Lesson3-Day 1 The Sign of The Wind: Filling Us with His Life.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and
filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2
Doesn't this take on a powerful meaning or have greater significance to what is happening when we understand that the wind is the same word used for both breathe and soul. Life was actaully breathed into them.
This wind (Holy Spirit) is available and freely given to all who repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
This makes me crave and prayerfully seek God to fill FCC so that we may be alive in Him.
Father, I desire your breathe of life. Let the Holy Spirit loose in my life and allow me to be cognoscente of Him. And then to act in faithful obedience to His promptings. I give myself to you Lord. Make me alive for you.
posted by Bill @ 10:14 AM
2 Comments:
Bill, what do you think of the question in this lesson on page 32? "The Holy Spirit can be present in us, but not filling us with his power. What did Paul teach in Ephesians 5:18?"
I've been thinking about this question for the past few days. Because of a concern of being too over the top like the pentecostal charasmatics (speaking in tongue stuff) I've realized that my default daily M.O. is based on a false belief that once your filled with the Holy Spirit, your filled (completely).
According to Paul in Eph 5:18, by his use of the present tense, the filling of the Holy Spirit is a repeatable thing and should be sought over and over. The key lesson here for me is that there is much more room for the Holy Spirit than I've been living by.
Pat, I looked up the word "filled" in the concordance. It is the greek word 'pelroo' with this definition: to fulfill, make full; to be filled, full complete. It also said the word is often used with reference to the fullfilment of the OT Scriptures. Note as reference that the same word is used earlier in Ephesians 3:19.
My personal belief is that once the Spirit is given to you he does not leave and therefore you don't need to be filled again. I do believe though that we can quench and grieve the Spirit thereby rendering His work powerless in and through us. We then must repent of the sin to receive the empowerment. Is that being "filled" again?
If it is a "gift" as Peter tells us in Acts 2:38 then how can it be taken away? If I give a gift (Flywheel toy) to Reed (my son) and he misuses it as part of discipline I may take the toy away from him for a time period. When I return it to him am I giving it back or am I returning the toy to the rightful owner?
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