In Luke 11:13, we see “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
We need this as the best gift, in our life, this new year. I need this best gift of filling me with His Holy Spirit. This is God’s promise and the best gift, that God can give to us. We know to give the best gifts to our children, even though they do not ask us any gifts. But our God gives to those who ask Him. He put this one condition, ‘to those who ask Him, God will give Holy Spirit much more measure in our life’. This is what we need in these last days. And it is the best gift we need.
Ephesians 5:18-21“18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. “ We know getting drunk is a serious sin. The Holy Spirit is saying do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything else mentioned in the verse is possible only by being filled with the Holy Spirit and being subject to one another, in the fear of God.
Acts 2:17 says, ‘‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind. This is fulfilled in the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:4, ‘And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.’ The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit. The disciples were continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52, is a beautiful verse, “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” This is a good mark of disciples. This is what God is looking for in our hearts. I want this to be real in my life. Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.“ Be filled with the Holy Spirit continually. It should overflow as rivers of living water in our life. This is the call God wants in our life.
John 7:37, 38 says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ Let us have this thirst and longing in our life, because, God says, ‘how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?’. I need the rivers of living water flowing from my life. Psalms 42:1,2 says, ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;’ Without water, the deer will die. It is the same in our spiritual life. We need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us have a thirst for God, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to have the fullness of Holy Spirit and for the living God.
Revelation 21:5,6 says, ‘5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.’ God will give to those who thirst. God will change our life. This is God’s promise for us. We need to have the thirst and longing for the filling of the Holy Spirit in our life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ‘Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.’ We need to assess ourselves. It doesn’t mean we became like Jesus Christ. When we look at our life, we still have the old adamic nature in our hearts. All this needs to be changed and need to be replaced with Christ virtues. God will do it. He will change it by the power of Holy Spirit. He will change our life.
1 Samuel 10:6 says, ‘Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.’ Holy Spirit will change us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Let us seek God to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will come powerfully upon you and you will be a different, changed person. It is possible in our lives. God will change our life to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. We can continue living our life with the satisfaction of our current spiritual condition. But God wants us to have an abundant life and God wants us to go further and further deep to have abundant life, that which God has promised to us. In John 10:10, we see, ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’ Let us seek God. Let us not be satisfied with the present spiritual condition but go further deep, to have abundant life.
Ezekiel 47:3-5 we see, ‘3 When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. 5 Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.’ Here, we see different stages of spiritual life. In each stage, God wants us to go further and further deep and experience the abundant life that which Jesus came to give us. First stage we see, ankles depth. Do not be satisfied with this spiritual stage but God wants us to go further deep in our spiritual life. Second stage is, knee depth. Still, God wants us not to be satisfied with this stage but go further deep. Third stage is, waist level of depth. We should not stop here too. We see in verse 5, ‘the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through’. We see here, ‘it is so deep, I cannot walk’. ‘A life totally controlled by the Holy Spirit’. This is the abundant life; God wants us to have from our life. This is God’s will for us. We need to long for it, thirst for it and ask our God. And have faith in God. Yes, He will give us. Bible says, God gives His Holy Spirit without measure. In 1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” As Ephesians 5:18, says, ‘Be filled with the Holy Spirit.’
Let us assess ourselves, when we see anything of old, adamic nature in us, let us come to God with a repentant heart and let us have this persistent thirst and longing in our heart, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We see in Old Testament, as Jacob said to angel, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me’; let us also have this persistence to our God. Yes, I will not leave you until you bless me. We see in 2 Kings 2:9, ‘When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” That’s the attitude we need to have in respect to asking for the Spirit.
Let us ask God and have faith in God that God will change our heart and will change our life because, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Let us come to God with a needy heart. God will do wonderful things in our life. May God bless us all.
