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.