God made a covenant with Abraham. His children will be the source of blessing to the world (Gen 22:18). After almost 430 years of slavery in Egypt, God gave the law. People could not obey the law. They were constantly sinning. There was no way they could walk right with God. So, God promised to give His Spirit to the people. His own Spirit will enable them to walk right with Him and enable them to obey His commandments (Ezekiel 36: 26-28). Through Jesus Christ, we (gentiles) are partakers of the blessing that was promised to Abraham (Gal 3:14, Acts 2:39). So, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are the children of Abraham. The blessings and promises of God are for you and me as well. The greatest blessing of God is Jesus Christ Himself (Romans 6:23). And the greatest promise of God is the promise of His dwelling among us and in us (Isa 57:15, Rev 21:3).

The blessings of God are for you and me as well.

So, it is only through the power of the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit / the Spirit of Jesus) we can live right with God and be the witness of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is His fruit. We cannot have them on our own will and efforts. The best we can do for ourselves is to live in fellowship with Him. Therefore, we constantly need to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18) and live as He directs us (Gal 5:16). We cannot live on our “10 years ago experience”. Those experiences are good only for story-telling. We need to have an encounter with God every day. He gives us life and joy and direction and peace and strength we need. Jesus’s ministry was the outcome of His relationship with God the father (John 5:19-20, 5:30). God had anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38). Every event surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus Christ involved the work of the Holy Spirit.

God had anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38).

The other man in the Bible who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb was John, the Baptist. His life is an inspiration to many of us. He made way the long-awaited Messiah. The most notable tasks he did were urging people to repent, introducing them to Christ (“Behold the lamb…”), uplifting Jesus Christ and boldly confronting the bad practices of the contemporary society. If the son of God and a person sent by God needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, how much more do we need?

Below I have briefly listed some of the instances of people being filled with the Holy Spirit in my Bible:

1. Zechariah (Prophesied after being filled with the Holy Spirit; Luke 1:67)
2. 120 disciples of Christ (Day of Pentecost; Acts 2:4): declared the great works of God by speaking in tongues, boldly proclaimed the word of God (Peter), boldly preached the gospel that led to the addition of more than 3000 and 5000 (Acts 4:4) people in the body of Christ, were able to live in unity and harmony while caring for each other’s needs, lived in fear of God and demonstrated miracles and signs (Acts 2:43, Acts 3:8)
3. Believers (Boldly proclaimed the word of God; Acts 4:31): Lived in Unity (Acts 4:32), Rejoiced even in the midst of persecution (Acts 5:41), Powerfully witnessed Jesus (Acts 5:33)
4. Stephen (Acts 6:8): was full of the Holy Spirit, power, faith, wisdom, and grace and did great miracles and signs, spoke the word of God so boldly and wisely (Acts 6:10), Forgave his murderers (Acts 7:56), Saw the glory of God and the vision of Jesus Christ (Acts 7:55)
5. Household of Cornelius (Acts 10:45): Praised God with speaking in tongues
6. Church of Ephesians (Acts 19:6): Spoke in tongues and prophesied, miracles broke out (Acts 19:11-12)

Analyzing the above instances, we see that praising God, boldly witnessing Jesus Christ, confronting evil, loving and living in unity and harmony, prophesying and speaking in tongues, followed by the demonstration of miracles and signs are some of the notable signs of people being filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is the standard that we should evaluate ourselves on whether we are filled with the Holy Spirit or not. There are some controversies regarding the manifestation of signs and wonders, especially in regard to the gift of tongues and prophecy. In my Bible, there are three different manifestations of the gift of tongues: one that the speaker does not understand but other people understand (Acts 2:7-8), one that nobody understands and is for your own prayer that brings personal edification (1 Cor 14:2, 4), and the one that is given in meetings which require the gift of interpretation (1 Cor 14: 27-28). Similarly, there are four categories of prophecies mentioned in the book of Revelation 10:11 (people, nations, languages, and kings). In simple language, prophecy can be understood as “proclaiming the will and knowledge of God”. The Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to glorify Jesus through His will and His gifts (1 Cor 12:11).

One of the reasons I have listed these historical facts is because I believe these facts are not in my Bible just for organizing Quiz Competitions. I believe these events were mentioned in the Bible for our wisdom and guidance (1 Cor 10:11, Jeremiah 6:16). As we are filled with the Holy Spirit daily and walk in submission to Him, He will take care of everything associated with our lives (Romans 8:28, Isaiah 46:4). He will enable us to obey His commandments and be the witness of Jesus Christ in our family, society, school/college, workplace, our nation, and in the whole world.

