For any man to be
anything in the hands of God, He must be filled with the Holy
Spirit. This filling is dependent on how much of ourselves we release to Him to fill. Before
Jesus could begin His earthly ministry, He had to be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
Luke
4:1 (Amp)
“Then Jesus,
full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit”.
He
was full of the Holy Spirit and there was no space for any
other thing except God. He was controlled by the Holy Spirit at work in Him so
much so that He could do nothing on His own volition (desire, wish, will etc.)
without receiving clear instructions from Him. It was the Holy Spirit
that led Him into the wilderness. His sole purpose was to do the will of the
Father (John 5:19-20, John 17:4). Likewise, this is God’s expectation for us -
to be people who are full of the Holy Spirit and controlled by
Him; to have no other life but that found in Him. Before He left, He breathed on the disciples.
John
20:22
“And
when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the
Holy Ghost:”
Jesus
knew that for His disciples to fulfil His mandate of being witnesses, they
needed something more than just Him breathing on them. They needed to be endued
with power by the Holy Spirit. (Acts1:8). It was only then that they
could fulfil the purpose of God for their lives. When the Day of
Pentecost came (Acts 2:1-4), no one could hold them down. They were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and they received boldness to carry out the Lord’s
assignment, so much so that people testified of them to be followers of Christ.
Am
I full of the Holy Spirit?
- Am I controlled and led by the Holy Spirit?
- Is the singular purpose for my living to do the will and desires of
the Father?
- Am I seeing as the Lord sees, speaking as He speaks and obeying as
He obeys?
- Can people around me testify that I am a follower of Christ?
When
they were looking for men to assist with the work, they were not looking for
just any man. They looked for men FULL of the Holy
Spirit to commit the work to.
Acts
6:3, 5
3 Wherefore,
brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the
Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
5 And
the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man
full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and
Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.
Heaven’s
criteria in committing kingdom business unto any man is that they must be full of
the Holy Spirit as witnessed in the life of Stephen.
ATTRIBUTES
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF STEPHEN
(Acts
6:9 – End; Acts 7)
- No one was able to resist the wisdom and Spirit with which Stephen
spoke. (Acts
6:10, Luke 21:15)
- He stood bold to declare the total counsel of God. (Acts 4:20, 29,31)
- He was rooted and grounded in the Word of God. (Acts 7, John 12:49)
- He had a revelation of heaven.
Acts
7:55 (TLB)
“But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and
saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.”
- His affections were on things that were above and not earthly, i.e.
the things of this world. (Colossians 3:1-2)
- He did not consider his life as anything so far Christ was
glorified. (John
16:14)
- He readily forgave just as Jesus did on the cross. (Acts 7:60, Luke 23:34).
WHAT DOES IT
MEAN TO BE FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
It
means to be permeated (saturated, soaked, flooded), dominated (controlled,
ruled, led) by the Spirit (flesh no longer has dominion) and God’s Word has
full expression in a life.
The
Lord is still looking for men and women who are full of His Spirit to which He can
commit His very life and business.
Can you and I be counted amongst
those He can fill with
the fullness of His Spirit?
Ephesian 5:18 (TLB) ...”be
filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by him.”
To
be filled is a command and for us to experience this, there must be a
willingness to yield completely to the Lord so he can fill us. It is a yielding
of our intellect, body, time, talent, treasure, life and everything to His
control. It is death to self and an emptying of our very life so He can occupy
His rightful place in us, to teach, guide, lead and reveal His very life to us
so that we can live just as He did.
PRAYER:
- Lord, I thank You for Your love and for not leaving me as an orphan (comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless) (John 14:18 Amp). Thank You for the Holy Spirit our Comforter, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby. (John 14:26)
- Lord, I surrender my life totally to You afresh. Fill me with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 3:19)
- Lord, please, saturate, soak and flood my heart with Your Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18). Cause me to count my life as nothing. Help me to totally yield my all, so that it is You controlling and directing my very life.
- Lord, baptise me with the Spirit of wisdom that no man will be able to resist Your Word in my mouth. (Ephesians 1:17)
- Lord, help me to continually commit myself to the study of the Word and prayer. (Acts 6:4). Let my life be ruled and controlled by Your Word. I receive boldness to stand for the truth at all times. (Acts 4:20)
- Lord, cause me to be in constant communion with You so that I can see as You see, hear and know what You are saying each time, so that I can work and walk therein. (John 5:19)
- Let my life speak Jesus and reveal Jesus unto others. (Acts 4:13)
