“Our Daily Bread”   http://odb.org/2012/08/16/plugged-in/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                 http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

1 Peter 5:8… Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  (NKJV)

I have spent the last 2 days on a study using my own life experience, and backing it up with God’s Word…to try and figure out why some Christians can be “filled to overflowing” with the Holy Spirit; while other Christians never seem to be Spirit filled, as they are commanded to be by the apostle Paul, in…Ephesians 5:18-20…

I use a word picture for the Holy Spirit, of “living water”…overflowing out of some Christians like a fountain…because these Christians are so totally committed and “on fire” for their Lord, that they just can’t help but share their own testimony and/or the “good news” of the gospel of Christ with the lost and dying world around them…

Here is scripture spoken by Jesus, giving us His word picture of the Spirit filled Christian, in… John 7:38… “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  (NKJV) 

Here is a link for the past 2 days writing, for those who want to get on board to learning about what God first requires for the sinner to become a Christian in His eyes; and then discussion on multiple levels of spiritual maturity…and how the Christian can reach their pinnacle in God’s eyes, as their heart, mind, soul, and body (their clay vessel, as I am calling it), are filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit…    https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=343&action=edit

The brand new Christian, is filled with the Holy Spirit by God…at the moment they are graced with salvation; after understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (see yesterdays writing)… I describe the new Christian as a clay vessel which has been sealed (from the inside) with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13 ), which God (in Jeremiah 2:13 ) and Jesus (in John 7:38), describe as “living water”…

The most critical time for the new believer (especially if they are in their teens, with all the pier pressure), is right after they are saved by God’s grace…  Satan will do everything he can to keep the new Christian from sharing their faith with anyone else… Satan has lost the battle when the new believer’s chains have been broken by God; but Satan will still do his best to keep them from expanding God’s kingdom, if they plant seeds that only God can grow into new Christians…Matthew 13:1-23… Here is the link for Jesus’ “parable of the soils” about how God’s Word (the gospel of Christ), is received…http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat13:1-23&version=NKJV

To help these new believers, the more mature Christians around them need to step in and disciple them about the importance of spending time in God’s Word…about finding a Bible believing and teaching church…and all the other steps that are needed for the young Christian to grow in their spiritual knowledge and their love for the Lord… This spiritual growth for the Christianis called sanctification, which is a life long process; and can only be accomplished if the Christian is fed by God’s Word (hopefully daily)…   Jesus tells us about this urgent need, in…Matthew 4:4…

Remaining filled with the Holy Spirit is impossible in the Christian’s own strength…  It is the supernatural power that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will give the Christian, that can help the Christian to ward off Satan and their own flesh’s attacks…Galatians 5:17…

Christians that are born from above (John 3:3), can never lose their salvation; because the Holy Spirit has been sealed into them for life…Ephesians 1:13…   But the moment a Christian sins…they are grieving the Holy Spirit…Ephesians 4:30…   At this point they become unrighteous in God’s eyes; and will remain so…until any and all sins are confessed and repented of…1 John 1:9…

Sins that are caused by Satan and his temptations will produce small cracks at first, in a Christian’s otherwise perfect vessel; right after being sealed with the Holy Spirit… As un-repented sins (from listening to Satan’s deceiving lies), pile up in the life of the new (or any) Christian, through larger and larger cracks in their vessel…and the sins of the flesh (which are internal) continue to override the leading of the Holy Spirit…control is being transferred from the Holy Spirit, back into the hands of the sinning Christian…

The control of the Christian by the Holy Spirit will decrease over time, as Satan and/or the Christian’s own flesh continue to dominate their lives… The cracks in their clay vessel will get larger, and the level of living water will decrease… (Note that this is not a loss of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 13:5-6)… It is a decrease in the level of control that the Holy Spirit has over the Christian’s life)…

Even the absolute best Christians, that say thy don’t have any real bad sins…will see their level of living water stagnate and even evaporate, as un-confessed small sins and their own flesh take possession of their vessel… Even confessing and repenting of sins, to again refill the Christian with the Holy Spirit (1 John 1:9), won’t have their level of living water stay at the top of their vessel for very long…as long as large cracks from constant sins and their own flesh, quickly lower the Christian’s level of living water…

Tomorrow, I will quote scripture God gives us, and my own testimony…to share how Satan can be stopped dead in his tracks… We can , as God’s children, be “filled to overflowing” with the Holy Spirit; with godly lives that will allow God to shower His obedient children with a supernatural peace (Philippians 4:6-7), and an abundance of joy (John 16:24)…that has to be experienced to be believed…

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will ignite a fire in the belly of all of Your children…as You urge them to conform to the image of Your Son…  I pray Lord, that “rivers of living water” will start to freely flow out of the hearts of all of Your children…as You take total control of their will and their ways… I pray for this sanctification in the lives of all of Your children, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen… 

written by bruce r mills