To be filled with Jesus Christ, the risen son of God… means the Holy Spirit enables us to live a holy life, obeying, praying, and to bear spiritual fruit.
Paul tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not to wait for the spirit to fill us. When you drink from the spirit of God, your attitude will change, your speech will be affected, and you will take on the personality of Jesus.
Learning to be filled (controlled and empowered) with the Holy Spirit is the most important discovery of the Christian life. You can experience the abundant life Jesus promised! You can introduce others to Christ!
Jesus also promised that we would do greater works than He did. Obviously, we cannot accomplish these greater works through our own self efforts. They will result from the Son of Man, who came to seek and save the lost, working through us in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to follow Christ; His responsibility is to make us fishers of men.
The Holy Spirit whom the disciples received at Pentecost enabled them to change the course of history. That same Holy Spirit is available to every believer today.
Invite the Holy Spirit into the spaces of your heart that only he can access. The spirit is your guide, your helper, your power, and your teacher. He is also a friend. John 14:26 says “Our friend, the Holy Spirit…” like a good friend, you can call on the Holy Spirit at any time for any reason. You have unlimited access to God. Give space for the Holy Spirit to get in the middle of every situation you face in life.
One of the great wonders of receiving the Holy Spirit is the sense of understanding and perspective it brings. In Ephesians, Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation.”
We should not try to understand God simply from a human point of view. His ways are above our ways, his thoughts are above ours. We need his spirit to help us see from his perspective.
The word of God and the Holy Spirit are impossible to separate and are most effective when working together in our lives.
Prayer: Dear God, I need you. I acknowledge that I have been in control of my own life and as a result I have sinned against you. I thank you that you have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to take control of the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as you command me to be filled. You promised in your word that you will fill me if I ask in faith. I pray this in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ. As an expression of my faith, I now thank you for filling me with your Holy Spirit and for taking control of my life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Exercise
Prepare your heart for the Holy Spirit
You must desire to live a life that will please the Lord.
You must confess any sin which the Holy Spirit calls to your remembrance and claim his forgiveness.
You must be willing to surrender the control of your life to Christ.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any unconfessed sin.
Claim the filling of the Holy Spirit by faith on the basis of God's command (Ephesians 5:18) and God's Promise (1 John 5:14-15)
Scripture Reference
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
John 14:12-14 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.