In this regard, I love to talk about Dr. DGS Dinakaran, who is popularly known as the “apostle of love”. Prior to his deep walk with God, He realized that Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit and Power. He was very intrigued by the relationship of God with the old testament prophets, namely Abraham, Enoch, Elijah, and many others. He used to work in bank then. He prayed fervently for the anointing of the Holy Spirit for nearly seven years. As a result, his prayers were answered and a powerful ministry was born in the name of “Jesus Calls”.

In the above paragraphs, we learned why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But the big question is: “How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit?” To learn this, let’s go to this page.

1. Glorification of God
2. Bold witnessing of Jesus Christ
3. Bold proclamation of the word of God
4. Bold confrontation of evil
5. Prophesying and speaking in tongues
6. Living in love, unity, and care for each other
7. Fear of God
8. Miracles and signs

In this article, we will learn about how we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. I have described this in the paragraphs below:

1. Asking God for the anointing of the Holy Spirit: In Luke 11:13, Jesus says: “…how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Jesus encourages you and me to ask God for the Holy Spirit. Since God Himself promised that He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh in these days (Joel 2:28), it is no offense to God if we ask Him to fill us with His Spirit every day. As we study the lives of men mightily used by God, we find that they were confident that they cannot do the work of God without His anointing. So, they fervently prayed for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and God honored their requests. As a result, many great revivals and reformations took place in the history of the church. Our loving father is always willing to bless you and me with His Spirit and power. Let us confidently approach the throne of grace (Heb 4:16), asking our heavenly Father to fill us with His Spirit, power, love, faith, and wisdom.
2. Listening to the word of God: “…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”(John 6:63) More of the word of God in us, more of His Spirit in us. The Bible is the most authentic, truthful and reliable book in the Universe. When we meditate the word of God, the written word (logos) becomes the spoken word of God (Rhema) to us, which has all the power to transform our lives. As we meditate upon the word of God we read, we allow the Spirit of God to check our lives (Hebrew 4:12) and correct us. Upon meditating the word of God, our heart is prepared for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As a result, the Holy Spirit directs our actions and paths (John 14:26), and enables us to be the light and salt of God.
3. Believing in Jesus: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38) Water is the most prominent symbolism in the Bible used to represent the Holy Spirit. The rivers of living water signify the overflow of the Holy Spirit from our lives into the lives of people. As we keep believing in Jesus Christ concerning who He is and what He did for mankind, we become filled with the Holy Spirit. Now to say “believe in Jesus Christ” is easy to say but hard to do on our own. The Bible says that Faith comes by hearing the word of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:17). Therefore, as we spend more time learning and meditating on the word of God, it becomes easier for us to believe in the promises of God. As a result, not only are we filled with the Holy Spirit, but we can impact our society, nation, and the world with the gospel of the kingdom of God.

The points I mentioned in this article are the ones I found in my study. If you find anything more, I would always appreciate that and would love to include them in this post. For that, please email me through the ‘send email’ link at the bottom of this page.

God Bless you and thank you for reading this article. I pray that this article will help you walk in a close relationship with God and be a witness of Jesus Christ unto the ends of the Earth. If this article has impacted your life, please let us know through the contact form. We would love to thank God for His work in your life.

LET EVERY THEOLOGY AND DENOMINATION BE PROVED WRONG, AND THE WORD OF THE LORD STAND ABOVE EVERYTHING!

It is the tradition of God’s people to accuse His anointed people apostate during their lifetime and adore them after their death (For eg: most prophets of OT and other men of God in the 19th and 20th century). We must now start basing our faith on the word of God, obeying Him, and stop repeating the same mistake. The church fears being deceived by fake things of devil more than relying upon the grace of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Due to this, there is some sort of pharisee inside of us. Pharisees were the people who had immense “head-knowledge” on the characters of the Messiah, yet could not recognize Him when He manifested Himself to them. It is a sad reality that people who are supposed to listen and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit are actually rejecting the work of the Spirit and labeling His move as fake. However, as time progresses the accusers are gone and forgotten; while the men of God who obeyed His voice are remembered and adored for their faith. God loves to be called their God (Hebrew 11:16 ). While saying this, I do not say that every move is from the Spirit of God. Obviously, when there is the move of God, satan tries to imitate the Spirit of God and deceive people. However, we need to stay patient and anchored to the word of God; the serpent of God ultimately engulfs the serpents of satan (Exodus 7).

