Faith instantly receives in your innermost being the fullness of the presence and power of the Spirit. Rejoice! When your prepared heart believes, that moment you are filled with the Spirit. (Google image, Worshipping God)
2. The infilling of the Spirit is not a matter of feeling. It is a spiritual reality through faith. Your trust is not in your feelings, but in God and His promise.
Many have testified to an overwhelming awareness of God's presence, love, or power. God may or may not choose to bless you that way. He knows what is best for your future walk of faith. But power is present whether you feel it or not. It will be manifest as you serve and obey God.
3. Continued infillings of the Spirit are available to you. Chapter 11 pointed out that the Bible records repeated infillings of the Spirit. {see his post: #19 You Need Repeated Empowering}
I also mentioned that Zechariah presents a picture of God's flaming servants being kept aflame by the constant inflow of the Spirit.
That is why Zechariah 4:6 can be a continuing experience in the service of the Lord: " 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."
4. Rejoice in God's fullness and continue to pray and obey. You have been filled with the Spirit. Now let God use you. He did not fill you to make life easy for you, but to empower you for holy living and effective service.
As long as you keep the channel clear between God and you, His power continues to flow into you. You cannot retain the fullness of the Spirit without prayer and obedience.
Sometimes you may realize that you have grieved the Spirit, and sense a loss of the abundance of His presence and power. You may be aware of a depletion of the Spirit's working because of your busy ministry, or for the other reasons listed in chapter 13 {How Spiritual Power is Depleted or Lost}.
Seek God's forgiveness and ask Him for the renewal of His power upon you. Prayer and obedience will again bring the renewal you desire.
Many occasions will rise in your leadership when you will need a special manifestation of God's presence, a renewed empowering, a fresh anointing. Praise God! He is waiting to meet all your need.
He knows your ministry and the situations you face far better than you do. All of His resources are available to you. Pray and obey. Go through life praying and obeying. God will not fail you.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Eph. 3:20).
And to Him be glory through your life and ministry as you live and walk in the fullness of His Spirit's presence and power.
Make this beloved hymn of the church your prayer. It has been sung in prayer to the Lord for a century. May it express your heart cry today:
Fill Me Now
Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit,
Bathe my trembling heart and brow;
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence,
Come, O come and fill me now.
Chorus:
Fill me now, fill me now,
Jesus, come and fill me now;
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence,
Come, O come and fill me now.
Thou canst fill me, gracious Spirit,
Though I cannot tell Thee how;
But I need Thee, greatly need Thee,
Come, O come and fill me now.
I am weakness, full of weakness,
At Thy sacred feet I bow;
Blest, divine, eternal Spirit,
Fill with power, and fill me now.
Cleanse and comfort, bless and save me,
Bathe, O bathe my heart and brow;
Thou art comforting and saving,
Thou art sweetly filling now.
—Elwood H. Stokes
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#111 Remember these Spiritual Realities
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
[last one from this book]
(pp. 313-315) ZondervanPublishingHouse
Let's pray-
Father, we find that our filling of Your Spirit is not a gradual process when we believe on Your Son, Jesus Christ and what He's accomplished for us. Our faith in Him causes us to instantly received in our innermost being the presence and power of Your Holy Spirit.
Our trust is not in our feelings, but in You and Your promise in Your Word. [See below] When we have been filled with Your Spirit, we are then made ready for You to use in effective service.
Please help us keep the channel clear between You and us so Your power continues to flow into us. May we see that we are to retain the fulness of Your Spirit through continued prayer and obedience.
We understand that there will be occasions that will rise that we'll need a renewed empowering, a fresh anointing. Thank You, that You are always waiting to meet all our needs!
May we give You all the glory through our lives of ministry as we live and walk in the fullness of Your Spirit.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Our trust is not in our feelings, but in You and Your promise in Your Word. [See below] When we have been filled with Your Spirit, we are then made ready for You to use in effective service.
Please help us keep the channel clear between You and us so Your power continues to flow into us. May we see that we are to retain the fulness of Your Spirit through continued prayer and obedience.
We understand that there will be occasions that will rise that we'll need a renewed empowering, a fresh anointing. Thank You, that You are always waiting to meet all our needs!
May we give You all the glory through our lives of ministry as we live and walk in the fullness of Your Spirit.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Let’s pray these words together: “God, we pray that you would make Donald Trump a praying man!”
Today's Bible verses-
Acts 2:38, 39 (NKJV) "Then Peter said to them,
'Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(v. 39) For the promise is to you and to your
children, and to all who are afar off, as many as
the Lord our God will call.' " [emphasis mine].
Acts 8:14-17 (NKJV) "Now when the apostles who
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received
the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
(v. 15) who, when they had come down, prayed for
them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (v. 16)
For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had
only been baptized the the name of the Lord Jesus.
(v. 17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received
the Holy Spirit." [emphasis, mine]
John 1:12 (KJV) "But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name."
Acts 2:38, 39 (NKJV) "Then Peter said to them,
'Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(v. 39) For the promise is to you and to your
children, and to all who are afar off, as many as
the Lord our God will call.' " [emphasis mine].
Acts 8:14-17 (NKJV) "Now when the apostles who
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received
the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
(v. 15) who, when they had come down, prayed for
them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (v. 16)
For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had
only been baptized the the name of the Lord Jesus.
(v. 17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received
the Holy Spirit." [emphasis, mine]
John 1:12 (KJV) "But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name."
Today's quote-
~ Billy Graham- "There is no possibility of true happiness until we have established friendship and fellowship with God. And there is no possibility of establishing this fellowship apart from the cross of His Son, Jesus Christ. God says,"I will forgive you only at the cross." That is the reason it is necessary for us to come to the cross in repentance of our sin and by faith in His Son to find forgiveness and salvation." [p. 87 of THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS].
Today's guest post-
Nancy Demary- "With a beautiful, fresh snowfall this morning, I’ve put on worshipful Christmas music and the song, Mary Did You Know, was playing. So now I am considering this beautiful young woman, Mary – a servant of God who was chosen to be the vessel God would use to deliver our Savior into this broken world.
Some 2000 years later, our world is still very broken, but there are believers who shine brightly for their King! Those who have claimed Jesus as Lord and Savior have a calling of our own to embody the fullness of Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit within. This revelation to man, began in Mary’s physical womb, by the power of the Holy Spirit giving conception to this virgin; Jesus’ precious life comes to us and continues in those who also are willing to surrender to Him today . . . "
Today's question-
Why did Joseph obey God?
His heart was to cover. He was open to what the angel said to him concerning Mary, who was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He was to take her to himself and not know her physically until after her Son was born.
He evidently was available and teachable to do God's will, so he was chosen to be a father for His Son, and to follow through with the most important challenge Joseph ever would have.
May we be open to do the Father's will and accomplish what we were created to do!
Why did Joseph obey God?
His heart was to cover. He was open to what the angel said to him concerning Mary, who was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He was to take her to himself and not know her physically until after her Son was born.
He evidently was available and teachable to do God's will, so he was chosen to be a father for His Son, and to follow through with the most important challenge Joseph ever would have.
May we be open to do the Father's will and accomplish what we were created to do!
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| Christ as a child by Rebekah Owens |
Upcoming posts-
My Testimony of the Infilling
27th- Thursday's post by Jean Oathout
God's Work
29th- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes
Meditation
1/1st- Tuesday's message from a post by James H. Cagle
Can We Know if God Hears our Prayers?
3rd- Thursday's message from a post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
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| Merry Christmas |
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage.
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