How do you stay filled with the Spirit?

[Ferris Bueller]

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18

How does a Christian stay filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit?

 

[dev553344]

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18

How does a Christian stay filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit?

This is easy. But it took me years to find out. The Holy Spirit fills us when we serve God and his children and when we witness of the Savior and God and his good works.

Mostly service is for the poor, sick and in jail. Some churches have service projects where you can get filled with the spirit also. Sometimes people need a project to do and church can provide that.

Or you can go out with people proclaiming the region of Christianity and bring people unto Christ. Cheers.

 

[Heart2Soul]

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18

How does a Christian stay filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit?

Daily crucify the flesh and it will submit to the Spirit....the flesh wars against the Spirit continually....
Put on your daily armor...the enemy is constantly shooting arrows at your faith in God.
Pray without ceasing...our prayers are received in heaven and God is always listening and answering..
Let your heart be filled with the fruits of the Spirit....it is nourishment for your spirit and blesses others.
Study the Word and shew yourself approved .....knowledge is power.
The end.

 

[dev553344]

I should also point out enemies of the spirit which cause the spirit to withdrawal. That is being filled with lusts, hatred and being contentious to name a few. I'm sure there are others but those are the things that I had to avoid in my life. It's a daily struggle for me, but I'm doing much better than my pre-Christian self.

 

[farouk]

Daily crucify the flesh and it will submit to the Spirit....the flesh wars against the Spirit continually....
Put on your daily armor...the enemy is constantly shooting arrows at your faith in God.
Pray without ceasing...our prayers are received in heaven and God is always listening and answering..
Let your heart be filled with the fruits of the Spirit....it is nourishment for your spirit and blesses others.
Study the Word and shew yourself approved .....knowledge is power.
The end.

@Heart2Soul The Galatians 5 'fruit of the Spirit' passage is also relevant.

 

[BloodBought 1953]

Daily crucify the flesh and it will submit to the Spirit....the flesh wars against the Spirit continually....
Put on your daily armor...the enemy is constantly shooting arrows at your faith in God.
Pray without ceasing...our prayers are received in heaven and God is always listening and answering..
Let your heart be filled with the fruits of the Spirit....it is nourishment for your spirit and blesses others.
Study the Word and shew yourself approved .....knowledge is power.
The end.

I think that another Positive thing that Believers can do is to go beyond seeing the Bible as just a Book Of Rules ( do do this and don't do that! ) and start seeing it also as a Book full of Amazing Promises Given to us from God.....

Life is Full of problems and challenges......Paul said the Righteous shall * LIVE* by Faith.....Faith is ACTING on the Promises Of God......There is a Promise Of God to be found in His Word that will cover any and all of the problems that one will encounter in this life....there are many little booklets available that list the many Promises that the People Of Faith can use it help them in their times of need....a simple Google Search can also find lists of these Promises. Believe these Promises.....Act on them....stretch your Faith Muscles and watch how God will bless you for it....He longs to show you that He can be trusted to do all of the things He pledges to do for you—- IF you have Faith......

For example, if you are in bad health, we have a Promise that reminds us “ I am the Lord that healith thee”.......

Are you experiencing difficult financial times? “ I will provide for all of your needs...”

Feeling guilt and fear because once again you “ blew it” when you “ stumbled” in your Walk with Jesus ? “ There is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who belong to Christ Jesus...”

I think you get the picture.....I found out a long time ago that I can’t be perfect.....and “Trying” to be perfect only reinforces the fact that the previous statement is true.....So perhaps we should concentrate on something that we “ CAN” do ! Practice Faith! The next time you have a problem , find a Promise Of God and muster up the courage and Trust that it takes to Believe it and hang on to that Promise even if you are hanging from the very tips of your fingernails......

God is Perfect.His Angels are Perfect.God is Surrounded by Perfection.God is not looking for Perfection out of His Children just like we can’t demand Perfection from our own Children....God does not want any of us to Sin, but let's face it—-If we “ DO” sin , our Sins are covered by the Shed Blood Of Jesus ....How ‘ bout we concentrate on doing something we CAN do even though it is extremely hard to do at times—- you are going to find that it pleases our Heavenly Father a bunch—- Trust in His Promises .....That is what Faith is , and the Just “ shall LIVE by Faith.” Watch how God will REALLY enrich His Spirit in you if you give Him what He wants —- TRUST ! Give Him THAT and He will give you His Spirit and with that Spirit , you will FIND YOURSELF doing all those “ dos and don’ts” That some of you guys sweat about all of the time.....

“The man who finds life will find it by Trusting God”......Obedience is great, but it will not always bring about Trust.Trust God First and watch Obedience Follow—-Naturally.....

 

[Heart2Soul]

I think that another Positive thing that Believers can do is to go beyond seeing the Bible as just a Book Of Rules ( do do this and don't do that! ) and start seeing it also as a Book full of Amazing Promises Given to us from God.....

