Power, love and self control
Dr. Roberto Miranda(Audio: Spanish)
SUMMARY:
The Christian life is meant to be lived fully, filled with the Holy Spirit. God wants to soak us and fill us with His Spirit. Paul advises Timothy to fan the gift of God within him, and the same applies to us. We need to activate and use the gifts that God has given us. Many people have been intimidated and stopped from entering a life filled with the Holy Spirit because of the overcomplication of the process. We need to simplify it and recognize that it is already within us. The key to a life filled with the Spirit is striving to activate what God has already placed in us.
The author believes that being filled with the Holy Spirit is not about experiencing specific external manifestations, such as speaking in tongues, but rather about believing and moving in the Power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can manifest differently in different people and there are Spirit-filled Christians who do not necessarily experience spectacular signs and wonders. The author emphasizes the importance of both the gift and the fruit of the Spirit, as well as obedience, humility, character, discipline, and being more like Christ. The Holy Spirit gives power to overcome challenges, but the person must use that power in all areas of their life and surrender their weaknesses to the Lord. The person filled with the Holy Spirit is not a timid person, but rather someone who believes that with Christ they can overcome any challenge.
The Holy Spirit gives us power and authority to undertake anything in life, but power must be balanced with love and self-control. Love tempers power and is what keeps the devil at bay. Humility and service are also important in balancing power. The character of Christ must be cultivated to balance power, and one must learn to manage the gifts of the Spirit in the context of the Church. Paul's letters in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 provide the balance and technology of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of power for the believer's life, and one must continually draw strength and energy from the Holy Spirit.
In chapter 14 of Corinthians, Paul emphasizes the importance of balance in the manifestation of the Spirit, including order and decency in a service. He also highlights the importance of self-control, which refers to having a healthy and logical mind. The mind of Christ is the wisest and most understanding mind, capable of solving problems and understanding God. Those who have the Holy Spirit have a reconstituted mind, while those who do not have the Spirit have a reprobate mind. Paul encourages believers to fan the fire of the gift of God within them, to give themselves as living sacrifices to the Lord, and to live life fully to the Spirit. The author invites anyone who wants to receive Christ to come forward and pray for them.It focuses on the life filled with the Holy Spirit, the Christian life is not supposed to be lived simply by halves, like having only a little bit of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit wants to overflow in us, amen? What's more, He wants to be with us so much that there is talk of a baptism, do you know what the word baptism means in the original Greek? baptizo, refers to saturation, filling, immersion in, God wants to soak us, God wants to fill us.
Right now it came to me, how many know what a fritter is? the Dominicans know but I also see Gloria there who is Ecuadorian, those are buñuelos, some like flour balls, like donuts that are put in a syrup, right? and they are plugged as they say, there are a few words, they are plugged, they are soaked, they are filled in the syrup and the syrup by dint of staying there that ball plugs in (laughs) penetrates, and when you put it in the mouth it melts like that all that syrup in there, because that little ball is full of syrup, that's how we're supposed to be, plugged in the Spirit, that's what I'm going to title this sermon, plugged in the Spirit (laughs), plugged in means saturated with , OK? alright, how good the Lord is, he gives us ideas, he gives us illustrations.