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?

Jesus rose from the dead

A Jewish man lived approximately 2000 years ago, and He was God in a body; God and man.  He was born according to a prophecy: a virgin would conceive and bear a son, and that son would be God, living with and among human kind.  The prophecy was fulfilled.  The man's name was Jesus.  He was the fulfillment of not only the prophecy about a virgin conceiving, but of prophecies that go all the way back to the first man and first woman.

The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, and as a result were separated from God.  This separation is death, and they brought death to themselves as well as to all of their children, to all of humanity, to you and me.  They did this by listening to a creature instead of the Creator.  Eve listened to an evil spirit speaking through a snake.  Adam listened to Eve.  Neither listened to God, who had commanded them not to eat from one specific tree that He planted in the first garden, the Garden of Eden.  This tree was called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."  There was another tree called "the tree of life." They were free to eat from every tree, including the tree of life; there was only one tree forbidden--the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  They were to trust God, and to express this trust in obedience to His will above their own.  But they distrusted him and trusted in themselves; we inherited their rebellious nature.  But God made a promise, a promise to set them free from the enemy, the evil spirit who had rebelled against God before the rebellion of the first human.  God said, "a son of the woman will crush the head of the snake."  God foretold that one day a man would be born who would destroy the enemy of God and people.

Time passed.  Many were born.  Many nations began.  And a man named Abram was approached by God.  God chose Abram to be the ancestor of the son who would destroy the evil spirit.  Through Abram's descendent all families and nations would be blessed.  God changed Abram's name to Abraham, from "exalted father" to "father of nations," because that is what Abraham would become.  Miraculously, according to God's promise, Abraham had a son, though he was 100 years old, and his barren wife Sarah was 90.  Their son was Isaac.  And Isaac had Jacob and Esau.  And Jacob had 12 sons.  Jacob encountered God, and his name was changed to Israel.  He became the father of the nation of Israel, and his 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel.  Judah, one of Jacob's sons, was chosen by God to be the tribe from whom the blessed and promised son would be born.  From Judah, hundreds of years later, came a man named David, who became God's chosen king of Israel.  God promised David that one of his descendants would be the promised son who would save and bless the world.  Hundreds of years passed, and a prophecy came through a prophet named Isaiah, who said a virgin would conceive, as was said earlier.  Jesus was and is the fulfillment of all of these prophecies.

He is the son of the woman who would crush the head of the snake, the evil one.
He is the descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, from the lineage of David, born of a virgin, born of God, the Son of God.

As it is written, He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, the evil one, the spirit who spoke through a snake in the beginning.  When the time came, Jesus would fulfill His ultimate purpose as the blessing and Savior of the world:

He would die in our place, in every human's place, because every human was born in separation from God, and continued to sin and maintain that separation.  But Jesus died for our sins, for my sins, and for your sins.  He was buried.  And after 3 days, He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is the King and Lord of all things and of everything.

If you, the one reading, will accept who Jesus is and what He did for you, you will become a child of God and live forever, and God's Spirit will live in you, leading you and guiding you, loving you and filling you with love. 

You can accept the Lord Jesus by praying this prayer:

Jesus, I accept you as The Son of God, the Lord of all, that you died in place and rose from the dead.  I accept your Spirit as the Lord and Ruler of my life, from now on.

If you prayed this prayer, let me know in the comments, and we can continue to connect by God's Spirit.

The man who met me on the trail

One day I walked on a greenway and a man approached me, walking towards me. 

"May I walk with you?" 
"But you're going in the opposite direction." 
"I know.  Can we walk together?" 

For some unexplainable reason, I wanted to walk with this guy.  So I did. And we had the best conversation I've ever had in my life. 

He asked me what I was thinking about when he met me on the path.  I was actually thinking about my job and whether I wanted to keep working there.  He understood.  He somehow knew that I really wanted to be a teacher instead of an engineer.  He also knew that my passion was creative writing.  I told him he was right, but that my passion didn't pay the bills.  So he took out the exact amount I needed for an over due bill and gave it to me.  Speechless, I thanked him.  He said it was a gift from God, a down payment guaranteeing that if I trust Him and used my gift of teaching, he would take care of me.  I told him I'd think about it.  He said to pray also, and I agreed to do so. 

When we got to the end of the path, he said goodbye and continued walking, and I turned around to go back to my car.  I walked about 10 steps, looked back, and the man was gone!  Completely gone.  There is no way that could've happened.  The trail was at least another mile ahead if he went straight, or 5 miles ahead if he'd taken the left to the next path on the trail.  Either way, he couldn't have gotten to the end of either path that quickly!  No way. 

He must've been sent from God. 
A messenger. 
An angel. 

I didn't take his visitation lightly.  I quit my job that day...and applied for a job as a high school English teacher.  Three days after I applied, I got a call from the principal, asking if I could start work that day!  He was desperate.  He even offered me an advance to get started.  I accepted the job, remembering my promise...to the angel.

