Friday, April 13, 2018

The Indwelling Holy Spirit


I have prayed and sang in worship many times these words, “Come Holy Spirit.” “Fill me (us) with Your presence.” “More power.” “More love.” These and similar phrases are very common in the Charismatic and Pentecostal realms of Christianity. The following may be hard for some to receive so read to the end and listen to the LORD. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says!”

Technically, the only time we should ask Holy Spirit to come into our life is when we are born again, which will happen automatically anyway. Luke 24:49 (Joel 2:28-19), 1 Corinthians 3:16, Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

So when Holy Spirit came into our life He did not come in percents; some get 30%, some get 60% and some get 100%. We all get filled by The Spirit of GOD 100% when we are born again. When it comes to salvation GOD is all in! So why do we feel the need for more of His presence or power or grace or whatever we feel lacking in?

A main point here is that The LORD GOD is One GOD AND He is Triune, The Father (Abba), The Son (Jesus Christ), The Spirit of GOD (Holy Spirit). He is everywhere at all times; all things exist in Him and for His good pleasure; He knows everything; He sees everything; there is nothing hidden from Him. BUT! He has given us a freewill and He will not (cannot due to His Righteousness) over ride our free will, we can only surrender our will to Him as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It is not Holy Spirit that we are lacking in it is something in us that is displacing Holy Spirit! We almost all become a Christian with some hidden compartments, some secret cupboards, someplace we have not opened to Holy Spirit and allowed Him to come and work in us and lead us in repentance, healing and deliverance. Sometimes we are not aware of them they are so deep and hidden. Therefore we feel lacking in what we see in the Bible and some other’s lives.
I know from experience that we seek healing and deliverance through prayer, counseling, retreats, discipleship, discipline and other means spiritual and natural. I have found that only through intense prayer and fasting that seeks only the presence of The LORD have I found more room in me for Holy Spirit to fill and operate. This is not always easy, most of us cannot take 3 to 5 days off and go some place where we will not be disturbed to fast and pray and seek GOD.
So in our regular lives around our full schedule we have to find time to be dedicated to seeking GOD; ask Holy Spirit to help and guide you in this quest and He will. I tried adding fasting to my routine by fasting Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and I was mostly successful for couple of months then I just sort of stopped. I restarted and was mostly successful for several months but there was no growth in my relationship with GOD. So going to The LORD I committed to fast as I felt led and to seek Him daily in my prayer and reading time and as I have done this He has been faithful to wake me early so that I can have more personal time with Him in prayer, reading, meditating and listening. Holy Spirit has been dealing with me and speaking with me daily and that is one reason I am writing and posting more. In my time with Him, He will give me a word or a thought or a scripture will speak to me in a way it has not in the past. I know that the new revelations that He is giving me are not new except to me. GOD is not giving me new or secret revelations of His Word or Kingdom that no one else has. Be very careful of this mindset, many a Christian has fallen into error from this type of thinking.

I’m going to give one example of GOD revealing something personal to me that I was not aware of. Sorry but to get the full picture it is kind of long.

In January of 2009 I was laid off from the best job I ever had in tasks and pay. I was not worried about finding a job I had never had a problem getting a job in 30 years. It was about time for me to get my hair cut as it was getting over my ears and to my collar, I decided and announced that I was not going to cut my hair until I got a job, thinking it would not be very long. But it was, I got my first job interview in November on 2009 and Charlene trimmed my hair. I did not get the job and I did not get another job interview until May of 2011, I got the job but by that time I liked having a ponytail and did not think of cutting my hair, in fact from time to time I would refer to my hair as the sign of my rebellion. That job lasted about 100 days and I got laid off by the new owners of the company. I got a temporary job in December of 2011 and started working fulltime in January of 2012. During this whole time I was in rebellion against GOD actually going back to 1997. In 2012 we started going to a small Church in El Cajon where we were now living and GOD started calling me to repentance and I started my climb out of the dark back into His Light. The LORD started to speak to me of my calling which is to teach. In 2015 I retired because my wife needed me to be home with her for health reasons and I enjoy retirement. I had repented to GOD and to my wife for my previous lifestyle but we have struggled relationally and financially. In the fall of 2017 as I was seeking GOD I was reading in Acts about the vows that Paul and others had taken and as I was meditating on this Holy Spirit revealed that I had made a vow and never fulfilled it. He told me I had made a vow to cut my hair after I got a job, in fact I had two jobs and had retired and not cut my hair. So I obeyed and told my wife what I was doing and we cut my hair. Our daughter cut off my ponytail, my wife cut my hair to about an inch long and I cut it to a butch. I’ve started growing my hair but I feel The LORD wants me to keep it to my pre 2009 style. The first time I went to Church after I cut my hair people commented and asked so I stood before the congregation and told the story of my vow. During our ministry time one of the women in our Church who has a prophetic gifting and ministry, literally crying told me that the LORD told her that this was the beginning of His restoring my wife and I to His purpose and call for us. And He is faithful as He has been doing His work in both of us along this path.
All this to say that it can be the smallest thing and we have to be humble and obedient to what Holy Spirit is telling us if we want to be filled as He wants to fill us.

Just a couple more scriptures about Holy Spirit:
The Kingdom of GOD is righteousness, peace and joy in Holy Spirit, Romans 14:17.
Life is in Holy Spirit, Romans 8:1-11.
Sonship is in Holy Spirit, Romans 8:12-17.
Holy Spirit tells us the things GOD has given us, 1 Corinthians 2:9-16.
Holy Spirit is the seal of our salvation, Ephesians 1:13-14.
Holy Spirit dwells in us, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 6:16, James 4:5.

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