Life is Full of problems and challenges......Paul said the Righteous shall * LIVE* by Faith.....Faith is ACTING on the Promises Of God......There is a Promise Of God to be found in His Word that will cover any and all of the problems that one will encounter in this life....there are many little booklets available that list the many Promises that the People Of Faith can use it help them in their times of need....a simple Google Search can also find lists of these Promises. Believe these Promises.....Act on them....stretch your Faith Muscles and watch how God will bless you for it....He longs to show you that He can be trusted to do all of the things He pledges to do for you—- IF you have Faith......

For example, if you are in bad health, we have a Promise that reminds us “ I am the Lord that healith thee”.......

Are you experiencing difficult financial times? “ I will provide for all of your needs...”

Feeling guilt and fear because once again you “ blew it” when you “ stumbled” in your Walk with Jesus ? “ There is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who belong to Christ Jesus...”

I think you get the picture.....I found out a long time ago that I can’t be perfect.....and “Trying” to be perfect only reinforces the fact that the previous statement is true.....So perhaps we should concentrate on something that we “ CAN” do ! Practice Faith! The next time you have a problem , find a Promise Of God and muster up the courage and Trust that it takes to Believe it and hang on to that Promise even if you are hanging from the very tips of your fingernails......

God is Perfect.His Angels are Perfect.God is Surrounded by Perfection.God is not looking for Perfection out of His Children just like we can’t demand Perfection from our own Children....God does not want any of us to Sin, but let's face it—-If we “ DO” sin , our Sins are covered by the Shed Blood Of Jesus ....How ‘ bout we concentrate on doing something we CAN do even though it is extremely hard to do at times—- you are going to find that it pleases our Heavenly Father a bunch—- Trust in His Promises .....That is what Faith is , and the Just “ shall LIVE by Faith.” Watch how God will REALLY enrich His Spirit in you if you give Him what He wants —- TRUST ! Give Him THAT and He will give you His Spirit and with that Spirit , you will FIND YOURSELF doing all those “ dos and don’ts” That some of you guys sweat about all of the time.....

“The man who finds life will find it by Trusting God”......Obedience is great, but it will not always bring about Trust.Trust God First and watch Obedience Follow—-Naturally.....

Amen! There is so much wisdom and knowledge in what you shared! Thank you for sharing.

 

[farouk]

Amen! There is so much wisdom and knowledge in what you shared! Thank you for sharing.

@Heart2Soul Instead of deadening legalism, Romans 14.17 applies:

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

 

[Heart2Soul]

@Heart2Soul Instead of deadening legalism, Romans 14.17 applies:

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

So true and what Jesus said in Matthew is very revealing...
Matthew 15 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
…
¹⁶ And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
¹⁷ Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
²⁰ These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

 

[Heart2Soul]

And in Mark.
Mark 7 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁵ There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
¹⁶ If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

Sorry I was thinking I was on the other thread...Is Drinking a Sin

 

[farouk]

So true and what Jesus said in Matthew is very revealing...
Matthew 15 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
…
¹⁶ And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
¹⁷ Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
²⁰ These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Hi @Heart2Soul You said this a while ago about tattoos:

I was reading and studying about what defiles a man....the temple of the Holy Spirit....it isn't what goes in a man's mouth that defiles him, (nor on his skin which is not even mentioned) but what comes out of his mouth for it reveals his heart.

I can see how legalists would have trouble with this...

 

[michaelvpardo]

Well, you definitely can't be full of yourself and full of the Holy Spirit at the same time, so humbling yourself helps, but scripture tells us to pray for the Holy Spirit. While that could mean just the one time for salvation, I actually think it's necessary all the time ( for ministry.)

In my experience, prayer for His Spirit before preaching the word has always made my preaching effective and the neglect of such prayer made my preaching more "lifeless" or ineffective. I've participated in a lot of different ministries with "coworkers " in Christ and prayer beforehand for God's leading and for God's glory also proved effective in empowering ministry and avoiding disagreements and conflict between the ministry members, which was occasionally evident when such prayer was overlooked or forgotten. Earnest prayer puts a believer in God's presence mentally (God is always with us but we aren't always conscious of His presence) and the awareness of His presence usually humbles us and tends to mortify the flesh.

Its relatively easy for me to get angry with someone and respond in an evil way. That's in our nature, but it's much harder to respond to someone in an evil way if you're mindful to pray for those that offend you before responding to them. Prayer is key to everything we do as Christians, but being in a state of constant prayer, (or in constant awareness of God's presence) is no little task, especially when life isn't pleasing to us and we prefer our own will to God's.

I think we all want to be "philadelphians," but the reality of the church in the "western" nations is that we live in wealth, abundance, and relative luxury for the most part, and those that don't have everything they need can usually get it from the government rather than from reliance on God.
When Cyrus permitted the Jews to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, not everyone left.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

m THAT and He will give you His Spirit and with that Spirit , you will FIND YOURSELF doing all those “ dos and don’ts” That some of you guys sweat about all of the time.

