Today’s morning thoughts are on the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Christ’s great gift to His followers was the baptism with the Holy Ghost as stated in Acts…Acts 1:4, And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (NKJV).
Upon speaking these words, the Lord ascended to heaven, and the disciples returned to Jerusalem where they spent the next ten days in prayer and worshiping God, after which the Holy Ghost fell; Yes, this wonderful gift that they received revolutionized their lives and set them on fire for God. Through unlearned laymen, they went forth and preached a message that changed the world.
Here are 10 reasons why every Christian should receive the in-filling of the Holy Spirit.
1.) The Holy Ghost gives power to be a living witness. Acts 1:8, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere–in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (NLT). For a victorious Christian life…there is a need for power over the forces of evil, and we are continually facing strong temptations that the human will can not successfully stand up against. With the Holy Spirit in our lives; this gives us the power to defend ourselves against evil and the power to take the offensive. The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is to give us this power; the power to become an effective witness, and to influence others for Christ. Yes, by the power of the Spirit, to the believer, those mountains, which he can not cross in his own strength, can be moved by the power of the Spirit.
2.) The Holy Ghost gives power to live a holy life. Yes, the Holy Spirit frees us from the law of sin and death. Every Christian has the Spirit of Christ to some degree or he would not be a Christian…but the experience as received on the day of Pentecost represents a fuller measure of the Spirit…for He was with the believer, but now He is in the believer.
It must be noted that the baptism does not automatically make a man holy nor an ideal Christian, for man is a free moral agent. It requires discipline and correction, acting on what you have been taught and what the Holy Spirit has revealed. Discipleship must be ongoing in the Christian walk.
3.) The Holy Spirit is a comforter who will abide forever. John 14:16, And I will ask the father, and he will give you another Counselor, (Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Advocate) who will never leave you (NLT). Through His indwelling presence, we become the temple of God. In the soul of man, there is a spiritual vacuum…for he is not complete without the infilling of the Holy Ghost. In Luke, Jesus speaks of the man that is not filled with His Spirit. Luke 11:24-26, When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So, it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and clean. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits eviler than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before (NLT).
4.) The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the “refreshing” spoken of in prophecy. As spoken in Joel, the Holy Ghost (Spirit) is the refreshing that is needed in one’s life. Joel 2:28, Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions (NLT). The infilling of the Spirit with the speaking of in unknown tongues is as the prophecy declares, “rest” and “refreshing”.
5.) The Holy Spirit will quicken our mortal bodies. Romans 8:11, The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you (NLT).
6.) Divine healing is accomplished by the power of the Spirit, but God’s purpose goes further than that…it includes divine health as is declared in 3 John 1:2, Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit (NLT). The Spirit of God will quicken our physical bodies so that we may have the strength necessary to perform the work God has called us to do.
7.) Jesus said that He came to give life and life more abundantly. There is a peace and assurance that follows the spirit filled life even through our troubles and tribulations. The Holy Spirit will guide the believer into all truth. John 16:12-13, There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future (NLT).
Again, I want to note that God never takes away man’s free will, and it is possible for man to choose error. (1 Tim 1:19-20; 2 Tim 2:17-18). But if he is obedient to the light, he has…the Spirit of the Lord will keep him from serious wrong.
8.) The Holy Spirit will help you pray supernaturally. There are times when we don’t know how to pray, or you might say, know what to pray. This is where the Holy Spirit prays in us and through us that cannot be expressed in words. Romans 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words (NLT). Also (1 Cor. 14:14-15).
9.) One should have the Holy Spirit to exercise the gifts of the Spirit fully. The manifestation of certain gifts in the ministry of Peter became evident only after he received the baptism of the Spirit. For example, neither Peter nor any of the other disciples knew that Judas was intending to betray the Lord (Mark 14:17-21). Yet, after Peter received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, he instantly discerned the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). Another example was on the Sea of Galilee, when the storm arose, the disciples showed only a human faith as stated in Matthew 8:23-26, Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm (NLT). But after they had received the Holy Spirit, they had faith for great miracles, even to the raising of the dead. (See Acts 5:12; 9:36-42).
10.) The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23, But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things (NLT)!
The fruit of the Spirit growing and maturing in our lives. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work FREELY in our lives, these characteristics (or fruit) will also be the characteristics (or fruit) of our lives. Then, and only then, will those around us see the great manifestations of the Holy Spirit working in and through us! Yes…the FULLNESS of God’s mercy and grace…here on earth as it is in heaven!
Let us desire and receive the FULLNESS of His Spirit:
the power…that washes away sin whiter than snow
the power…that sees things that are not as though they are
the power…that changes man in HIS likeness
the power…to communicate with our Heavenly Father daily!
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