Filled with the Holy Spirit … are you?  Acts 1 – 4.

**Please take two days to study and meditate on this Morning Briefing,

and look up the verses/resources and read them for yourself.  Learn…grow.

The more I think, the more I wonder; and the more I wonder, the more I seek answers to my wondering … okay, and also answers to questions others ask me!  The more I study, the more I realize there is to learn and know.  But I am convinced that the greatest way to understand God is to experience him for ourselves; otherwise, all learning about God is academic.  It is just head knowledge, book learnin’.    

Years ago someone said this to me:

         “God, I get.  Jesus, I think I get … but I don’t get the Holy Spirit.”

Let’s consider what we have seen thus far in the book of Acts:

~>Jesus said, ‘you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…’¹

~>And sure enough, ‘All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…’²

~>Moved by the first gospel sermon, the people asked, ‘what should we   do?’  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”³

~>Peter and John jailed for teaching about the risen Savior – were questioned the next day, “by what power or what name did you do this?”⁴  “Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit”⁵ … answered the rulers with boldness. 

~>And finally, when the believers gathered together and prayed together, God showed up!  Acts 4.31 cites, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” [emphases, italics, and bolding all mine]

What are we to make of this being filled with the Holy Spirit? 

   We must seek to understand and be desirous of it. 

   The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood Person

of the Trinity, and the most under-represented as well. 

Writing to Titus, Paul said, “When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.  He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.”⁶ Paul talks about new birth and new life coming to us via the Holy Spirit, and that the Spirit is poured out on us, which indicates an outpouring, a covering.  Let’s dig for more about this mysterious person of the Godhead.

The Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence within us when we place our faith in Jesus as the leader of our lives, acknowledging our desire and need for him, and repent of our sins.  We do not have the Holy Spirit in our lives without relationship with Jesus Christ; that’s where it all starts.  But then, think of it—the Holy Spirit enters your being and makes it his home.  Amazing!

The Holy Spirit is a person, he is God, and he is all about relationship with us-> ‘He dwells with us and will be in us.’⁷   ‘The Spirit is not just a flighty, whimsical spirit who comes and goes like the wind.  He is an eternal being.’⁸ While he is one third of the Trinity, he has his own mind, and distinct personality.  He prays for us-> “The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”⁹ 

     That’s right—the Holy Spirit goes before the Father

               on your behalf; he pleads your case.  

The Holy Spirit similarly interprets God to us¹⁰, which means that as we seek God’s guidance, for instance, it is the Holy Spirit’s function to impress on us the path to take. He leads, guides, convicts, comforts, and draws people to the heart of God.  I love the Holy Spirit. 

His works are ineffable in majesty, and innumerable in quantity. 

How can we even ponder what extends beyond the ages? 

What did he do before creation began? 

How great are the graces he showered on creation! 

What power will he wield in the age to come? 

He existed; He pre-existed; He co-existed with the Father and the Son before the ages.

Even if you can imagine anything beyond the ages, you will discover that the Spirit is even further beyond.”   St. Basil the Great, circa 355 A.D.

Check out this brief description by Jim Cymbala: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=W6P6GWNX

The Holy Spirit is vast and limitless.  He sees all things, knows all things, and is all-powerful.  In fact, he empowers us to do the things God calls us to do as well.  Do you want to see the power of the Holy Spirit come alive in your life?  Ask God to fill you anew with the Holy Spirit, to come and do a new thing in your life… and then, ask him to use you.  Be open, and listen; he will lead you to do something you could never accomplish in your own strength.   You will experience the great joy in having the Holy Spirit use you! 

Invite God to take you deeper.  You will never regret it.

^{1 – Acts 1.8    2 – Acts 2.4}

^{3 – Acts 2.38   4 – Acts 4.7}

^{5 – Acts 4.8     6 - Titus 3.4-6}

^{7 – John 14.17}

^{8 - Francis Chan, Forgotten God, Cook Publishing, 2009.}

^{9 - Romans 8.27    10– 1 Corinthians 2.13}