“Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” (Eph 5:18)
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is God’s command. It is not a once and for all times experience. You need to be filled always. Especially as you do ministry, pouring yourself out into others, you need to be re-filled again. You need to have faith that the The Person of God the Holy Spirit is willing and able to fill you. You need to trust the love of God the Father. You need to present your body as a ‘living sacrifice’, desire and pray that you be filled. Do your part and God will do His! To be filled with the Holy Spirit is an experience. You shall FEEL the filling. It is like drinking cold water on a hot day. It is like drinking wine, sweet and strong. It is not just a wish or an imagination. It is an experience. It will become part of your spiritual history. You shall become happy beyond expression. You shall pray in tongues as easy as you breathe. You become very conscious of the presence of God!
Let me try to explain further… If your heart’s capacity is one liter (for example) and there is one liter of water inside, that is called full. But if God enlarges your heart, your vision of Him, your spiritual capacity for ministry, then one liter of water will only be half full. You will feel a need for more filling! You will feel thirsty for more of Jesus! You will long to worship Him more…That is why the command “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” demands a continuous exercise!
This is my testimony: Before I got saved, I was a very shy woman, especially in a crowd. Because in Nigeria most people are not shy, I was scared to death to go in the midst of people. There was nothing I could do to become bolder. My husband does not have this problem so it was hard for him to understand how such an educated woman like me is so shy in public. All this changed after I got saved, and especially after I got filled with the Holy Spirit. God, who knows the end from the beginning, helped me to overcome my natural shyness but filling me with His Spirit. The truth is that I could have never done ministry in Nigeria except filled with the Holy Spirit. I worked as a medical doctor without the Holy Spirit, but I could not be a pastor without Him. For me there is no other option. My secret as a woman of God is the Holy Spirit. He fills my mind, my heart, my imagination, my will, my body and my spirit. Once I go to the altar, I forget all my fears and I keep my eyes on the Lord. English is not my primary language but God helps me. He puts words in my mouth. He helps me to speak them out. I am not a singer but songs overflow my heart and mouth. He strengthens my body to stand and not fall under the anointing. He carries me like an eagle on its wings. Hallelujah!
May the Holy Spirit ignite the desire, the passion in you to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus!
Green Pastures 