Full of the Holy Spirit

"...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..."

(Acts 1:8)

The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.
- AW Tozer

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial function and role in our lives:

• regenerates us (John 3:5-8),
• guides us into all truth (John 16:13),
• leads us (Romans 8:14),
• fills us (Ephesians 5;18),
• dispenses God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5),
• teaches us to pray (Romans 8:26-27),
• gives us access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18),
• reminds us of our identity and bears witness in us that we are children of God (Romans 8:16),
• cries in our hearts “Abba Father” (Galatians 4:6),
• strengthens our spirits (Ephesians 3:16),
• brings liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17),
• gives us joy (1 Thessalonians 1:6),
• teaches us (1 Corinthians 2:13),
• reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Corinthians 2:10),
• comforts us (Acts 9:31),
• enables us to obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22),
• enables us to wait (Galatians 5:5),
• reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15) so that his experiences become our experiences.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is:

(1) A promise for all believers - John 1:29-34, Mark 1:8

(2) According to the Acts accounts; very normal! Everyone received in Acts. The qualification for receiving the baptism of the Spirit is: to be born again and to be a child of God. That’s it!

There’s no blueprint for how it happens; people’s experiences are often very different. There is no formula. But some results of baptism in the Spirit; (a) a desire for more of the Holy Spirit; (b) growing in the fruit of the Spirit; (c) power to overcome issues, power to witness, power to live the Christian life; (d) freedom, knowing liberty and joy in Christ; (e) opens the door to charismatic life and ignites the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12).

Full of the Holy Spirit

More resources and ideas;

• Check out the Holy Spirit course
• Read Receiving the Holy Spirit and His Gifts by Terry Virgo
• Bible reading guide about receiving the Holy Spirit (originally written for children, but still completely relevant for adults too!)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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