Being Filled with the Spirit

When you believe in Jesus and His finished work, you receive his spirit. From then on it's your choice to be filled with the spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is when you allow the Holy Spirit to come upon you to bear fruit and empower all the gifts. That's the bottom line, but let's look a little closer.

After Jesus' resurrection, He appeared to over 500 people over a period of 40 days. One appearance was to His closest disciples where he gave them His spirit. "And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22) Then he tells those same people to wait on the spirit to come upon them so they will be endued with power.

Acts 1:8 But you (same people he breathed on) will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

If they received His Spirit when He breathed on them, did they have His Spirit?
YES! So what did being "filled" with the Spirit mean?

Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit

From this context, you see that being filled with the Spirit is like being under the influence of alcohol, you have to choose to drink the alcohol just like you have to choose to yield to the Spirit. God will not violate your will or your authority as a human. Being filled with the Spirit of God is not when you get the Spirit in you, He's already in you giving you life if you believe in Jesus, being filled with the Spirit is when you choose to yield to His influence from within.

What about the new believers in Acts? Inevitably when you speak about the baptism of the spirit people bring up these passages.

Acts 8:14 NIV When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive (lay hold of or take) the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

There is a slight confusion because verse 17 uses the word received but in verse 16 we see that the Holy Spirit had not yet come ON them. The word receive means to "take" or "lay hold of". These new believers were born again, they had the Spirit IN them but they had not yet "taken hold" of the Spirit in their heart to allow him to come UPON them. Or they had not yet been FILLED with the spirit. The first disciples knew the importance of being empowered by the Spirit that dwelt within them, that's where the power to minister comes from.

Here's how Paul prayed believers would yield to or be filled with the spirit.

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The Apostle Paul is talking to believers, he prays that they strengthened in their inner man so Christ will dwell in their hearts that they will be filled with God. That's being filled with the Spirit even they already had the Spirit.

This is our problem, we don't make a regular practice of being filled with the Spirit. We're waiting for God to send something rather than step forward and take what he's already given. The strength to change any behavior is already within us, yield to or be filled with His Spirit and take the power. The wisdom you need for that next decision is already within you, yield to his spirit willingly and take hold of the answer. The power to work miracles is in you, get under His influence and let that power flow through you.

Stop waiting on God, you already have within you everything he will ever give you in this life, his Spirit. Cultivate his Spirit so that your heart can allow fruit and gifts to grow and flow.

Mind Renewal Exercise

Get quiet and still for a few moments. Begin to think about God's life essence being in you. What does it look like? What does it feel like?

Now become thankful for His spirit within you. Also think about this Spirit as love within you, flowing all through you. Notice if any scriptures come to mind.

Now see that spirit/essence/love/wisdom/power flowing out of you into your body or onto your life's circumstances. Watch what it does to that area.

In this moment open your heart to receive wisdom.

Write down any revelation you experience. Now decide how you'll put it into practice.

Is life one step forward, two steps back for you?

Why is it that when you try to move forward it seems like you are pulled backward? Have you experienced this? Maybe you've decided to improve your health or financial situation only to face a challenge that makes it worse. Or you have decided to overcome a repetitive sin habit only to continue to give in.

Why?

It's most likely a heart belief. There is no global conspiracy to sabotage your life. There is no one waiting around the corner to cause you to fail. You can't even really blame the devil because all he can do is lie to you and present short cuts. There is only what you allow yourself to believe and the decisions you make.

Look at what happened to Jesus when he started his ministry.

“Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, ….”

When it was time for Jesus to begin his ministry, which was to be the Messiah and establish a new covenant through his death, burial and resurrection, the enemy challenged his identity.

“Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ “ 5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ “ 9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ 11 “and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ “ 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ “ 13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

The same thing will happen to you. The truth is it doesn't matter if it's the devil or your own heart, your identity will be challenged when you step into a new area of life.

When you are inspired and begin to move forward, you are going to stretch out of your normal routines and increase the capacity of your heart. Your heart will need to increase in capacity because you're going to need grace to accomplish something you've never done or sustain something you've tried in the past.

“Enlarge the place of your tent (heart), stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

— Isaiah 54:2

Your hopes and dreams to influence people with the Gospel are an invitation from God to walk in something that's bigger than yourself. Your passion and love for people is the very heart of God desiring to love people through you and bring them into a deeper relationship with him. The burdens you feel for those less fortunate or suffering around you are God's spirit crying out from your inner man to increase His kingdom and set people free from sin and death. Like Jesus, when you step out, you will be challenged.

But it's OK. God is with you, he will confirm His Word and he will strengthen you as you go. Commit to a transformative process that's rooted in establishing your heart in your identity in Christ and expect God to do amazing things through you!

LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION

In the past weeks I've been teaching on the idea of your calling being defined by your love for people. It's now time to overcome the inertia and move forward in your calling. By now you should have identified "WHO YOU LOVE." Now you get to answer the questions, how will I love them and what do I need to love them?

In fulfilling your calling, the WHO determines the WHAT and HOW

Discussion Questions

1. Do you feel like you take one step forward and two steps back when you're trying to move beyond your everyday responsibilities?

2. Do you recognize any patterns when you feel like you're going backward? (such as an old sin arises, you get sick or your car breaks down, etc...)

3. What will be your strategy to affirm your identiy in Christ when you feel like you're losing ground after making a decision to move forward?