Are you feeling powerless?
There is a profound difference between merely “possessing the Holy Spirit” and being “possessed by the Holy Spirit”.
The true Spirit-filled ministry is exemplified by Apostle Paul raising Eutychus from the dead and continuing to preach. This required complete surrender to God.
Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 20:
7 On Sunday we gathered to take communion and to hear Paul preach. Because he was planning to leave the next day, he continued speaking until past midnight.
8 There were many flickering lights in the upstairs chamber where we were meeting.
9 Sitting in an open window listening was a young man named Eutychus. As Paul’s sermon dragged on, Eutychus became drowsy and fell into a deep slumber. Sound asleep, he fell three stories to his death below.
10 Paul went downstairs, bent over the boy, and embraced him. Taking him in his arms, he said to all the people gathered, “Stop your worrying. He’s come back to life!”
11 Paul went back upstairs, served communion, and ate a meal with them. Then he picked back up where he left off and taught until dawn.
12 Filled with enormous joy, they took the boy home alive and everyone was encouraged.
What would happen in 99% of the churches today? How many ministers preach longer than 45 minutes on Sunday morning? How many believers would stick around past midnight and into the morning? The early church had a different level of commitment than today’s church.
The Holy Spirit’s baptism involves both receiving the Spirit and being fully taken over by Him. The latter leads to limitless possibilities as God works through you.
Transformation involves full surrender. When humanity yields to Divine power, failure ceases to exist. Paul’s transformation from persecutor to life-giver is presented as a prime example of being possessed by the Spirit, not just baptized in it.
When we are fully possessed by The Holy Spirit, we will suffer for righteousness’ sake. We will suffer persecution, slander, and strife for Christ’s Name but will not be harmed. This attack will ignite a Holy ambition in our hearts.
Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 5:
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
In other Words, how enriched you are when persecuted for doing what is right! For then you experience the realm of Heaven’s Kingdom.
True Spiritual power comes from yielding to God, decreasing oneself so that He can increase.
Humility is essential for ministering the New Covenant with power. When we are
bound in the Spirit, there is a progression from being “driven,” to “led,” and finally “bound in the Spirit”. It signifies complete surrender to God’s will, where one’s only choice is for God.
In the measure that the dying of the Lord is in me, the Life of the Lord will abound in me. This means surrendering one’s own will and desires for God’s will to take over. Humility enables believers to recognize human helplessness and insufficiency, leading them to continually rely on God for His Thoughts, Voice, power, and all-sufficiency in all things. Paul understood this full surrender.
Luke also recorded that Paul said by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 20:
22 And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,
23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.
24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.
In other Words, “But whether I live or die is not important, for I don’t esteem my life as indispensable. It’s more important for me to fulfill my destiny and to finish the ministry my Lord Jesus has assigned to me, which is to faithfully preach the wonderful news of God’s grace.”
Being filled and possessed by the Holy Spirit transforms ordinary individuals into extraordinary ones. This requires continuous pursuit of deeper surrender and fresh encounters with God. What will be the results? Miraculous manifestations including testimonies of healing and full restoration.
Many Christians settle for Spiritual mediocrity, content with possessing the Spirit without allowing the Spirit to possess them entirely. Let us pray for Wisdom and revelation to fully understand and embrace this deeper surrender!