Acts America

What's Next?

After you get saved what's next? Where do you go from here? Getting born again is the most wonderful thing you can ever experience in your life. The second most wonderful thing you can experience after getting born again is being filled with the Holy Ghost . In today's society so many people believe they are filled with they “Holy Ghost” or “Holy Spirit”. The Holy Ghost is the person of Christ in a form. It is a free gift from God after you get saved. Getting filled with the Holy Spirit is not an option. It is a command from God, “Be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18). The Holy Ghost is the power of God given to you to help you live this Christian life. The Bible calls the Holy Ghost a “comforter.” “ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” (John 14:16) The Holy Spirit awakens your senses to God. The Holy Ghost allows you to see, feel, hear, touch and taste God. It will no longer be mere words on a page, you will sense the presence of God in your heart and in your day to day life. The Word of God will become alive, those words in that Bible will speak to you and jump up off the page at you. The Holy Ghost gives you a conscious awareness of who God is and that He is living inside you. He helps you walk and live sensitive to the Lord. When you are about to do something you shouldn't or you think something you shouldn't the Holy Ghost will “check” you. You will sense a convicting check telling you don't go here, don't do that, don't say that. The Holy Ghost teaches you how to walk upright before God, how to live a Christian life that's pleasing to God, how to pray, how to hear, receive and apply God's Word in your daily life.

Another thing the Holy Ghost is is a “Revealer of Christ”. He reveals who Christ is to you, His characteristics, His personality. He allows you to experience Christ in a personal way, beyond a surface acquaintanceship. The Holy Ghost is sometimes compared with the servant that Abraham sent to find a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham sent his most trusted servant to pick out a wife for his son Isaac. The servant, inspired by God, choose Rebekah as the one for Isaac. The journey back to Isaac's camp was a long and rough one by camel back, it took several days to get there. After a couple days on the back of a camel Rebekah probably grew tired and started to feel the pain of the journey. But whenever she would feel like turning back the servant was telling Rebekah about her husband to be, about his character , about how rich he was and all the land he would inherit. After she heard all those things about Isaac she was ready to keep going another mile. The Holy Ghost is the same way, when this Christian life gets tough, and it will at times, the Holy Ghost will reveal Christ to you and remind you of who He is and how great He is. He will refresh you and renew that fire inside you. He will equipped you to continue on down the road in the mist of your hardships. The Holy Ghost gives you “tokens” along the journey to sustain you and give you strength and encouragement. When you hear the preached word the Holy Ghost will make those words more real and alive to you then you've ever experienced. When you worship the Lord the Holy Ghost will stir in your heart and remind you of all the times God has moved in your life. Being a Christian and not being filled with the Holy Ghost is like being a car with no gas in the tank. You're capable of doing great things for God, of experiencing His power and might but only to a certain degree. You will never receive the fullness of Christ or Spirit.

What does it mean to being continually filled with the Holy Spirit? Its a double meaning. We read in Acts about the disciples being filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost and in just a few chapters later we read that Peter and John were filled with the Spirit again. The Bible is plain about many refillings. In the course of our walk with the Lord we get dry at times, when we're going through trials and tribulations, or even from sitting in church week after week we are capable of becoming dry and wrought. When this happens the Bible says we can be refilled with the Spirit so that our Christianity is fresh and alive again.

Also when we witness, pray, and when we're used of God we are “giving out”, “pouring out” the Spirit and the power in us. After awhile we need to be filled up with that power again. What a amazing thing! We can give out the Spirit within us to those lost and in need around us, on our job, at our school, those in our family, and when we need to be refueled and refilled God said He would give us what we have need of! That way we never lack in anything as we walk with Christ. The Holy Ghost keeps Christ and Christianity alive in your heart, you never have to get familiar with the things of God, you never have to “get used” to God, you never have to be dry or lack in vigor or passion. The Holy Ghost keeps that fire burning bright in you. If you are saved and have never been filled with this awesome Holy Ghost and you realized and acknowledge that you are missing something, we encourage you to begin to seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Ask God for this free gift of power. You can get filled in church, in your home, in your car, or on the sidewalk. God isn't a respecter of persons or location, He looks at the heart and hears our cry. Again, the baptism of the Holy Ghost is not an option, or just for certain Christians, it is for everyone who calls themselves a born again child of God. If you have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost then we encourage you to keep it renewed and alive in your heart, don't allow yourself to become dry or wrought. Keep that fire alive and kindled in your heart. If you have questions or doubts about the Holy Ghost or you're not convinced that it is a requirement then we encourage you to simply pray and ask God, read the book of Acts and find out for yourself. The Holy Ghost is, without exception, an absolute necessity.