Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday May 19th 2021

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

There are many misconceptions surrounding the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that have circulated from the earthly ministry of Christ right up until today. There are some that believe that being filled with the Holy Spirit is evidenced by some spiritual gift bestowed on one by God, and their exercise of that gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 as well as the complete thesis of the entirety of God’s Holy Word, with no ambiguity, tells us that neither our salvation or our sanctification is through any good works or deeds we might carry out. There are some out there that think that the filling of the Holy Spirit is dependent on the dynamics of a particular church service. You might hear from some people say: that service yesterday was great, and we were really filled with the Holy Spirit. While others might say that I did not feel the Holy Spirit in the worship service this morning. The filling or indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not dependent on any outside force or event, we either have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or we do not. Consequently, the only feeling of the Holy Spirit one can experience is through the personal indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, if one does not feel the Holy Spirit in some church service it is because the Holy Spirit did not come with them. The Holy Spirit does not dwell in the Church building, He dwells in the hearts, spirits, and souls of God’s people (Luke 1:41; Acts 11:24; Acts 9:17).

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 makes it very clear that our bodies are a temple of God. God once dwelled in the brick-and-mortar Temple but when Jesus breathed His last breath on the Cross of Calvary the veil that covered the Holy of Holies, where God met with the people, was torn down (Matthew 27:50-51). From that point forward God’s Holy Spirit would be indwelling in the hearts and souls of His followers and believers.

We can grieve the Holy Spirit that indwells in our hearts and souls by giving in to Satan’s temptation and following our fleshly desires (Ephesians 4:30-31; Galatians 5:16). When this happens, we do not lose the indwelling of the Holy Spirit no more than we can lose our salvation. However, this fleshly living can cause our desire to walk by the Spirit to diminish, which will lead to not feeling the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as strong as if we were totally surrendered to Christ Jesus and His calling on our lives.

The bottom line, where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, is that once we have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we will never lose that. The truth is the filling of God’s Holy Spirit is completely dependent on our surrender to Christ Jesus and His Gospel and no good works or deed that we might do. If you want to feel the Holy Spirit to its fullness, then turn your back on the desire for fame and fortune that the world offers and turn your life, mind, body, heart, spirit, and soul to Christ Jesus. As the old hymn by Helen Lemmel states: “Turn your eyes on Jesus and the things of this world will grow strangely dim.” Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

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