The link below is for “Our Daily Bread”… http://odb.org/2012/06/11/a-circle-of-friends/
The link below is for the Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie… http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
John 8:32… “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)
Yesterday, I wrote about how the Christian can become absolutely filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit… A Spirit filled Christian is a Christian who has allowed the Lord to take absolute total control of their life by the Holy Spirit… They have given up trying to control their own life…and have totally submitted (as best as humanly possible)…to the leading of the Holy Spirit with-in them… Here is the writing for yesterday, for those who want to catch up on how this most desired of human conditions can be obtained…
The Christian is indwelled by the Holy Spirit at the moment they are forgiven of their lifetime of sins; and God has accepted them into His family as a new creature in Christ…2 Corinthians 5:17-18… Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, (NKJV)
This can only be accomplished when a person understands they are a sinner who can in no way save themselves…and they seek Jesus Christ to become their personal Lord and Savior…(understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ – see the attachment above)
I remember this glorious day just over 10 years ago, when I was received into God’s family as a Christian… Indeed old sins passed away; and praise the Lord…Satan has not been able to temp me with these sins of the world for just over 10 years now… But alas, I still somehow let my flesh take back control of my life… Just over 3 years ago, I prayed to the Lord, and re-submitted control of my life back to Him, to become Spirit filled once again…
There is a major difference between being a Christian, and being a Spirit filled Christian… Remaining Spirit filled requires constant attention to what the Holy Spirit is telling me…and immediate action, to confess and repent of any sins that I now make… It is a minute by minute (if need be) responsibility to remain filled with the Spirit…and as I so often note, this re-alignment to God’s will and God’s ways, can only be accomplished in my life by my version of prayer to the Lord of this following scripture written by the apostle John…
1 John 1:9… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NKJV)
The apostle Paul was instructing the people from the church of Ephesus, when he wrote this following scripture… He was telling them that they had to re-submit their life to Christ, just as I did…Ephesians 5:18-20… And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (NKJV)
This condition of being Spirit filled is absolutely impossible to explain with words on a page… Today, I am going to use life events from the world, to try and explain how I feel as a Spirit filled Christian… Can you imagine winning that big $656 million lottery, back on March 31, 2012 ?? Being Spirit filled for me, would blow away winning all this money… There would be no comparison of exuberance when compared to the joy and the peace that being filled with the Holy Spirit has brought into my life…
And how about that first kiss you made when you were younger; and fireworks went off in your mind telling you that this just might be the person you were going to marry ?? For me, this is not even remotely close to being filled with the Holy Spirit…
And then there is Martin Luther King’s memorable “I Have a Dream” speech”, he made back on August 28, 1963… You can hear his passion in this speech, with his dream that the entire world would love one another (no matter the color of their skin or their race), just as God loves us… This is indeed one of my heart felt desires… You can listen to a recording of the last part of his passionate speech, by clicking on this link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1zxq0TCjIg&feature=related
Indeed, if Martin Luther King’s dream came true…we would all be free to love each other without hate or prejudice… And yet his passion you can hear in his voice…is nothing to how I feel because of God’s gracious gift of the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit in my life…
The freedom Jesus is talking about in the opening scripture…is the freedom from Satan’s attacks… Its freedom from all the sins of fear, anxiety, greed, lust, envy, worries…and any other sins that Satan is capable of tempting us with… These sins are conquered, when a sinner is welcomed into God’s family as a Christian… And they will only remain a thing of the past, if the Christian remains Spirit filled, by allowing the Holy Spirit to remain in complete control… This absolute control of one’s life by the Holy Spirit is the only way we can have the joy and the supernatural peace the apostle Paul writes about in this scripture…Philippians 4:7… And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (NKJV) This peace goes beyond what our mortal minds can comprehend…
eavenly Father, I pray that today’s Word will be used by You to draw those less than Spirit filled people, who are in all stages of spiritual growth, closer to Yourself… Help us to be set free, like Jesus speaks about in the opening scripture… Help us Lord…to know and accept the truth from Your Word… And then help us Lord, to live lives that will be pleasing in Your site… I pray for this fullness of the Holy Spirit for all of our lives…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
God's group 