A Supernatural Life
Posted by jerrywhite on Sep 2, 2010
“One of the most extraordinary lives that blessed and challenged my young Christian life was that of a young girl in my city of Glasgow, who came to the Lord about the same time as I. Although this young lady went to glory at about the age of twenty-two, she left behind her one of the most fragrant Christlike testimonies I have ever known. She was born into a working class home, even as I had been. Soon after her conversion she dedicated her life for foreign missionary work, and set herself to prepare for the task. Her one thought, one desire, one object in life was Christ; she was filled with Christ. Her one delight was to talk of the One she loved so well, so that when believers left her presence they felt the glory of the Lord in their own souls. In the University where she studied, it was even as in the church, her simple testimony was backed by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Yet, perhaps it was her prayer life which was her greatest testimony for the Lord. She kept a prayer diary over which she prayed, and in which she recorded marvelous answers to her prayers, both for individuals whom she knew at home, and for missionaries with their needs on the foreign field.
Thus it was that when God was pleased to call my young friend home at an early age, many thousands of us cried like David of old: ‘How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!’ Lonely missionaries in far-off places wept when they heard the news. A large crowd attended her funeral. An unsaved grave-digger told me that in all his experience he had never felt the mighty power of God in such a way as at the burial of this young lady. She had not been a preacher, nor a singer, nor anyone famous, but rather just an ordinary believer in the Lord Jesus who had given her life to be filled with Him. Yet, to my mind, her lone testimony produced greater and more far-reaching results than the combined witness of hundreds of believers around her. Hers was the supernatural life in the Spirit which encouraged my own soul at that time.”
James A. Stewart
Heaven’s Throne Gift, 92
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But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like sweet perfume. 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)
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Power For Holiness
Posted by jerrywhite on Apr 22, 2010
“Holiness does not depend upon your effort at all. Holiness simply depends upon your abandoning yourself to the indwelling Spirit of God, that He may maintain in health the life which He has Himself communicated. The power for holiness is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. The way in which man can live the Christ-life in health and strength, and ever-increasing strength, is simply that of answering the call of the life within him.
It is true there are responsibilities. What are they? Briefly stated they include—First, a renunciation of all things of which the life God disapproves; second, an abandonment of the whole being to God, that He may possess the territory, and realize it according to His will, and for His glory; third, the maintaining of simple quiet trust in Him, which expresses itself in obedience and patient waiting for His guidance.”
G. Campbell Morgan
Simple Things Of The Christian Life, 36
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And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:24-25 (ESV)
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Early in my Christian life I read Dr. Morgan’s words (quoted above), and for the first time my hungry heart understood my responsibilities if I wanted to walk by the Spirit. In prayer I made deliberate choices to walk this way and my life was changed. Soon afterward I learned that I must continue fulfilling these responsibilities if I would walk this way. It is not enough to understand Biblical truth, but one must act upon the truth for it to become incarnate in heart and conduct. God keeps His Word as we do our part to cooperate with Him.
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Under The Spirit’s Dominion
Posted by jerrywhite on Apr 12, 2010
“Paul says we should ‘be filled with the Spirit.’ He says, ‘But be filled with the Spirit’ (Eph. 5:18). Associated with the events of the day of Pentecost, we read that ‘they were all filled with the Spirit.’ The disciples received this experience as an answer to their great need of power. This passage has many times been misunderstood because the word ‘filled’ has been taken in the material sense. By using this word ‘filled,’ many have received the thought that the Spirit of God is somewhat like a liquid or fluid mass that can be received in various quantities. But this is a mistaken conception. The Holy Spirit is a person and cannot be measured by containers. And where it is suggested that we be filled with the Spirit, it simply means that one who experiences this blessing, has his entire life placed under the domination of the Holy Spirit.
It means that every little nook in our lives—the God-life, the business-life, the religious life, the intellectual life, the private life, the home-live, the economics of life—in fact all that belongs to our lives, be placed under His power and dominion. When a life is thus placed under the scepter of the Holy Spirit, that is what the Bible means by being ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit. This is the experience that every Christian on earth should enjoy.”
Lewi Pethrus
The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth, 21-22
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And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:4 (ESV)
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To be drunk with wine is to be under its influence (Ephesians 5:18). To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be under the influence of this Person who is exactly like Jesus Christ. The way is simple enough for a child.
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The Meaning of Spirit-Filled
Posted by jerrywhite on Mar 4, 2010
“The fullness of the Holy Spirit is a relationship with the indwelling third Person of the Trinity whereby He is permitted to exercise His holy influence over every area of your life. The result is the fruit of Christ-likeness revealed through your personality. This beautiful effect increases as you mature spiritually. Fullness by the Spirit releases God’s power in you so that by His strength and energy you can live and minister. (Ministry includes every manner of service in the Name of Christ regardless of how insignificant it seems in the eyes of men.) Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control become descriptive of the kind of person you are (Galatians 5:22-23). The life in the vine, which is Jesus, becomes the fruit in the branch, which is you (John 15:1-11). The rivers Jesus promised to flow from your inner being come forth to refresh others around you, beginning with your family (John 7:37-38). The flow may be small at first, but as you mature spiritually, the size of the rivers of living water flowing out of you will increase. Others are able to catch glimpses of Jesus who indwells you and fills you with His Spirit. I have been with some in whom I sensed the very presence of Jesus because they were so full of Him. They had walked with Him in fullness for many years and the rivers flowing from their inner being were deep and wide. It is always encouraging, refreshing, challenging, and convicting to be with such dear believers. As the tree is full of sap, and the sun is full of light, and the spring in fullness overflows with refreshing, cool water, so your life can be full to overflowing with the Spirit of Christ.”
Author
The Spirit and Presence of Christ, 66
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“The great heart of God is longing to fill you with His Spirit. God is yearning over you, beyond the thought of man to express, to fill you with His fullness…We forget that God is a giving God; that God delights to give His Spirit; that God is seeking to fill us with His Spirit.”
L. L. Legters
The Simplicity of the Spirit-Filled Life
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Spirit’s Fullness Daily
Posted by jerrywhite on Feb 1, 2010
“The filling of God’s Spirit is not a one-time experience, but rather an ongoing relationship. This fullness flows from a love relationship with Jesus. It is maintained by keeping a clean conscience, continuing wholly yielded to Him as Lord, drinking regularly from the Fountain of His Life by intimate and personal communion with Him through prayer and meditation in His Word, and asking for His fullness. The longer you walk this way the greater your desire and capacity for His fullness becomes within you. Then the more His lovely character becomes visible through your unique personality. Not only does this fullness in your life glorify God, it also deeply satisfies your own heart.
Any Christian life not filled with the Holy Spirit is like a rosebud that never blooms, wheat that never becomes bread, and fruit that never ripens in sweetness. It is indeed a rosebud and wheat and fruit, but never does it fulfill its destiny for the pleasure of God and the enjoyment growth of others.”
Author
The Spirit and Presence of Christ, 111
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And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:6
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God intends for every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to remain continuously full of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). This is His plan so that every one of His children will be under His control instead of their self-life in its selfishness and independence. The Lord Jesus revealed through you brings glory to His Name. The treasure in your earthen vessel [body] is what should be seen more than the clay pot that contains it. Rivers [plural] of living water are supposed to flow from you. Abundant fruit of the Spirit is supposed to laden the branches of your life (Galatians 5:22-23). Saints through the ages, whose names we recognize, could not be satisfied until they knew they were filled with God’s Spirit just as He promised. Can we be satisfied with less if we want the Lord Jesus to be glorified through us. Do you know that you know His fullness?
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