Do you choose to listen to men only, and not God (Acts 4:19)? Will you also base your faith upon the wisdom of this world, philosophies, doctrines, personal feelings, and facts (1 Cor 2)? Will you also reject the move of God and perish (Acts 13:41)? Or, humble yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding and live as a world-changer?

1. Men who were powerfully used were those who were confident that they can do nothing except through the anointing of the Spirit and Power of God.
2. Every revivalist had an incredible hunger and thirst for the Word of God and His presence.
3. The wales revival was founded on these four points: 1. Confess all known sin 2. Search out all secret and doubtful things 3. Confess the Lord Jesus openly 4. Pledge your word that you will fully obey the spirit
4. It is better to wear out for Jesus Christ than to rust out without Him.
5. Every believer baptized in the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts spoke in other tongues!
6. Most revivalists had contrary relationships because they were anchored in their own doctrines, and not upon the continuous guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Charles F Parham vs William Seymour and William Seymour vs William H. Durham)
7. The preachers were so used to the revival that they started believing as if it is through their own cause. Later the move of God turned into a religion. To prevent falling into the trap of this, I must continually pursue the presence of God and keep hearing His voice.
8. During the revival, persecution would start from within the Christian community itself because God does not move in a way they have thought of. I try to limit God in the small box of my understanding and doctrine.
9. The utmost will of God is that we are found faithful to His plan. Faithfulness will always endure the conflict that comes to challenge it.
10. John Wesley believed in strong prayer, holiness, divine healing, and that there should be no discrimination in Jesus Christ.
11. God is looking for a willing vessel. He is not looking for those who brag of their status, degree and experience.
12. You cannot win people by preaching against their church or pastor…if you get to preaching against churches, you will find that the sweet Spirit of Christ is lacking and a harsh judging spirit takes place.
13. Most revivals were crippled due to the lack of a clear understanding of the word of God. For eg: William Seymour preached that even a single sin could lead him to hell, while William H. Durham preached that salvation is not by works alone, but by faith with works involved. This led to a conflict between Seymour and Durham, which was the major reason why Azusa Street Revival culminated.
14. God won’t allow His glory to fall prey to the arguments of men. If that should happen, He leaves-end of discussion.
15. If there was ever a man who walked in the revelation of “God in man”, it was John G. Lake. A man of purpose, vision, strength, and character, his one goal in life was to bring the fullness of God to every person. He had 1,00,000 medically verified healings! During his time, his city was counted as the healthiest city in the world.
16. The secret of heaven’s power was not in doing but in the being.
17. As we grow in life, we are invited to become aware of God’s calling for ourselves. But just being “aware” of God’s calling doesn’t mean it is “the time” for that call to be launched into the earth. Divine timing must come before full-time ministry can begin. So don’t be discouraged during your time of preparation. And don’t compare your call with the call of others. Each call has its own timing and plan. Your faithfulness to the Word of God, along with fervent spiritual preparation determines the timing.
18. Strive for Pentecost. Contend for it. Pray for it. For this, and this alone, will meet the necessity of the human heart, and this alone will have the power to overcome the forces of darkness.
19. Acts 10:38 was the turning point in the lives of many reformers and revivalists.
20. We must determine to hold fast to the Word of God and fight for what is ours in the Earth.
21. God’s angels can help, but the war for our destiny is a personal responsibility that we must win.
22. Do not ever make any decisions in ministry except you receive a distinct leading from the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you are deemed to fail. (Eg. Apostle Downie running for parliament and later being destroyed, Evan Roberts destroyed by the partnership with a foreign lady).
23. Never attempt to display the power of God for personal benefit or out of hurt and emotional wounds.
24. The greatest snares of a leader are not in the area of persecution but in success and power.
25. We must never think we’ve “made it” and begin to dictate our personal power as a result of God-given success. Success brings a multitude of avenues and ventures. If we get caught up in the vast selections that come from success and fail to develop our spiritual tenacity, we can fall victim to the “whirlwind”.
26. We must remain with the original, anointed plan of God for our lives and allow Him to open the avenues to administrate it. Never sway away from what God has commanded you to do on the earth.
27. God knows the heart of your family and what it will take to move them to the place they belong to. Just keep your own heart right and leave others to God and the Holy Spirit. That way, you will never lose.

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