THE HOLY SPIRIT

FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

Since the Holy Spirit is the author of conviction and salvation of men, we must be full of the Holy Spirit at all times and be obedient to Him and operate  in the gifts of the Spirits like Philip the layman did.   It is to be noted that Philip never read any of Paul writings but he had a very successful ministry! 

Acts 8:
4    Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
5    Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
6    And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7    For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
8    And there was great joy in that city.

26    Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert.
27    So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28    was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29    Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot."
30    So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
31    And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
32    The place in the Scripture which he read was this: " He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
33    In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."
34    So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?"
35    Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
36    Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"
37    Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
38    So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
39    Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
40    But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

NO DISTRACTIONS, PLEASE :

Mark 4:16, "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;"

The second type of person Jesus describes is one who does receive the Word, even with great joy, but his commitment to the Word is shallow. Just as a plant must establish a strong root system to sustain its growth, so we must become rooted and grounded in God's Word. Too much attention on visible growth will cause us to become impatient and not take the time to become firmly established in the truths of God's Word. This will always result in fruitlessness.

A seed planted in shallow earth will germinate and grow faster than a seed planted in deep soil. The seed in deep soil will put all of its energy towards the roots first while the seed in shallow soil has no choice but to put its effort into the growth of the plant above the ground. The plant in shallow soil will look like it is far ahead of the other seed for a while, but that will not last. It soon withers and dies, while the seed with roots grows and brings forth fruit.

Notice that afflictions, persecutions, and tribulations are instruments of the devil and are used to stop God's Word from bearing fruit in our lives. They are not good things that God brings our way to improve us. They are instruments of Satan. These things are designed to take our attention off of God's Word, thereby stopping the Word from taking root in us. It's like the runner who spends all of his time in the grandstands arguing with the hecklers over the way he's running the race. He may win an argument, but he will lose the race. We must not let anything distract us from meditating on God's Word day and night, for only then will we make our way prosperous and have good success (Josh. 1:8). By consistently putting God's Word in first place in every area of your life, you will let that Word become so rooted in you that nothing can get it out.

ALL THAT JESUS IS BEFORE GOD, YOU ARE :

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 - For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

When an Israelite brings an animal as his sin offering, he lays his hand on it before killing it. (Leviticus 4:1–4) By laying his hand on the sin offering, his sins are transferred to the innocent animal. The animal dies for his sins and he goes free.

In contrast, during the burnt offering, when the Israelite lays his hand on the animal (Leviticus 1:3–4), the beauty, worthiness and acceptance of the unblemished animal are transferred to him. God accepts the perfection of the animal sacrifice on his behalf to make atonement for him. Because God accepts the unblemished burnt offering, the offerer now has right standing before God.

Do you know that the two offerings speak of Jesus’ one offering of Himself when He hung on the cross? He is both our sin offering and burnt offering—“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us [as our sin offering], that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [as our burnt offering]”. The moment you put your faith in Him, just by His one sacrifice, your sins were transferred to Him, and His righteousness was transferred to you. That is the grace of God toward you!

As our sin offering, He offered Himself once and for all. (Romans 6:10) The sin offering was never a daily offering because God does not want His people to be sin-conscious. However, the burnt offering was both a morning and evening sacrifice (2 Chronicles 13:11) because God wants His people to be righteousness-conscious.

Beloved, God wants you to lay claim daily to Jesus as your burnt offering and say, “Father, I thank You that Jesus is my burnt offering. All that Jesus is before You—His righteousness, excellence, beauty and perfection—has been transferred to me. Jesus has Your unclouded favor, so I enjoy Your unclouded favor in my life. Jesus is the righteousness of God, so I am the righteousness of God in Christ. As He is before You, so am I.”

Because Jesus became your burnt offering, what He is to the Father today, you are! That is what it means to be in Christ.

LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” —Galatians 5:14

Growing up in the US, I always thought it interesting that in some countries motorists drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. Then, when I was in England, I heard a London tour guide explain one possible reason for this law: “In the 1800s, pedestrians as well as horse-and-carriages used the same roads. When a carriage was on the right side of the road, a driver’s horse whip would sometimes hit a passerby. To remove this hazard, a law was passed requiring all carriages to travel on the left side of the road so the pedestrians could be kept safe.”

Just as the rules of the road are for our benefit and protection, so are God’s commands. Because He loves us, He has given them to us for our benefit. Paul writes: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13-14).

As we apply God’s Word to our hearts, let’s keep in mind that the God of grace has given us His guidelines to help us grow in our love for Him and our concern for others.

Thy Word is everlasting truth;
How pure is every page!
That Holy Book shall guide our youth
And well support our age.

The Bible has treasures of wisdom to mine.

FEED ON THE WORD!

Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. – Proverbs 4:20-21

Once you've made the Word of God final authority in your life, your first step to victory over the attacks of the enemy is to go to the Word and lay hold of God's promises concerning your situation.

Notice I said, "Go to the Word." It's good to have the Word committed to memory. But don't let that substitute for getting the Word before your eyes on a daily basis.
Think about it this way. It never did a hungry person any good to think about what a potato tastes like. Not even if he can remember it perfectly. The same thing is true with the Word of God. It's important to keep it in memory, but it's also necessary to go directly to it and feed your spirit with it. There is power in keeping the Word in front of your eyes and going into your ears. That's how it gets in your heart, so you can live by it.

So don't just think about the Word today, read it. Go to the promises that cover your situation. Feed on those promises and grow strong!

INSTRUMENT RATED (4) :

'...In this world you will have trouble...' John 16:33 NIV

Instrument rated for trouble. Pastors and counsellors constantly 'pick up the pieces' of the broken lives of those who thought trouble would never come their way, so they didn't prepare for it. Paul wrote, 'We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed...' (2 Corinthians 4:8 KJV) Believers live in the same world as non-believers, but they handle it differently. That's because they have a different source, a different strategy, and a different spirit. God's promise is: 'He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.' (Psalm 91:15 NKJV)

Some people dwell only on troubles. Others dwell only on deliverance. The secret of victory is in accepting that trouble will come, but knowing you're instrument rated to get through it because you've taken the time and training required to handle it scripturally. People say, 'If only I'd known this was going to happen, I'd have been ready for it.' It's foolish to go looking for trouble, but it's even more foolish not to be prepared for it. A wife hears her husband say, 'I'm in love with someone else.' A call comes from the police telling you that your son has been caught in a drugs bust. Your tearful teenage daughter tells you she's pregnant.

Get ready for trouble, because trouble is getting ready for you! In such times the instrument rated believer turns to their unfailing source: God's Word. 'He shall deliver you in six troubles: yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine (recession) He shall (deliver) you... You shall laugh at destruction...' (Job 5:19-22 NKJV)

GOD IS A PRACTICAL GOD

MATTHEW 6:31–32 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Our God is a practical God, who is interested in providing for our practical daily needs. Just take a look at Jesus throughout the four Gospel accounts.

To those who were hungry, He provided food by multiplying the loaves and fish. To the fishermen who toiled all night and caught nothing, He gave them more than a boatload of fish. Jesus didn’t stop there—whoever encountered Him received from Him what they lacked. He healed the broken hearted and gave sight to the blind. The sick who came to Him were all healed. Even the dead received His resurrection life!

My friend, Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever! He is still providing. So whatever you need today, whether it is wisdom, favor, healing or divine strength, go to Him. He is a practical God who is interested in every area of your life, and who is more than willing to supply your need!