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Author
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Topic: Remember Arizona Bob
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Eden
unregistered
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posted
Hi, Kindgo, you said quote:
If you haven’t yet asked God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, ask Him today. Do so with a sincere heart, and He will give a new life beyond that which you could ever dream possible!
I was wondering, Kindgo, I assume that you are saying that also to me, you make it sound like you had such an experience with the Holy Spirit on one day, on an occasion that you can still vividly remember...can you please tell me about it?
Was it, like Arizona Bob?
thank you, Kindgo
eden
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ prophesied the coming of the Holy Spirit. Before He made this promise, John the Baptist told his disciples the same thing. In fact, he pointed to Jesus as the one who would baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire”:
“John answered their questions by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am – so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’” Luke 3:16 (NLT)
Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled John’s prophecy, and He spread His blessings of hope and salvation to the ends of the earth, not just to the benefit of the Jewish people, but to all people who are born into this sinful world:
“Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:14 (NLT)
As a result of Christ’s work, all who believe in Him receive the promised Holy Spirit through their faith, and this Spirit empowers and guides them to holy living. As such, those who are filled with God’s Spirit are empowered to spread this Good News to all people who remain ignorant of the blessings that await them. For the Holy Spirit is freely available in great abundance to all who are willing to seek it and ask for it:
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You fathers – if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So 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 11:9-13 (NLT)
If you haven’t yet asked God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, ask Him today. Do so with a sincere heart, and He will give a new life beyond that which you could ever dream possible!
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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scythewieldor
unregistered
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posted
Dear Eden,
Many dispensationalist groups believe you get all of the Holy Spirit you are going to get when you get saved. I can't argue about things I can not see. Terms like "being filled with the Spirit" are pretty intangible.
However, it was used to describe some of the first Christians as the Holy Spirit (by whom the Bible was written) described the energizing of the work that was present in the context.
quote:
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Ac 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.
20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
This part of knowing God was new. Jesus had walked, in the flesh, with His disciples for forty days after His resurrection. During that time, the Holy Ghost was empowering Jesus to give the disciples commandments concerning the Kingdom of God.
Just before He ascended, He said, "Wait in Jerusalem till you get the power promised by the Father."
quote:
Act 1:1 ¶ The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 ¶ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
That power is able to turn ordinary men into mighty witnesses. Their testimonies may be accompanied by certain signs or wonders. (I am not ashamed of the words of Jesus).
quote:
Mat 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
The problem with the way this empowerment is presented is that some attempt to evoke interest through sensationalism. This tends to draw the attention of the wrong kind of people.
quote:
Lu 11:29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
Lu 23:8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.
11 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
The way I see this, the person empowered by the Holy Spirit is, first, a convincing witness of Jesus, God's Son, crucified, resurrected, and Lord of all. He is not a witness of the gifts of the Spirit. In the course of the demonstration of his faith in Jesus, if he is never ashamed of the words of Jesus, that witness is given gifts of power from time to time.
There may come a word of wisdom when he, by the power of the Spirit, gains supernatural ability to settle differences in the Body of Christ.
There may come a word of knowledge when he, again, by the power of the Spirit, is able to present a secret of men that had been created with the intent of bringing pain to the Body of Christ or prevent the growth of the Body of Christ.
It may come as the ability to pray in the tongues of men or angels unto God so that, no man understanding, there can be no interfering doubts in the hearts of the hearers.
The gift of the Spirit may empower a man for casting out a demon, healing a sick person, or, even, raising the dead.
However, when these works are present, the backdrop of faith must never exhibit a preoccupation with the miracle. When that happens, men start to live by sight and not by faith.
When the miracles aren't flowing, the praises to God for taking away our sins must increase, not decrease. The knowledge of His will must, still, fill us. We must walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing even when we are not seeing those miracles.
The flip side of that should be told in churches where they never see power gifts of the Spirit exhibited. There, the tendency is to make more of the lack of recent miracles than they do the Word of God.
In other words, in spite of what Jesus said would follow believers, they create a man-made theology that says the time of miracles is dead. That, also, is living by sight and not by faith in the Word of God.
This is worse than the first, however, because it requires perverse definitions be applied to words that the Holy Ghost chose for His Book. It goes on to actually remove confidence in those words and direct the attention of men to things concocted by men.
quote:
Ac 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Since God is no respecter of persons, consider how Jesus might mean this if He said it to you.
quote:
Mt 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
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Eden
unregistered
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posted
Remember Arizona Bob This is a true story. I had a friend named Bob and he and I talked about the Lord together, but Bob always had a bit of a "wild-eye" look to him.
But one day Bob went to Arizona, and there Bob said he met some people who prayed with him and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, Bob said.
Soon after that Bob came to my house and Bob looked beautiful, fine features, a golden grecian look to his features and peaceful eyes...Bob said he had been filled by the Spirit while in Arizona when some people prayed for Bob.
I lived in a community house and when other people who had seen Bob before his transformation (it was almost a transfiguration without the brightness of the sun), immediately exclaimed, "What happened to you!!!!????" They couldn't believe their eyes.
And Bob withstood all of their inquiries with the Word of God, that Bob had been baptized in the Holy Spirit in Arizona.
Now, it is true, that eventually Bob became more wild-eyed looking again, and what Bob could have done to prevent that wilder look from returning I'm not entirely sure, but one thing is for sure, "I remember Arizona Bob".
Now, what happened to Arizona Bob has never happened to me. I've always sort of looked the same. Am I missing something?
eden
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