"Receiving the Holy Spirit"

Accepting Jesus

The first step to becoming a Christian and getting filled with the Holy Spirit is accepting Jesus. Every human being has sinned, it is impossible for a man to have lived without sin.
This sin separates us from God. The sin in our lives also leads us to spiritual death. The punishment for sin is death. God is a fair judge, he does not act partially against specific people or specific sins. He totally hates sin and all sin is wrong. Our sinful lives separate us from God and will lead to death if God's justice prevails. The only thing greater than God's justice is His mercy.
Jesus is God's way of removing our sin, He gave us his only begotten son so that we may be forgiven and saved. Jesus took upon himself the sins of the whole world and died as the penalty so that we may be set free and experience the love of God and have fellowship with him.
Acknowledging and repenting of sin is very simple, you need to own up to your actions and accept you were wrong. You need to be sorry and deep down in your heart decide that you do not want to commit the sin again.
Next, tell God you are sorry, he can hear you anywhere. You don't have to be in a church or before a pastor or a priest when you confess.
God knows you will likely sin again, it may be the same sin you just confessed sometime ago. The key here is to understand that God is willing to empower you and help you overcome your weaknesses provided you are truly sorry and you sincerely want to be set free. God sees your heart and knows if you are playing games with him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.- Romans 10:13

God has proved how much he loves you by giving up his only beloved son to the death sentence so that you may enjoy life, the whole Bible is a love letter written by God telling you how much he loves you. The question is will you accept God's Love? Will you accept Jesus Christ?
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.- Romans 10:9-10

God's solution is really simple, to accept Jesus you need to confess using your mouth that he is Lord and believe in your heart that he rose from the dead. The minute you do this you are eligible to receive the Holy Spirit.

REAL LIFE INSPIRATION

In the early 19th century there was a young pastor in the United States who was cycling home from a prayer meeting when he encountered a young boy, who was about 18 years old, standing in the street corner waiting for the local tram to pick him up. The pastor could feel God had put an impression in his heart to speak to this young boy.
The pastor stopped his bicycle, went and stood next to the young boy and asked him "Are you saved?". The boy honestly replied "No". The pastor then asked him if he wanted to be saved to which the boy answered "Yes". The pastor then went on and explained to him how simple God's way of getting saved was. The pastor explained a couple of scriptures to him and prayed quickly with him as the tram had almost arrived.
The pastor in his mind had doubts about if the lad really was saved. He reasoned "How can someone be saved in two minutes?". He soon forgot about the incident and time passed by. One day the pastor took the local tram when travelling and was surprised to see the same young boy seated at the back. The boy did not recognize the pastor, the pastor went up to him and asked him once again, "Boy, are you saved?".The boy replied, "Yes sir, I am saved. You know, I had a very peculiar experience. Some time ago, I was standing down here on the corner waiting for a tram and someone riding a bicycle came along and asked me if I was saved. I do not know who he was or why he stopped. When he stopped I was not saved, but when he left I sure was, and I am certainly glad for it."
The pastor was stung, tears almost rolled out of his eyes. He realized that it was the Holy Spirit that was converting people and that two minutes is sufficient for God when he wants to reach out to somebody.

LIFE APPLICATION

*Accept Jesus, if you have not already done so. He is waiting with arms wide open for you.
*It is the Holy Spirit that actually converts your soul and draws you to Jesus.