It would be a mistake to think that trusting God means you will never have to sweat in your struggle with sin at some time in your life. Paul even talks about resisting sin to the point of shedding your blood.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Hebrews 12:4​

Growing up into righteous living isn't always the cake walk Progressive Christianity makes it out to be. This is a battle. Just because we trust God to win that battle doesn't mean you're not ever going to have to shed some blood, sweat, and tears in your struggle with sin. What it does mean is you will win.....if you hang in there and continue to rely on the Lord.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Well, you definitely can't be full of yourself and full of the Holy Spirit at the same time, so humbling yourself helps, but scripture tells us to pray for the Holy Spirit. While that could mean just the one time for salvation, I actually think it's necessary all the time ( for ministry.)

In my experience, prayer for His Spirit before preaching the word has always made my preaching effective and the neglect of such prayer made my preaching more "lifeless" or ineffective. I've participated in a lot of different ministries with "coworkers " in Christ and prayer beforehand for God's leading and for God's glory also proved effective in empowering ministry and avoiding disagreements and conflict between the ministry members, which was occasionally evident when such prayer was overlooked or forgotten. Earnest prayer puts a believer in God's presence mentally (God is always with us but we aren't always conscious of His presence) and the awareness of His presence usually humbles us and tends to mortify the flesh.

Its relatively easy for me to get angry with someone and respond in an evil way. That's in our nature, but it's much harder to respond to someone in an evil way if you're mindful to pray for those that offend you before responding to them. Prayer is key to everything we do as Christians, but being in a state of constant prayer, (or in constant awareness of God's presence) is no little task, especially when life isn't pleasing to us and we prefer our own will to God's.

I think we all want to be "philadelphians," but the reality of the church in the "western" nations is that we live in wealth, abundance, and relative luxury for the most part, and those that don't have everything they need can usually get it from the government rather than from reliance on God.
When Cyrus permitted the Jews to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, not everyone left.

Sometimes it feels like our prayers don't get past the ceiling in the room. The theme of Psalms seems to be 'waiting on the Lord'. It can be really miserable waiting for the joy and love of the Spirit to flood your soul again. It seems to be part of God's ways. I don't like it, but that's just the way it is. Paul talks about enduring those times where we must walk in the narrow space of discipline the Lord has marked out for us, remembering that He is treating us as sons, and for the very fact that we are sons.

Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Hebrews 12:7-8
​

 

[ReChoired]

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18

How does a Christian stay filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit?

Stay in the word of God:

Joh_6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

I can see how legalists would have trouble with this...

The mistake Progressive Christianity makes is thinking Christians don't have to do what the legalist says you must not do. Legalism gets used as an excuse to do what ought not to be done, and to not do what ought to be done. Even Jesus said to do what the Pharisees said to do......

So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. Matthew 23:3​

The problem is legalists are hypocrites, not that they are demanding Christians do things they're supposed to do. The problem with the legalist is their hypocrisy, not their defense of righteous living.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Stay in the word of God:

Joh_6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The forums keeps me in the word. Even though I'm the only one that gets anything out of what I post here, lol, and I'm largely just wasting my time here in that regard, reading people's posts gets my mind thinking and meditating on the word and I get edified.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

When Cyrus permitted the Jews to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, not everyone left.

Which is why I think that a person coming back shows them to be a true believer. But it seems many Christians think whether or not you leave is what shows that.

 

[Wynona]

I think the first thing is to make up in your mind that you want God's Spirit at all times.

No separating spiritual and "secular" times. Just wholeness in Jesus. Then you get more victory over sin, as you walk into a life of righteousness.

Keep seeking the Lord, and be prepared to witness the gospel. Worship Him and praise His name.

 

[marks]

I think the first thing is to make up in your mind that you want God's Spirit at all times.

No separating spiritual and "secular" times. Just wholeness in Jesus. Then you get more victory over sin, as you walk into a life of righteousness.

Keep seeking the Lord, and be prepared to witness the gospel. Worship Him and praise His name.

Yes, Amen!!

We are dead unto sin and alive unto God . . . whether we feel like it or not. Those who are born again have died and now live, and if you have this new life, that's how we live! Unto God. Before Him, in all respects, at all times, no hidden secrets, no secret motives, He knows everything, and before we do.

He knows who we will be in time to come, He knows what He's about to do in my life. I don't, but I know Him, and I know He has my very best care at His heart.

To embrace this truth, no matter what the circumstance of our lives, is transforming. We are accepted wholely in Christ, nothing from our selves. And Christ NEVER changes, but forever lives to intercede for us.

I've been focusing on Hebrews lately, refreshing these wonderful truths!

When we realize He loves us, receives us, His very Own children, in Christ, and we are alive unto Him, this liberates our faith to fully trust Him, and live in full liberty. Just as I am, without one plea, just that Thy blood was shed for me.

Much love!