How to be filled with the Spirit and know it! Part 2

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 Berean Study Bible

Just as alcoholics completely yield to the permeation, influence, and control of alcohol, believers completely yield to the permeation, influence, and control of the Spirit.  The believer completely opens himself or herself to the Spirit's permeation, power, and control.  There is a Bible verse that effectively illustrates this for me:

"Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"  Romans 6:16 NIV (italics mine)

To be a slave is to be under the complete control of a master.  Paul is saying that we are under the control of whomever or whatever we offer ourselves to.  It could be to sin (drunkenness) or to obedience (being filled with the Spirit.)  It's up to us.  And because Paul is commanding us not to get drunk  on wine but to be filled with the Spirit, it's not only something we can do, but also something we must do. 

So to be filled with the Spirit, the first thing to do is yield to Him.  We simply offer ourselves to Him completely, like this:

"Holy Spirit, I give my spirit, soul, body, words, and activity completely to you.  I totally surrender to you in total obedience to you."

After yielding to God, we now only need to ask to be filled with His Spirit.

ASK GOD TO FILL YOU WITH HIS SPIRIT.

After you yield to the Spirit, then ask God the Father to fill you with the Spirit, to give you His Spirit as your master.  Jesus tells us how to do this:

"Even though you're evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"  Luke 11:13 GWT

If you are a child of God through faith in Jesus, and you yield to the Spirit's control, all you have to do after yielding is ask God to fill you with His Spirit.  The drunk person, in a sense, is asking the "spirit" to fill him or her.  (Some people call alcohol "spirits.")  Because the Spirit is an actual person, and because He will not negate your free will, He won't fill you unless you ask Him.

And when you ask Him, when you are under His influence, you actually become self-controlled, instead of losing control like drunk people do.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit and know it, say this prayer with me:

Our Father in heaven, I yield completely and unconditionally to Your Spirit.  Please fill me with your Spirit in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Let me know your experience of the Spirit filled life in the comments.  I look forward to hearing from you.

(And click here to read part 3 to see what to expect when you're filled with the Spirit.)

How to be filled with the Spirit and know it!

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Ephesians 5:18  Berean Study Bible

Have you ever wanted to know what it means to be filled with the Spirit, but left disappointed after reading a particular blog or book?  I have.  I've read books about it and still felt like I didn't know how to have this most necessary gift from God.  If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead, by the time you're done reading this two part blog, you will know how to be filled with the Spirit!

This is how:

1. Yield to God's Spirit.
2. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit.

Yield.  Ask. 

That's it. 

I'll explain.

YIELD TO GOD'S SPIRIT.
The Apostle Paul compares (and contrasts) being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit.  I'll use Paul's contrast of getting drunk on wine to show you how to be filled with the Spirit.

Getting drunk involves two things:  Deciding.  Drinking. 

When I was a bouncer at a bar, I often heard people say "I'm going to get wasted."  That's the decision.  Next comes the action:  drinking until they are literally full of alcohol, so that they can feel the effects of drinking:  uninhibitedness, boldness, happiness, unbridled anger or sadness, etc.  And you know when people are drunk, though the manifestations vary.  They look drunk, act drunk, walk drunk, and talk drunk.  By deciding to get drunk, and taking in as much alcohol as they can hold, they achieve their goal:  drunkenness.  In other words, by deciding and drinking, they totally yield to alcohol.  They give alcohol complete control over their bodies, minds, emotions, words, and actions. Their blood is permeated with alcohol.  They are completely under the influence of alcohol--because they yielded to it.

This yielding is exactly what Paul is talking about in being filled with the Spirit. 
(Click here for part 2)

How to be filled with the Spirit and know it! (Part 3)

"You will receive power when the Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth."  Acts 1:8

Some of you may be wondering how you can actually know if you're filled with the Spirit.  I can sum up how you know in one word:  power.

When the Spirit fills you, when He permeates you and controls you because you've completely yielded to His influence, you will have a power you didn't have before in serving Him, wherever you are in your life.  This power may manifest itself in varying ways, but one thing is clear, and one thing will be very clear:  you will have a supernatural power you did not have before that enables you to bear witness to the Lord Jesus.

The purpose of the power is to make Jesus known.  Now if that isn't your goal, then you won't be filled with the Spirit.  But if it is your goal, then no matter what circumstance or situation you are in, you will have power to make Jesus known in whatever you're saying or doing. 

That's what you look for:  power to make Jesus known. 

You will experience a supernatural boldness and effectiveness in doing this.  Boldness meaning confidence and certainty about Jesus.  Effectiveness meaning you will be able to communicate who Jesus is in a way that will convict those who reject Him and encourage those who accept Him.  The key is that the focus is on Jesus.  Your focus is on Jesus.  Whether you are a student or a teacher, employer or employee (or even unemployed.)  Wherever you are in life, whatever your role, you will have an ability that you didn't have before, an ability to know Jesus and make Him known. 

Look for this power to honor Jesus.  It won't be hard to find.

Friendship with God (Part 1)

You are my friends if you do what I command.  John 15:14

Do you obey your bestfriend?  Most likely not.  That's not how we usually define friendships.  Why would we?  Our friends don't owe us obedience.  But we owe God our obedience, if we want to be His friends.

"That doesn't sound like friendship to me," some of you might think.  I can see why you would, if we are defining friendships among humans.  But think about who God is. 

How can a creature be friends with the Creator if he or she doesn't accept who the Creator is?

The Creator is our Maker, and thus our Master. 
Imagine it this way.

What if you could create artificial intelligence?  You gave it life, personality, and purpose--a very specific purpose.  Now if this AI wanted to be your friend, what would it have to do first and foremost?

"Well, I wouldn't make it to be a slave, which is what the Bible verse at the top sounds like.  What kind of friend just wants to tell you what to do?"

Again, think about God.  Does He really need our obedience?  Is there really anything we can add to His eternal life?

So obedience to Him must be somehow for our good.  And if we do it, we can experience friendship with Him. 

But what's the connection between us obeying God and Him befriending us?