To: AOL's Library
From: tyagi nagasiva
Subj: Christianity (various subjs) (0000.hlysprt.tn)
Date: unknown
Quoting: |'SteveM96' (from a questionaire)


|How to be filled with the Holy Spirit:

|A number of years ago there was a man who lived in the far reaches of 
|upper Minnesota in the timber land.  He was a 'back woods' type of 
|individual.  For many years he made his living by cutting trees and 
|selling them to a local lumber company.  
|
|One year, late in his life, he made his way to the nearby hardware store 
|to buy another ax.  While he was there the store owner showed him the latest 
|in axes and chainsaws.  After hearing that the chainsaw could cut three 
|times as many trees in one day as he could by hand, he decided to buy one.  

|Several weeks later the lumber man walked back into the hardware store and 
|threw the chainsaw to the ground with disgust.  He said to the owner, 
|"I thought you said this thing could cut three times as many trees as I 
|could by hand?"  The owner a bit puzzled by this, picked up the chainsaw, 
|looked it over carefully, and then gave the starting cord several strong 
|pulls.  
|
|The saw started up with a loud buzz.  Startled by the noise,  the woodsman 
|said, 'What's that?' I think this  clearly illustrates the average Christian 
|in America today.  As Christians, we have all the resources available to us 
|to live a victorious life for Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, but 
|we fail to utilize it.
|
|Q: Who is the Holy Spirit and why did he come?
|What did Jesus call the Holy Spirit? John 14:16,17
|What did Jesus say the Holy Spirit would do? John 16:8,13, 14 

A: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  She comes to guide me into all 
truth.  Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth, a Comforter.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will help us to discern ignorance, wisdom and 
the difference between them; that She will glorify Me in all things and that 
She shall reveal this deepest of mysteries.


|Q: Who did Peter believe the Holy Spirit to be?  Acts 5:3,4 

A: Peter equated God, the Holy Spirit and the Self.


|Q: Why were the disciples to wait in the city? What was the Holy Spirit going 
|to enable them to do?   These were the very disciples of Jesus, who lived 
|with Him for three years, who saw Him do miracles of every kind and lived 
|under His teaching and council.  Why did they need to be filled with the 
|Holy Spirit? Acts 1:8

A: The disciples were to wait in the city of Jerusalem for the fulfillment 
of the promise of God, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who would give them 
power to discover their true Selves.


|Q: ...what happened to Peter when Jesus was arrested and crucified? 
|John 18:15-18,25,26   What happenened to Peter after he and the other 
|disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit?...  Acts 2:15, 38-41

A:  Peter denied his association with Christ thrice when Jesus was arrested 
and crucified.  Later, when filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter revealed his 
union with Christ and attempted to aid others, prophesying that the Holy 
Spirit would come unto those who changed their ways of life (by selling their 
possessions, distributing them to all, continuing in friendship with all - 
both symbolized through the breaking and sharing of bread, which they also 
continued in regularity -  and through prayer), and came to know Jesus Christ 
in their hearts, transcending their ignorance.


|Q: How would you feel about doing that?

A: I would only do such a thing if the Spirit moved me to such action.


|Q: What made such a radical transformation of such timid men that they 
|would each later die a martyr's death?

A: The power of the Holy Spirit transformed them by revealing unto them 
their true Selves.


|Q: How do I know that I am filled with the Holy Spirit? 

A: I can know that I am filled with the Holy Spirit by the wisdom and 
beauty of the Self which is revealed to all through my communion with Her.
  

|The Spirit-filled life is a decision of the will to allow Jesus Christ to 
|live his life in and through you in the power of the Holy Spirit.  ...
|Q: Are you willing to confess your sin and allow Him to do that?  One who 
|professes to be a Christian but ...continues to practice willing sin, should 
|realize that he may not be a Christian at all according to 
|1 John 2:3; 3:6,9; Ephesians 5:5; Galatians 5:21.

A: I am willing to acknowledge my ignorance to Christ and to my brethren.  
I will allow my true Self to work in and through me.  I can know that I am 
Christian as I take to heart the words of Christ and love my fellow, as I 
live in the Unity which is Christ, and as I consider myself a Child of God 
and therefore perfect in Creation.

