Have you ever been filled with the Holy Spirit? Most Christians have experienced the joy and peace that comes with being filled with the Spirit. Unfortunately, there is great misunderstanding by good people on this great and wonderful blessing, a gift from God! Our goal here is to perhaps add some understanding to this very important subject. This article is not intended to be a complete study, but we do hope to put some light on some very key points.

Did you know that Paul commanded us to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 5:17-21 "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. ¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." It appears that the filling of the Holy Spirit is by choice for the Christian. We must decide to obey God rather than our own sinful desires. The reward of this would be the song God puts in our heart. Paul uses the illustration of being drunk on wine to help us understand that to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be controlled by God, just as being drunk on wine is to be controlled by wine. In effect, we should be drunk with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:21 ^"For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  It is so important to be in God's Word, the Bible. This is key to being filled with the Holy Spirit! Keep in mind that Jesus, when tempted by Satan, Jesus would always respond with quoting the appropriate scripture verse. If you intend on doing God's will and being moved along by the Holy Spirit, knowing the word of God is key. Paul gave his validation of this very important point when he wrote a letter to Timothy. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Please note the word  "thoroughly" God wants you to be thoroughly prepared for doing His will. Reading and knowing your Bible is a great tool for making wise decisions in our daily life! Paul also wrote to the church in Colosse to encourage them to know the word of God Colossians 3:16 ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

Handle the Word of truth correctly! 2 Timonthy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." How very important it is to be correct in presenting the Word of God! As I work on this web site and present Bible principles for successful Christian living, it is so deep within my heart to be true to God in every word!!! I want God to be glorified on earth as He is in Heaven, amen!!! I get very bothered when I hear someone taking scripture out of context and using it to mislead others. My thought is that we should always present the Word of God in its purest form, always within the intended context. I find it hard to believe that anyone could be filled with the Holy Spirit when they are not accurately presenting the Word of God. If someone should ask you a Spiritual question and you do not know the answer, its best to tell them you simply do not know, but you do know where to find it, in the Bible. Questions like these can often lead you into a study that will be of great value to you and other people.

A few more important thoughts here. We should be humble and ask God to give us the humility needed for growing. Learning from other Christians is only possible when we accept the fact that we are growing children of the living God. To continue to grow, requires us accepting our position as children who need to continue learning. Show me a man who thinks he knows and I will show you someone who most likely doesn't know much. Confidence is great but can lead to arrogance, thus disqualifying you from being a student of the truth. Be confident in knowing that God wants us to grow in our knowledge of Him. Be sure that as you increase in Godly wisdom, you are looking more and more like Jesus Christ. So please, be humble and let the Lord teach you, through His Word and through those He has put in the church with the gift to teach.

There is so much to learn about this important subject, being filled with the Holy Spirit! I hope this short lesson has encouraged you to seek the Lord in a better understanding of this most important need.

Let me sum it up for you this way, simply and with humility say....

Holy Spirit, Here I am