The day Rene was healed

I heard you can heal.
I can't, but God can.  Do you need to be healed?
No.  My daughter.
What's the matter with her?
I can barely tell you without crying.  Will you please come and heal her?  You'll see what's wrong with her.
I'll come.  God will heal her.
How do you know He will?
God blessed me with a gift.  It's His gift of compassion, and His compassion heals.
So He feels bad about my daughter?
He feels infinitely worse than you do.
Then why did He even let it happen in the first place.... I'm sorry. 
It's ok.  Let's go to your daughter.  We can talk after He heals her.
Alright.
***
Rene, can you sit up for a moment?
It's hard daddy.
I know sweetheart. 
It's ok.  She can lay down.  Rene I'm Darren.
Hey.  Why are you crying Darren?  Dad, please stop crying.  I can't stand that I'm hurting you.
We love you Rene.  Your dad.  Me.  And God.
I don't feel like God loves me.  I feel like He hates me.  I feel like I'm going to die.
You're not Rene.  You're not going to die.  In the name of Jesus, who died for you and rose for you, be healed.
Dear God!  Rene!  Your skin!  Your hair!
I feel it daddy!  I'm better!  God made me better!
God thank you!  Thank you Jesus for healing my daughter!  Thank you so much God!  Thank you!
Daddy, I'm better!  I'm not tired!  I don't feel like I want to throw up!  My hair and skin are completely healthy!  God healed me daddy!  He really healed me!  Daddy, where did Darren go?
I don't know sweetie. 
We have to find him.
Ok.  Maybe he's back at the church.
***
God, thank you so much for healing that beautiful girl!  I never get tired of seeing you do that.  Sometimes I have the same question her dad had.  Why do you even let things like this happen in the first place?
Why did I let Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit?  Why did I even make that fruit?  Or why did I allow Lucifer to rebel?
I don't know Lord.
Somethings are mysteries to you son.  But this isn't a mystery:  Evil is possible because of freewill.  The evil of one rebel effects all of creation.  The sin of one man and one woman effects every man and every woman.  I'm allowing evil for now.  But I will destroy it once and for all and forever.
Thank you God.
When Rene and her father come, tell them what I've told you.
Please give me power to tell them.  I'm sure they've heard about freewill before.
I'll be with you.  I'll speak through you.  I love you.
I love you too.

How to be Free from Anxiety and Worry

Do not be anxious or worry about anything, but in all things through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ~The Apostle Paul

What do you usually do when you experience anxiety, or when you worry?  I usually can't stop thinking about whatever worries me.  I can't sleep or concentrate.  I'm distracted by what I fear will happen, or by what's happening that I can't stop. 

Is that true for you?

If so, God gives us a way to be free from anxiety and worry.  I know from experience that what I'm about to share is true. 

First, God commands us not to worry or have anxiety.  This means two things:

1. It's not God's will for us to worry or have anxiety, so much so that we are sinning if we do it.   But don't let that discourage you; look at number two.

2. Because God commands us not to worry, we actually have a choice; we have control over worrying or not worrying.  It's up to us. 

So God commands us not to worry.

But He doesn't stop there.  He tells us what to do instead. 

Pray. 

• Thank Him for what we have.
• Ask Him for what we don't have,
• Ask Him to take away whatever we have that is harmful to us.

When we do these things, God promises to replace worry and anxiety with a divine and incomprehensible peace. 

This is an example of how it has happens for me.

Say I'm worrying about a financial need.  I've been sick and I need money for a specific doctor's bill that I just don't have.  I'm beginning to worry.  So I pray, first thanking God for the services the doctor provided, and that I'm actually doing better.  Then I ask God for the specific amount of money I need.  I tell him why I need it (though of course He already knows,) and I tell Him when I need it.  After I've poured out my heart to God, one of three things may happen, resulting in a divine, incomprehensible peace:

1. God provides the money.  Someone feels led by His Spirit to give me the exact amount I need, though I never asked them for it.

2. I no longer feel the need to think about the money, though I can't explain why.  I don't have any money yet.  And I don't know when or if it will come.  But for reasons I can't explain, I feel absolutely no need to think about it any more.

3. The due date for the bill is three days away, and I still have no money, or any guarantee that I will have money.  Yet I still feel no need to think about the bill.

In all three cases, after praying my heart out, I am no longer distracted by thoughts about the money at all, though I can't explain it.  I'm free from anxiety.

You can also be free. 

This is how.

What are you worried about right now?  (Be very specific.)

First, thank God for what you have, for every blessing in your life you can think of, at least two blessings.

Second, tell God exactly what you're worried about and why you're worried about it.

Third, ask him to give you what you lack, and to take away whatever is causing you harm.

Keep asking until you no longer feel distracted by the thoughts at all.  It should feel like a gradual lessening of a need even to pray any more.  Your prayer will fade into thoughts about other things in your life.  You worry will fade away.  This is God's incomprehensible peace.