiences we may have,but from our trust in his promise to fill us when we ask.

Spiritually we can achieve nothing apart from the Spirit. However,when we’re filled with the Spirit, it doesn’t mean that we need do nothing more and become passive. It’s as we step out to obey God trusting in his Spirit that he empowers our efforts. The Spirit lives through us, not for us. Asking God to fill us with the Spirit is not a one off action but an ongoing lifestyle of surrendering ourselves to God and trusting him to empower us as we get on with the business of following Jesus.

Do I want to wholeheartedly give myself to God?
Am I willing to deal with my sin?
Do I really want to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Do I trust God to fill me when I ask him to according to his promise in the Bible?

If you can answer yes to these questions, ask God now to fill you with his Spirit and he will.

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Being Filled

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What’s been your experience of the Holy Spirit?

The Role of the Spirit

Read Luke 11v9-13:

Let us know how we can help.

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