6

AN INVITATION.

The apostle Peter calls for
                                
"times of refreshing from the Lord" (Acts 3:19).
Times of deep, personal, soul-searching.
                        
Times during which you reconnect with the Holy Spirit.

Times when--maybe for the first time in your whole Christian experience--you give the Holy Spirit a chance to gain access to

the control center of your life
where things happen and change occurs.

It's an open invitation. Will you give some thought to accepting it?

THE MENU WILL FEATURE FRUIT.

The conclusive evidence of your being filled with the Holy Spirit
is not the presence of one of the Spirit's gifts, such as tongues,
it is the production of the Spirit's fruit in your life.

Jesus said, "You shall know them by their fruit" (Mt. 7:20).

Consider the possibility that a young couple of identical skin pigmentation marry. Some time later, the young bride gives birth to a baby of a different color. Clearly they have a problem. The evidence is inescapable. She's been unfaithful to her bridegroom. She's been whoring with some other man and has born his seed.

You are part of the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7). He is your heavenly bridegroom.
                   When your life does not bear the fruit of his Spirit,
                   when your life gives evidence of some other kind of fruit,
the evidence is clear.
                   
You've been unfaithful to your bridegroom.
                   
You've been guilty of spiritual adultery.
                   
You've been disloyal to Jesus.

There is only one remedy. It's so old, it may be new to you. But, it's the only remedy there is.          "Repent, therefore, and turn again, that your sin may be blotted out,
        that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

Will you consider the remedy?

7

LET'S BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING.

There's a good deal to be said for the suggestion that every 2 or 3 years all those who claim to be Christian should forget what they "know" about the Holy Spirit and look at him again as if for the first time.

Many believers have a superficial knowledge of the third person of the Trinity. You may be one of them. While such casual familiarity with the Holy Spirit does not necessarily breed contempt, it has, in thousands of Christians, produced confusion, if not indifference.

You appear to be ready to give the Spirit an opportunity to touch you in a fresh way. If that's going to happen, you must do what I did.

Get acquainted with the person of the Holy Spirit Himself.

NOT THE GIFTS, BUT THE GIVER.

You may be fascinated with the gifts of the Spirit. And you should be. They are wonderful gifts. The Holy Spirit gives them to equip you for ministry.

However, right now
              
your primary concern should not be the gifts, but the Giver himself.

The bottom line evidence that you know the Giver--that you are directed and empowered by the Spirit himself--is not the possession of a particular gift (tongues, for example), but the production of a special kind of fruit:
     
"The fruit of the Spirit (which) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
        goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control" (Gal. 5:22-23).

This will begin to happen as you get squared away with what scripture says about the Holy Spirit's ministry to you, personally.

There are seven words which describe seven different facets
of the Spirit's ministry to you as a Christian.
These are highlighted in seven verses of scripture.

Each verse employs a different word to describe a different aspect of the Spirit's ministry.
Each word has its own weight and meaning.

A combination of these seven words
reveals the mind-blowing benefits available to you
through the person and work of the Holy Spirit in you.

8

THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The first of these seven verses is Acts 10:45--

"And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift (key word) of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles."

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he instructed his disciples to wait for
                 "the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4).

He had challenged them to
               
"go into all the world and preach the Gospel" (Mk. 16:15).
He knew they could not fulfill this Great Commission on their own.

So Jesus promised them
                                God would endue them with special power for the special taskto which they had been called (Acts 1:8).

Sure enough,
         
"when the day of Pentecost had come…they were all filled
          
with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4).

Then--to their amazement--as they began fulfilling their ministry to the world, they learned:

The gift of the Holy Spirit was not limited to Jewish Christians!

As they moved about and talked with Gentile Christians,
they discovered the gift of the Holy Spirit
had also been given to them (Acts 10:45; 11:17).

Thus was revealed a wonderful reality--

You don't need to be a special kind of Christian
to enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit.

9

POSSESSING YOUR INHERITANCE.

Like any gift, the Holy Spirit has to be acknowledged (key word) and appropriated (key word) to be fully enjoyed.

There is a difference, you see, between an inheritance and a possession.

The promised land was God's gift to the children of Israel. It was their inheritance.

Their possession was that part of their inheritance
they actually appropriated.
To their regret and loss they never did claim all God had promised!

In exactly the same way, God has given all believers the gift of the Holy Spirit. He is part of the salvation package.
             "Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit does not belong to him"
              (Rom. 8:9b).
But you must acknowledge and appropriate the gift of the Holy Spirit if, from a functional point of view, the Spirit is to be your possession.

Just because God has given the gift of the Holy Spirit to all believers, it does not follow that all believers are enjoying the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Obviously they are not.

         What God has given, you must acknowledge and appropriate. Your
         inheritance does not become your possession until you claim it as
         
your own.

That doesn't mean you must beg or plead for the gift of the Holy Spirit. To beg for something is
           
to attempt to gain of favor. Or
           
to attempt to acquire that which is not your own.
When you claim something, you merely take possession of a resource which is already yours.

If, for example, you have $500 in the bank and receive a bill in the mail for $50, you don't go to your banker and, with hat in hand, beg him or her a give you $50.
                
You simply write a check for that amount and
                
claim the resource which is already yours.

The same is true with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
                   
You don't need to beg for him,
                             
or work for him,
                                   
or tarry for him
as if to overcome a reluctance on God's part to release this gift to you.

No! All you need to do is claim the resource God has already given you.

The Spirit is yours existentially. He will become yours experientially when, by faith you acknowledge the gift of the Holy Spirit and, by a deliberate act of the will, appropriate him as your own.

In that moment your inheritance will become your possession.


10



HOW TO APPROPRIATE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

If you are uncertain as to whether or not you have possessed your full inheritance,
pray this prayer--aloud--so your ears will hear what your mouth is saying:

Lord, I don't know whether or not I've ever done this.
If I haven't, I do it now.
By faith I acknowledge the gift of the Holy Spirit,
and by deliberate choice I appropriate him as my own.
I chose to possess my full inheritance in Christ.
Take control of my life.
Cause me to naturally and spontaneously
bear the fruit of the Spirit for the benefit of others.
Thank you for doing this.
In Jesus' name, amen.

I've found it useful to record meaningful decisions so later, when the enemy calls one of them into question, I have a "twelve stones" memory tool with which to resist him (Jos. 4:1-7).

Date________________

Time________________

Location_____________

From the pen of George Croly comes one of the most powerful prayers ever written. I "discovered" it when I began using our hymn book as a prayer book. It is one of my favorites. I pray it often. Sometimes several times a day.

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as you are,
And help me love you as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of this veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
Just take the dimness of my soul away.

Teach me to feel that you are always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love you as your angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The baptism of the heaven-descending dove;
My heart an altar, and your love the flame.
                                  In Jesus name, amen.

Download Connecting with God Document in PDF Format
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here for more information)

Continue to Next Sight Bites

Return to PWI Home