Receiving the Holy Spirit

[BorisNatasha]

I am very confused right now. I received salvation a few years ago. At the time I grew in Christ through my Christian friends, a wonderful bible study I was attending and finally by going to Church. Three years ago I was baptized. About a month later we moved away and ever since I have grown further apart from God until very recently when I have been trying to renew my relationship with God by reading the bible and Christian message boards, praying and repenting. I don't believe I have ever received the Holy Spirit. I feel empty inside. I have not spoken in tongues... ever. I don't feel that happiness and joy I imagine most Christians filled with the Holy Spirit must feel. I have asked God repeatedly for the gift of the Spirit without any noticeable change. I have never felt particularly led by the Spirit either nor felt a presence in my life. When I was attending the bible study the group prayed over me with a laying on of hands without result although at the time I don't believe I truly understood what was happening and did feel some fear. Does all this mean I am not truly saved? I desperately would like to receive this gift before it is too late for me. I was sincerely born again... at least I believed I was. Is it possible to believe one has been saved only to find out they weren't truly sincere?? Will I go to Hell if I am not filled with the Spirit?

[christseeker]

Fear not, You received the HS when you initially get saved you don't need to talk in tongues not everyone does. As the body of Christ we all have different roles to play

[amazzin]

The Holy Spirit sealed you as a child of God when you were saved. If you were to die today, you will be in heaven with God.

The infilling of the Holy Spirit is an entirely different experience and it is not required for salvation nor will you go to hell if you are not infilled with it. Speaking in tongues is an evidence you are baptised in the Holy Spirit.

[TRAVlS]

Here is a some verses that really encouraged me while I was seeking for the Holy Ghost.

John 14:15-21 If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Keep seeking him... I believe God wants to have such a close relationship with you that you can feel his presence and know that he is right there with you. I was a christian for about 2 years before I received the Holy Ghost... I kept holding on to the promise of his word. Hopefully those verses encourage you too. (:

[BorisNatasha]

Thank you all so much for your kind words of encouragement and wisdom. I feel so much better knowing that not only is it not imperative to be infilled with the Spirit but that speaking in tongues is also not a requirement.
When my bible study group did the prayer over me one of the ladies who was very big into the smoke and mirrors part of religion was so disappointed when I didn't begin speaking in tongues. I felt like a failure and was
quite perplexed as to why I couldn't do this when it was expected of me to do so. The whole thing was a mystery to me then and still is somewhat now. I have always felt unworthy since it didn't seem to come to me as naturally as it should have.

Travis... thank you! I will keep seeking!!

[Br. Barnabas]

Fear not you have received the Holy Spirit when you became a Christian and were saved. Now you must take possesion of the Holy Spirit, or in other words understand his role and power within you. One person has described this action with a parable about a couple buying a peice of land, they owned it for years. One day they discovered oil and lots of it. They had owned the oil the entire time they had owned the land but they did not always possess the oil but they did always have it. You have to learn to do the same thing with the Spirit learn to hear him and allow him to use you.

Raniero Cantalamessa a great pratical theologian and preacher to the Papal household, describes it as inviting the Holy Spirit in to yourself. He suggests imagine that you are standing at the door Jesus describes when he says ask, seek, knock. You must seek the door, when you have found it you must knock on it, once it is opened you must ask the Spirit to come in. So seek the Spirit, knocking can be related to spiritual disciplines like those you described in your first post here. Asking the Spirit to come in is the last part, but many of us ask the Spirit to come into our lives but yet block the door way with many things like doubts, fear, double-mindedness, and all sorts of other things. We ask the Spirit to come in yet don't allow him to enter. This is the step that I had the most trouble with, because I was holding on to anger about something and the anger was directed at God, sure enough as soon as I let go of the anger and dealt with it the Holy Spirit moved right in and I felt him moving me and directing me. So try to let go of whatever might be blocking the door and also allow the Holy Spirit to move, you must give him yourself, and be open to his leadings.

[BorisNatasha]

Mr Barnabas...

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.... your explanation makes perfect sense and I believe I have indeed been blocking the way of the Holy Spirit with my fears, anger and bitterness with all the things gone wrong in my life. I can totally see how this is standing in my way of experiencing the teachings of the Holy Spirit!! I will pray and work on eliminating the blockades and go from there.

Many thanks!

