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GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT SERIES – HOLY SPIRIT, THE GOD PERSON (2)

 

[BIBLE STUDY 0903]

 

Premise Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 and Eph 4: 1-16

 

Desiring the Gift of the Holy Spirit

There are 3 levels of asking from God anything you desire from him. You can get it by asking, seeking or knocking on the door of heaven earnestly until you are given. One thing every child of God should desire with all their heart until they receive it is the Holy Spirit.

 

Asking for the Holy Spirit

 

Luke 11:11-13

 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

 

A child looking forward to a great meal will expect bread, fish and egg and not stone, serpent and scorpion. Bread, fish, and egg are life sustaining. Stone, serpent and egg will harm a child. A father who gives a stone or a scorpion to a child to eat should expect to be in jail for a long time. In another scene, fathers give good gifts to their children out of love. When the child receives a gift he or she ask for, that child’s face is lighted with joy. In the above story, Jesus said earthly fathers expectedly make good choices in giving the right food to their children. 

Translating the story to the spiritual, God is our heavenly Father. The best gift by our heavenly Father after salvation (similar to after a child is born in the above passage) is the gift of the Holy Spirit. God knows you need it for survival in the world because the other alternatives out there are evil spirits from the devil who does not want a Christian to survive in the faith. If you want to survive in the faith you definitely need the Holy Spirit. Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit today.

 

The Holy Spirit is God’s Promise to a Born Again Child of God

 

John 7:37-39

37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

 

Before Jesus left back to heaven he said the disciples should wait until they receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit came fully on the day of Pentecost and see how beautiful and affectious the lives of these ordinary men and women became. 120 disciples who had been tarrying in the upper room waiting as Jesus had said before ascending to heaven became filled with that River of Power. The disciples obeyed Jesus and waited in prayers in an upper room. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit arrived and became resident in the hearts of these first fruit disciples. The Spirit came like a mighty rushing wind and they began to speak in tongues.

 

Knocking on the Door of Heaven for the Holy Spirit

 

Acts1; 4,8

4And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 

Jesus commanded the disciples to stay where they were, that is, Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. They were not to depart until they received the Holy Spirit. This was to be their primary assignment during the period. They were told to wait for their “staff of authority”, that is the power of the Holy Spirit. This type of waiting on the Lord involves intense prayers and study of the word of God, prayer and fasting, corporate prayer and revival, and the like. The individual must be focused one hundred percent on the Giver of the Power which is the God the Father.  Your prayers should be very persistent. This is the level of knocking on the door of heaven. God will be pleased that you know what you want and open the door of Heaven to give you the Holy Spirit. You pass from the level of asking and seeking to knocking and then you receive.

 

CONCLUSION

Your expectation is very important as you prepare yourself to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Prepare yourself and ask for the Holy Spirit. If it is in an assembly, the Minister will likely lay hands on you or pray the prayer of faith with you. Ask, seek and knock on the door of heaven until you receive the Holy Spirit so you can begin to enjoy the comfort of walking in his power.  [To be continued].

 

Prayer Points

1.                 Holy Spirit, come with your power into my life. Pour your fresh oil on me. Ignite my heart with your Living Fire. I give my heart to you as an altar of your Fire in Jesus Name.

 

2.      O Lord, I wait eager and expectantly for your Holy Spirit. Come with baptism of  Fire upon my life. Holy Ghost burn out all chaff from my life with your unquenchable fire. Let you fire burn in my bones, brew in my belly and revive my heart to your living power in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

 

 

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT SERIES – HOLY SPIRIT, THE GOD PERSON (1)

 

 

[BIBLE STUDY 0902]

 

Premise Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 and Eph 4: 1-16

 

The Giver and the Gifts

This study focuses on knowing who the Person of the Holy Spirit before we begin to look at specific gifts we can receive from the Holy Spirit.  During the series of teachings you will get to know who the Holy Spirit is, How you can receive him, his acts and gifts to a believer. Just plug in your power cord by opening your heart by faith so you can receive him. For those who have not been filled, you will be filled as you open your heart and pray for his indwelling power earnestly in Jesus Name. The teaching will be interjected with prayers so be ready to pray and receive him, his power and gifts as we go along.

 

Introduction

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity who wants to dwell in the heart of a child of God continually, rather than being hindered by sin or the sinful nature of man. The Holy Spirit is willing to manifest his full power through every believer who is saved, washed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus and is living a holy life. He is an absolute essential to have if you want to make a success of your Christian life. He is also very important if you must live the victorious Christian life over the kingdom of darkness that is opposed to everything that is God’s. Before Jesus began his public ministry he received the Holy Spirit Power because he needed the Power to carry out the great work of the Ministry before him. If Jesus being God made man needed the Holy Spirit to live triumphantly, we also need him if we are to make an impact in the world by the grace and power of God Almighty. The Lord will help us as we yield ourselves more to him for him to mold us, make us and use us in his vineyard in Jesus Name.

 

John 3: 13-17

 13Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

 14But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

 15And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

 16And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

 17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Knowing The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a real person possessing all the attributes of the Godhead. He is not an abstract thought or personality.  Like God the Father and God the Son, He is omnipotent, omnipresent, Alpha and Omega. One of the Acts of the Holy Spirit is creation, making old things new again or creating new things altogether. For example:

 

A. He formed or should I say re-formed the shapeless earth & is in the business of reforming shapeless men today.

 

Gen 1: 1-3

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

 

B. The Holy Spirit was present when the Godhead Council decided to make man as the brand new creation to rule and reign over all of God’s creation.

 

Gen 1:26

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth

 

C. The Spirit was that part of God that dwelt in Adam before the fall. He is willing to come in his full power to a regenerated heart, just as he dwelt with Adam before the fall when Adam had all the power and authority over all of God’s creation. 

 

Gen 2:7

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 

CONCLUSION

Now that we have knowledge of who the Holy Spirit, let us fear Him, reverence Him and give Him all the praise He deserves. Make yourself available to Him and He will reveal more of Himself to you in Jesus Name.  [To be continued]

 

Prayer Points

1.                 Holy Spirit, I give my self to you. Shake out every dust in my life and breathe into me your fresh life and power in Jesus Name.

 

2.      Holy Spirit, descend upon me and reveal me to the people of the world around me  to your own glory in Jesus Name.