Key scripture- “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

When you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were baptized by the Spirit into one body, and that is when you received all of the Holy Spirit. If you are thinking when you read that, “That might be true, but I don’t feel like I have the Holy Spirit in me. Or, I felt it before, but I sure don’t feel it now.” Then your problem is not an issue of baptism, but is an issue of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

So that brings us to this: The question is not do you have all of the Holy Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit have all of you? Every believer has the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit does not have every believer because that is a matter of filling. Paul tells us, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Stop right now and ask yourself, “Am I filled with the Holy Spirit? How do I know if I am? What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and how do I get filled with the Holy Spirit?”

You may be thinking, “I’m saved, I’m a Christian, I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, so why do I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit?” If you are not filled with the Holy Spirit then you will not be experiencing the ministries of the Holy Spirit, which are; joy, peace, victory, and confidence. If you are living without joy, peace, victory and confidence, the reason why is, those only come from being filled with the Holy Spirit.
When you are Spirit filled it means to be totally controlled, totally influenced, intoxicated, with the Holy Spirit, to be overcome by a power greater than your own.

If you are wondering, “How will I know if I am filled with the Holy Spirit?” You will know because when you are filled with the Holy Spirit you are no longer in control, because He is. He will be in control of your speech, He will prompt you to say things that He wants you to say, and you are going to do things that He wants you to do, and go where He wants you to go. When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, He controls your body so you’re not going to go to places that He doesn’t want you to go to, you’re not going to look at things that He doesn’t want you to look at, or do things that He does not want you to do, or say things that He does not want you to say. When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit your mind is centered on the things of God, and when you are controlled by the Holy Spirit you are not consumed with fear, doubt, worry, anxiety, or any other emotions that are detrimental to you.

So let me ask you, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Are you really? If you want to know for sure then let’s look at the Bible and what it says about what hinders or stops you from being filled with the Holy Spirit.

These things hinder and forfeit Spirit filling.

1. Resisting the Holy Spirit. In Acts 7 Stephen was preaching a message and he told the people that as a result of them rejecting the message that he was preaching about Jesus, they were actively resisting the Holy Spirit. (Acts 7:51). When you hear the Word of God do you hear it and think, “That may be good for somebody else, but I don’t really believe it”. Or when you hear the Word do you think, “There is no way I am going to do that.” If so, that type of resistance forfeits the filling of the Holy Spirit.

2. Grieving the Holy Spirit. The word grieve is the Greek word “Lupeo”. It means to cause pain or sorrow to the Holy Spirit by the way you live. (Ephesians 4:30). When we grieve the Holy Spirit we do things that He tells us not to do, and when you do that, you make the Holy Spirit regret His presence in you.

3. Quenching the Spirit. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, that we are not to quench the Holy Spirit. You quench Him when don’t respond to Him and do things that He wants you to do. How many of us would have to confess today that we have quinched the Holy Spirit? A good example of this is when you have a heated argument with somebody in your family and the Holy Spirit prompts you to go apologize and make things right, but you refuse to do it, that is quenching the Holy Spirit. When you continue to quench the Spirit, it will get to a point that you will not hear Him prompting you anymore.

4. Rejecting the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:8 says that God gave us the Holy Spirit, and He is the messenger of God in your life so when you say no, no, no, no, no to the Holy Spirit then you are rejecting the messenger of God.

So how to do we get filled with the Holy Spirit?

First, recognize your need to be filled. In humility say to God, “I have not been filled with Your Spirit, I have been trying to do this on my own. I’ve been using all my own energy and all my own efforts, and it’s no wonder that I’m discouraged, fearful, worried, and anxious. Father, I am worn out and I need to be filled with your spirit again.”

Second, confess all known sin. When the Holy Spirit reveals something to you respond immediately to him by confessing and turning away from that sin. If you stop and sit quietly for a few minutes things will come to your mind that you’ve done that grieve and quench the Spirit, and as they do, immediately confess them to God. Tell God, “I make no excuses for that. I agree with you God, that that is sin, just like You said it was. I have no justification for it. It’s me, I have sinned and I am not going to justify it by saying it is ok because of what somebody else has done to me. I know what is right and I chose to do what was wrong, and I am sorry for that.”

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous, to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). The Holy Spirit does not fill dirty Christian’s hearts, but He does cleanse and He does wash repentant Christians hearts.

Third, yield yourself completely to God. Tell God, “Whatever you want from me God you can have. I have been selfish but I don’t want to be selfish. Who do you want me to help, where do you want me to serve, what do you want me to say, I am all yours, every aspect of my life belongs to you. I yield myself completely to the Holy Spirit. I am not my own because I have been bought with a price. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that lives in me.”

Fourth, ask God to fill you with His Spirit. When you are not filled with the Holy Spirit then you are a Christian who is walking in the flesh, but when you are filled with the Holy Spirit you are a great and mighty force to be reckoned with. Hold out your open hands with palms up and ask the Lord right now to fill you with His Spirit. Use your open hands as a symbol of being totally open to Him and He will fill you.

The Holy Spirit will always be in you but He will not always be filling you. Are you ready to be filled?

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I understand now, that when I am joyless, , sad, angry, full of worry, filled with fear, it is because I am trying to live the Christian life on my own and that is impossible because the only way that I can live the Christian life is the Holy Spirit living His life through me. As I kneel before You, please bring any sin to my mind that I have not confessed to you; If I was short with someone, if I was selfish with my time and my money, if I was lustful with my eyes, if I was greedy, if I gossiped, if I slandered another human being, if I was angry and worried, if I have been unforgiving. Thank You for Your forgiveness of all of my sins. Father, fill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit I am all Yours, my body is Your temple. Where You lead, I will follow. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.