[Br. Barnabas]

Mr Barnabas...

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.... your explanation makes perfect sense and I believe I have indeed been blocking the way of the Holy Spirit with my fears, anger and bitterness with all the things gone wrong in my life. I can totally see how this is standing in my way of experiencing the teachings of the Holy Spirit!! I will pray and work on eliminating the blockades and go from there.

Many thanks!

Glad to hear that it might help you.

[Caleb]

If I may, I believe there are three main operations (if you will) of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit with you (direct us), the Spirit in you (give Life), and the Spirit upon you (equips us)

John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Spirit in you is what we receive when we are saved. This is for conforming us to His image.
Producing the fruit of the Spirit:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The Spirit upon me; is because:

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The Spirit is upon us to give us gifts for the work of God.

The Spirit with you, is to 'firstly draw us to God. To seal us, lead us, guide us, protect us, etc

[RollTide21]

I am very confused right now. I received salvation a few years ago. At the time I grew in Christ through my Christian friends, a wonderful bible study I was attending and finally by going to Church. Three years ago I was baptized. About a month later we moved away and ever since I have grown further apart from God until very recently when I have been trying to renew my relationship with God by reading the bible and Christian message boards, praying and repenting. I don't believe I have ever received the Holy Spirit. I feel empty inside. I have not spoken in tongues... ever. I don't feel that happiness and joy I imagine most Christians filled with the Holy Spirit must feel. I have asked God repeatedly for the gift of the Spirit without any noticeable change. I have never felt particularly led by the Spirit either nor felt a presence in my life. When I was attending the bible study the group prayed over me with a laying on of hands without result although at the time I don't believe I truly understood what was happening and did feel some fear. Does all this mean I am not truly saved? I desperately would like to receive this gift before it is too late for me. I was sincerely born again... at least I believed I was. Is it possible to believe one has been saved only to find out they weren't truly sincere?? Will I go to Hell if I am not filled with the Spirit?

NO!

Don't let preconceived notions of what you think Christian life should be like drive you into despair and rob you of the Peace you may claim by right granted by the blood of Christ. "Receiving the Holy Spirit" does NOT have to be some sort of cataclysmic event where you jump around, speak in tounges, and shake uncontrollably. You received the Holy Spirit when you were convicted to ask Christ to save you. The Holy Spirit is what led you to your friends, your desire for Bible Study, and to go to Church. It is the Holy Spirit now that is convicting you to restore your relationship to Christ. It is the Holy Spirit working in you that is causing you to make this post. If not for the Spirit, why would you care?

It breaks my heart to see stuff like this. I've been there. Don't let ANYBODY convince you that, because you haven't experienced some huge "event", you aren't saved. God doesn't work the same way for everyone. It is SATAN robbing you of your peace by causing you to question your security in Christ. If you, with sincerity in your heart, asked Christ to redeem you, then He did. He called to you and you responded in Faith.

Just develop a relationship with Him. KEEP IN MIND, YOU ARE NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO "FEEL" SOMETHING WHEN YOU PRAY OR READ THE BIBLE. In fact, I've noticed that, almost without fail, when I go to God expecting to get some sort of "good feeling", I get nothing. Train yourself not to EXPECT something. God will work in your life how He sees fit, not based on your ideas about how He should behave. Read and study the Bible. Pray earnestly. Message boards like this are good Christian entertainment, but make sure to spend quality time in the Bible and in prayer. I promise you that you will find that, as you seek Christ, your walk with Him will improve as will your peace of mind. Basing your peace on the "highs" of Holy Spirit uplifting doesn't work. These things happen, but they are on God's schedule and we don't get to decide when they do or don't happen. He knows what you need and when you need it.

You're all good! Jesus loves you and, if there is one thing I am sure of, you will learn from this and ultimately realize that God was teaching you. I can attest to that personally!

[WillPower]

Salvation belongs to God of Israel.

[BorisNatasha]

Thank you... to all of you. You have all spoken eloquently and taught me hugely! These are all things that I was not aware of and my mind has been quite muddied lately mostly I am sure by Satan. When I have heard from God in the past it has always been through written word or from fellow Christians. Therefore I have no doubt that God is speaking to me in this thread through you wonderful people who have given me much to think about.

