Knowing Vs. Hoping
When Jesus physically left the earth after His resurrection from the dead, He told the disciples to wait there in Jerusalem until they received the full power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Then (and only then) they would be witnesses for Him throughout the world. (Acts 1:4-8) First must come God’s Power, then comes the effective and fruitful ministry.
Most of us try to do it the other way; we attempt something for God and then ask Him to bless it. We are doomed to failure before we have even begun! FIRST we are to receive the power of His Holy Spirit in our lives and then HE will generate the power to effectively touch others for Christ. Don’t forget… we are talking about the genuinely SUPERNATURAL here!
Ephesians 5:19, COMMANDS the Christian to “be filled with the Holy Spirit!” In EVERY Biblical account, the purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit was so that an individual could be a more effective witness for Christ and could live victoriously. If you find a person who brags that he is filled with the Holy Spirit but he never wins anyone else to the Lord, you can know that he has been mislead.
When I think of God’s Holy Spirit filling me, I picture myself like a water faucet. (1) The water faucet MUST be properly connected to the source of water. (2) The pipes MUST be clean. (3) The tap MUST be turned to the “open” position. THEN the water can flow though the faucet freely. (By the way, this is a pretty good Bible illustration because the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit flowing through us, like “…rivers of living water. ” (John 7:38)
So, how do we connect to God? We are saved when we ask him by faith! (Romans 10:13)
How do we get the pipes clean? That is when we confess our sin and ask Him to forgive and cleanse us! (1 John 1:9) However, many saved people, both Ministers and laymen, have clean lives … but have no Supernatural power in their lives or ministry.
Therefore; How do we turn the tap to the open position? How do we open our lives for God to supernaturally live through us? We ask Him by Faith! (John 5:14-15) When we ask HIM by faith, that permits HIM to do the supernatural in and through us … both for witnessing and to live a victorious Christ life! “…not I but Christ (Who) liveth in me…” (Galatians 2:20)
That “faith” means the ABSENCE of doubt. If we ask Him to live HIS life through us (to fill us) and then we try to live a good life in our strength and our ability … that is not faith in God, that is faith in “self and we will fall flat on our face, spiritually! If we ask Him to fill us and then we say, “Boy, I sure hope He will do it!” Is that faith? No!
That is doubt! Faith says, “I KNOW HE WILL DO IT!” When we put that “I know He WILL do it” kind of faith in Him, that releases God’s Holy Spirit to work in us and through us … AND in all the circumstances and all the people around us!