I know that I am Christian as I come to know the wisdom of detachment and 
the peaceful gentleness that is the fruit of the Spirit.


|In Ephesians 5:18 the word 'filled' in the Greek New Testament means to be 
|filled with the qualities and power of the Holy Spirit.  Since the Holy 
|Spirit came to glorify Christ (John 16:14) and is the Spirit of Christ 
|(Romans 8:9), to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with or 
|abide in Christ (John 15).
|Q: What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? 

A: To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to come to see the One which is All, 
to be the peaceful union of opposites, to be the unity in diversity which is 
God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.


|To abide in Christ is to... recognize that it is His life, power, wisdom, 
|resources, strength and ability which enables you to live according to His 
|will....  That Christ ...expresses His life through you by the power of 
|the Holy Spirit is one of the most important truths of the Word of God.
|Q: If you are a Christian do you have the Holy Spirit living in you?  
|Romans 8:9, 16;   

A: As a Christian one need detach from worldliness and allow the Spirit of 
Christ to dwell within.  This Spirit speaks through us and identifies us 
as the children of God. 


|Q: When did you receive the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 1:13,14

A: One receives the Holy Spirit after one learns perfect Trust, after one 
learns discernment of Truth - that which is one's refuge from ignorance, 
and after trusting that Truth so as to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.


|Q: According to these verses would a believer need to receive the Holy 
|Spirit again at a later time?  Why?  If the Holy Spirit lives in each 
|believer, isn't every believer filled with the Holy Spirit?  Why or why 
|not?  Galatians 5:16,17

A: It is possible to be led into temptation even after having received the 
Holy Spirit.   Given attachment, we may falter in our trust of Truth.  
Realizing our folly, at a later time we may repent and regain our trust the 
Truth of Christ,  yet the Spirit has been there all along, and so we would 
not need to receive Her again.


|This struggle is a very real part of every Christian's life!  The more one 
|learns to walk in the power of Holy Spirit the more one will experience 
|continued [detachment from desire]!"
|Q: What is the normal result of being filled with the Holy Spirit?  
|Ephesians 5:19-21 Galatians 5:22-26; John 15:1-8;  John 16:12-15

A: The normal result of being filled with the Holy Spirit is: joyous praise 
of the divine, love and peaceful gentleness, tempered trust, the 
fulfillment of God's Will, the Unity of Child and Parent.


|How to be filled with the Holy Spirit :Galatians 5:16."
|Q: In this verse what is the command Paul is stating?

A: Paul is stating the command to free oneself from the attachments of 
the world, from the attachment to desire.


|Read Ephesians 5:17, 18.  
|Q: What is God's will according to these verses?

A: God's Will according to these verses is to abide by the Law of Love, 
the Spirit of Christ,  rather than simply by the Law of men.


|In the Greek New Testament the verbs used in these sentences are known 
|as imperatives or commands.  
|Q: Do you think God would command you to do something contrary to His 
|will?  Would this be pleasing to Him?

A: God would not command me to do something contrary to His will.  There 
is no action which is contrary to God's Will in an ultimate sense.  God is 
not pleased by my foolish attachment to the world.  My resultant suffering 
is an indicator of God's Will.


|Q: What do you think God would do to you if you would yield yourself to 
|him whole-heartedly?  What is the biggest barrier that would keep you from 
|doing this?

A: If I would yield myself to Him whole-heartedly God would speak through 
me, since I would be inspired by the Holy Spirit.  The biggest barrier that 
keeps me from doing this is my inability to discern Him truly and my fear 
of submission.


|Q: What is the promise that is found in these verses? 1 John 5: 14, 15

A: The promise found in these verses is that if one listens carefully to 
the divine one will be made whole and free from ignorance.  


|Heart preparation
|
|Though you are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith and faith alone, it
|is important to recognize that several factors contribute to [the 
|preparation of] your heart.  
|
|First, you [will] hunger and thirst after God and desire to be filled with 
|the Holy Spirit.  
|
|Second, [you will] be willing to surrender your life to Christ in 
|accordance with Paul's exhortation in Romans 12:1,2.  
|
|Third [you will] confess every known sin which the Holy Spirit brings to 
|your mind and experience the cleansing and forgiveness which God promises 
|in 1 John 1:9.  
|
|The extent to which [an aspirant] understands and applies the principles 
|of living a Spirit-filled life is directly correlated to the intensity to 
|which he will know and glorify God.  There is no exception.
|
|Everything in the Christian life relates to the Holy Spirit!!|

EOF