[zanzraj]

BorisNatasha,

I know EXACTLY what you're going through coz i went through the same exact thing when i was younger. To be surrounded by people who speak in tongues while you don't. Heck, my little 14 year old brain wanted it so badly that i pretended to have that gift when praying in youth. Glad to see that i didn't continue that stupidity very long.

While indeed it is evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit - it is a sign to the unbelievers mainly. As such, not everyone in the Church are given the gift.
Paul dealt with the issue in 1 Cor 14. ( Ever notice how come there is so many more people who speak in tongues but very few who interpret / prophecies - i've realize that some of them are like i was. Just pretending - but hey, thats between them and God )

Its my core belief that we should seek the Giver not the gift. It may just be that now's not the right time or that is not the gift He wants for you. But don't let it ever be a reason to doubt God's salvation and love in your life .

[Bliz]

BorisNatasha,

Br.Barnabus has given you some very solid advice.

Don't let anyone fool you. The Holy Spirit does not operate outside of our expectancy.

Since the Holy Spirit strives with us, He never forces Himself upon us.

Most of the verbs associated with the Holy Spirit have to do with cooperation, whereas the verbs associated with Christ and the father are associated with absolute submission and obedience. Thus, the Holy Spirit manipulates nobody. Evil spirits manipulate people... but not the Holy Spirit.

He brings us under submission and obedience to Christ and our Father, but never Himself.

Given what you mentioned in your post where you said that you felt that this was expected of you, I suspect that you felt pressured by others in your Church of whom you considered as "smoke and mirrors" type Christians.

Given what you have said there, I suspect you felt manipulated. Yes?...

This would certainly block most of us from having an expectant presumptuous receiving spirit in seeking, so don't feel so bad that it didn't happen for you at the time.

But when it does happen... please do know that not everyone speaks in an unknown tongue the moment that they are baptized in the Holy Spirit, but many do experience something that leads to an utterance of some sort whether it be in the form of tongues or prophesying...

It is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, and I assure you that if you are filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, not only will you know it, but others will as well... and yes, it more often than not will spill out of your mouth in some form or fashion...


The "gift of the Spirit" is different than the "gifts of the Spirit", but what's interesting is that many of the gifts of the Spirit have to do with speech. I suspect this to be the case because our tongue is the very part of our body that causes us to sin the most, and I suspect that the Lord wants to get a hold of our tongue 1st.

Our tongue is the hardest thing to bridle, and he who is able to bridle his tongue is perfect. James 3:2 says: "For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well."

This is very telling indeed!

Here is some advice for you with regard to your post. Jesus told this story in relationship to being persistent in going on asking for the Holy Spirit. It is found in Luke Chapter 3 vs's 5-13, and Jesus is speaking to His disciples just after He taught them to pray...

" And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Keep in mind that being "impudent" is being bold and presumptuous... only through faith do we approach God with boldness to presume that we will receive... this is what I mean when I tell you that the Holy Spirit doesn't work outside of our expectancy...

The word "ask" in this last verse is in the present ongoing tense which is better translated as "goes on asking". the words "seek" and "knock" in this passage are also written in this very same tense.

So go on asking, seeking, and knocking while believing that you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and Christ will indeed baptize you!

I pray that the Lord will meet your deepest needs in Him. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us on this forum.

I hope that this has also helped you in some way.

Carpe Logos!

Bliz

[BorisNatasha]

Bliz.... Thank you so much. For taking the time to reply with such detail. You have blessed me mightily today!! Your words have touched my soul and have made a great impact and for that I am so thankful. I feel the Holy Spirit speaking to me through you without doubt.

Zanzraj.... Thank you also. For sharing your experiences and wisdom. It helps to know that others have gone through the same struggles and have come out victorious on the other side.

It really isn't so much about not being able to speak in tongues as that was personally not my goal. That was the expectation of the other person projected upon me who believed that this would definitely be the outcome from receiving the Holy Spirit. I did feel manipulated when the session was over and very much let down as if I had failed everyone... myself, my fellow Christians but most of all God. And I felt strongly... unworthy.
This has always been my largest struggle... the feeling of unworthiness and why would God want someone like me. For those of you who have been there you know what I am talking about. I still struggle with this but am working to keep it in check as I understand it is the enemy making me feel this way.

Thank you again to all of you who have taken the time to respond and help. You are all a blessing!!!