"Receiving the Holy Spirit"

Staying filled with the Holy Spirit

The moment you received Christ, the Holy Spirit not only came to dwell in you, but He imparted in you spiritual life, causing you to be born anew as a child of God. Getting filled with the Holy Spirit, however, is not a once-for-all experience. Filling with the Holy Spirit is an ongoing process. Becoming a born again Christian is a complete package in itself, however it requires continuous efforts on your end to remain effective.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;-Ephesians 5:18

Imagine a laptop or a mobile phone, the batteries come included, it has everything it needs to function. You still need to keep it charged otherwise it won't be of much use.
Your Christian life similarly comes with its batteries included. To be successful however, you need to stay charged at all times. Only then can you be of use to yourself and others.When you pray and worship, it releases the presence of the Holy Spirit. Reading and meditating on the Word of God everyday, praying and singing to praise God, leading sin free lives, and maintaining a close communion with God keep us charged.
You receive the Holy Spirit by faith, similarly you receive further fillings of the Holy Spirit through faith. It is God's desire and command that his children stay filled with the Holy Spirit.

BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

Jesus narrated a story of the ten virgins in a wedding feast. In those days during wedding feasts the groom would lead a procession at night through the village to the bride's place. There would be lamps which would light up the procession and hall, also once everybody get into the wedding hall, the doors are shut and the feast begins.
Once there were ten virgins who were waiting for the procession of the groom. Five of the virgins carried oil with their lamps while the other five did not. They all fell asleep waiting for the groom, finally when the groom came only five of them had lamps that had light. The other five needed oil but did not have any ready. They asked the wise virgins to lend them some but they were asked to go and buy their own. But by the time they returned the procession was complete and the Wedding Feast had begun. The virgins returned with oil but the procession was complete and the groom had entered the hall where the feast was to be held. The foolish virgins were not allowed inside.The moral of this parable is to be prepared and ready. Jesus can come back anytime. The only difference between the first and the second group of virgins is the oil. One of the interpretations of this story is that the oil is representative of the Holy Spirit, there are instances throughout the Bible where the oil is used as an allegory for the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not preach this parable to the general public but to his apostles and those closest to him who knew full well what the Holy Spirit was. The full story can be found in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25.

LIFE APPLICATION

*Be ready always, stay filled with the Holy Spirit.
*Pray, read the Word of God and try and lead sin free lives as much as possible.
*Ask God every morning to fill you with the Holy Spirit and receive the filling by faith.