How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit and Know It (Right Now!) Part 1

I write to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead.  I write to those who have received and accepted Jesus for who He is:  the Son of God.  I write to those who believe in Him as their Savior from sin and from sinning.  I write to those who believe that Jesus died for their sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose from the dead after three days, according to the scriptures.  If you believe all that I just wrote, I'm talking directly to you.  If you don't believe what I just wrote, believe it now and you will become a child of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God.  (You can say these words:  "I believe in the name of the Son Jesus Christ, I believe that He is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead."  If you say that and mean it, you are saved from a life without God, and thus without purpose.)

To those who believe, we are commanded by God to follow the Spirit, to be completely under His influence and control--to be filled with the Spirit.  This is not an option for us because we can't live as followers of Christ without the Spirit's presence and power.  I'm writing to tell you how to experience the presence and power of the Spirit and know it.  I'm following what I learned from R.A. Torrey in a small book entitled "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit."  I'm writing from memory, paraphrasing what I learned. 

First, I'll tell you what the filling of the Spirit is and what it does.  Next, I'll tell you why it's necessary.  Third, I'll tell you why it's possible.  And finally, I'll tell you how to be filled with the Spirit and know it.

If you read no further, if you remember nothing else remember this:

To be filled with the Spirit means you boldly and effectively bear witness to the Lord Jesus.  

That's it.  If you're a believer and you want that, ask for it, and you will have it immediately, right now.  And you'll know it. 

• You will pray with a power that you didn't have before (possibly in a language you didn't know before.)  
• You will praise God with a power you didn't have before.  
• You will feel God's presence in a way that you didn't before.  
• You will be a man of God, woman of God, husband, wife, father, mother, employer, or employee with a power that you didn't have before.  

And this power will be bold effectiveness as a witness of the Lord Jesus in whatever context you are in. 

If you want to know more, keep reading.

The Called Out Ones

I knelt in my room in the dark, wanting to die.  I didn't or couldn't or wouldn't kill myself.  But I wanted to die.  To go to sleep and not wake up.  Or something like that.  But worse than that.  I felt condemned to death because of what I had done.  Most wouldn't think it was that bad, nowhere near bad enough to be condemned to death.  But to me, it was the worst thing I could do.  The one thing I never wanted to do.  And the thing is, I didn't know if I had even really done it at all.  I didn't know what it was, or how it was supposed to feel.  I think I had gotten close, but how close is close enough to be it?  That doesn't matter.  Even being close made me feel like dying.

But for some reason, I said what I think I'd hear in Sunday school without realizing I remembered it.

"I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He died for my sins."  I felt peace cover me like a blanket, and I no longer wanted to die.  Then I remembered what happened before I came close to doing the thing that made me want to die in the first place.

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How Eve (and Adam, and we) became sinners (Part 1)

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God.
~The Apostle Paul

Abraham believed God, and God considered his faith righteousness.
~Moses, the man of God

The woman listened to Satan.  The man listened to the woman.  Neither listened to God.  This is sin:  when we listen to creation instead of the Creator.

In other words, Eve became a sinner by faith.  And Abraham became sinless by faith.  Who they (and we) listen to do determines sin or life without sin.

So how can we become and remain sinless?

Better yet, how can we be as sinless as Christ?

I ask this because I noticed that Jesus not only "never sinned," but he even said Satan "had no hold on him."  Meaning Satan could not get Jesus to sin because nothing in Jesus agreed with anything in Satan.  How can we be like this?

Think about it (if you want to, or if you're even interested in this kind of life...) until the next blog...