Never-Failing Help- God's fatherly Love

Here is a word for you from the Word.

Psalm 121:1-3

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. NAS

The psalmist there looks at the mountains in their majesty and in their grandeur and then he asks that question: “Where does my help come from?” And he is reminded of the great Creator, the one who formed the mountains, the seas and the whole earth and he rejoices to know that the Creator is also his helper. He says, “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” The same God that created all these mighty marvels that we see in creation, created us.

Not only did He create us, He wants to keep us, He wants to preserve us. He will not allow our foot to slip. He who keeps us will not slumber. I had a little picture once of a little boy in his father’s arms, holding on very tight to his father’s lapel in case he should fall, but after awhile he nodded off and went to sleep and his hand slipped away from his father’s lapel, but his father held him just as securely whether he was holding onto his father or not. And that’s how our relationship with God is. Sometimes we think we just have to hold on tight to God but when we fall asleep God still holds us even if we are not holding Him.

He who keeps us will neither slumber nor sleep. He is the great Creator. - Derek Prince

How to be anointed with miracle power

How To Be Filled With The Spirit

If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:13 NLT).

Dear Friends,

Instructions on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit are summarized in a popular booklet I wrote many years ago. God has used the biblical truths in it to change the lives of ten of millions. It has been reproduced in most of the major languages of the world.

Space does not permit me to include it here, but I will include a key portion, below. You can find the entire booklet in 80+ languages at http://www.greatcom.org/main.htm.

EXCERPT:

We are filled by the Holy Spirit by faith. You can appropriate the filling of the Holy Spirit right now if you:

1. Sincerely desire to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:6; John 7:37-39).

2. Confess your sins, and receive forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

3. Surrender every area of your life to our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1, 2).

4. By faith claim the fullness of the Holy Spirit, according to:

HIS COMMAND -- Be filled with the Spirit. "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18, NASB).

HIS PROMISE -- "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him" (1 John 5:14, 15, NASB).

HOW TO PRAY IN FAITH TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Prayer is one way of expressing your faith. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against You. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ's death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place of authority on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You COMMANDED me to be filled, and as You PROMISED in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit."

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If so, bow in prayer and trust God to fill you with the Holy Spirit right now.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:18-19 NLT).

Dear Friends,

Here is a real test that will help you determine if you are truly filled with the Holy Spirit.

Do you find that you have a greater love for Christ? Are you more concerned for those who do not know His love and forgiveness? Are you experiencing a greater faith, boldness, liberty, and power in witnessing, and victory in your own life? Do you enjoy reading God's Word, the Bible?

If you answer yes to these questions, you are filled with the Spirit. Jesus Christ is beginning to express His life and love through and in you.

Remember, Jesus promised that we would receive "power" after the Holy Spirit has come upon us. That power is to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8).

Most Christian leaders agree with Dr. R. A. Torrey, who said: "I have gone through my Bible time and time again checking this subject and I make this statement without the slightest fear of successful contradiction that there is not one single passage in the Old Testament or the New Testament where the filling with the Holy Spirit is spoken of, where it is not connected with testimony for service."

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will have a greater love for Christ, for your fellow man, and for the Word of God, and you will want to share Christ with others. As Paul said in Romans 5:5, "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (NIV). Also, the fruit of the Spirit -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control... (Galatians 5:22,23, NIV) -- will become more evident in your life.

As a Christian abides in Christ, living in the fullness of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is developed and the Christian becomes more mature spiritually. The maturing of the fruit of the Spirit is a lifetime process that goes on continually as Christ-like characteristics are being formed in the life of the Christian. Some Christians give greater evidence of the fruit of the Spirit than do others because of a greater degree of yielding to His working.

The more we acknowledge ourselves to be dead to sin and surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ and His life within us, and the more we allow Him through the power of the Holy Spirit to live out His life through us, the more evident will be the fruit of the Spirit.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

From: Bill Bright

The greatest adventure

I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return, a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property-with persecutions. And in the world to come they will have eternal life (Mark 10:29-30 NLT).

Dear Friends,

Your life as a Spirit-filled believer is the most exciting life imaginable! God has a special plan to equip, develop and use you for His purposes.

Although the development and maturing of the fruit of the Spirit is a long process, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given at the time a person becomes a Christian. Though every believer who is filled with the Spirit receives power for witnessing, not every Christian receives the same gift, according to 1 Corinthians 12. Also, some are called to be apostles, some prophets, others evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Therefore, we must let the Lord direct us into the place of service He has for us.

Do not imitate the ministry of someone else. Be patient. Do not too quickly decide what you should do with your life or where you should serve Christ. He will express His life in and through you as you continue to study His Word and remain obedient and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Through God's Word, the direction of the Holy Spirit, and the wise counsel of mature Christians, you will discover God's will for yourself.

As you ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit by faith, you are about to begin the greatest adventure of your life. Remember that you are asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than with self. As He takes control of your life, you will become more like Christ. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, it will be your constant desire to do the will of God and that which will please and honor Jesus Christ.

Why did Jesus come into this world? "To seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10, NIV).

What will please Him most? We please Him most as we help fulfill His Great Commission by praying, giving and going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature by inviting Him to live His life through us, beginning in our "Jerusalem."

How is this to be accomplished? Through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Every day can be an exciting adventure for the Christian who knows the reality of being filled with the Holy Spirit and who lives constantly, moment by moment, under His gracious direction.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

From: Bill Bright