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tiodogg
Posts:4
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Posted:01/01/2008 6:08 PM |
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Question
Can I get some clarification on what it mneans to be filled with the holy Spirit. Can one only get a portion or some of it at a time and then when the lord feels one is ready he will fill you with the holy Spirit that will allow you to succeed in his purpose for your life with him.
Am I missing something here or am I close 
And is ACTS 1:7-8 talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit when the lord says you are ready to go out take the next step in my purpose
Am I somewhat close to what can be said in this section
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cwinfield
Posts:3
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Posted:01/24/2008 3:54 PM |
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I believe in Acts 1:7 Jesus is responding to the disciples question about restoring Israel to a former world power or nation and out of Roman rule which was not on Jesus' agenda.
The disciples were to wait till the Holy Spirit came in power upon them to be witnesses for Christ for the salvation of the world (to the ends of the earth). When Jesus was being tried and was before Pilate, Jesus said,
"My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
John 18:36
I believe His meaning to be the kingdom of Heaven. The dominion of God, which is eternal, not the dominion of men, which is fading.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would lead the disciples (and us today) to usher in that Kingdom by being witnesses or examples to all the world of the risen Eternal King, Jesus.
The issue of how the Spirit manifest itself in men is pretty weighty as it seems, in my opinion, that the Spirit acts on its own free will or the will of God as He sees fit and any attempt by man to nail it down to something predictable and concrete is futile. As you continue to read through the Acts you will see the Holy Spirit come on people in many ways and in many forms(tongues, prophesying, back flips). You could literally spend hours reading commentaries by many theologians, pastors, etc...not to mention our own pastors thoughts on the Holy Spirit, which I would highly recommend.
I think it really comes down to something I heard Pastor Brent say once, though he may have been referring to salvation it holds the same value, 'to receive you must believe'. Much like after salvation, there is so much to learn about God and how He wants us to live and in receiving the power of the Holy Spirit there is a lot to learn about it. The cool thing is that because of the Spirit we CAN learn about the deeper things of God which will help us learn more about the gifts and purpose of the Spirit. The last few chapters of John like from 14 to 17 Jesus says a lot about the Spirit. The beautiful thing is, is that its about community as well; working as a body of believers to understand all this stuff more. Keep on!!!!
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