even when i am at home…

“In case there might be any doubt in our minds about whether or not it is actually a command to be filled with the Spirit, we find it linked to another command :

Be not drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit.

If I ask if you obey the command to not be drunk with wine, you would probably answer at once, “Of course, as a Christian, I obey that command.” But have you obeyed the other command to be filled with the Spirit? Is that the life you are living? If not, why not? Are you willing to take up that command today? Will you say, “By God’s help I am going to obey. I will not give myself any rest until I have obeyed that command, until I am filled with the Spirit”?

I want to say at the very beginning that this is a simple question of listening to a command of God’s Holy Spirit from His Word. We do not want to have a theological discussion here about all that could be said about the filling of the Holy Spirit, because that may lead you away into ideas and thoughts that are really of no value in helping us reach our purpose.

Instead, we want to begin at once by saying that God has this message for every Christian: “My child, I want you to be filled with the Spirit.”

Let your answer be, “Father, I want it too. I am ready. I yield myself to obey You; let me be filled with Your Spirit.”

To prevent wrong impressions of what it means to be filled with the Spirit, let me just say that it does not mean a state of high excitement, a state of absolute perfection, or a state in which there will be no growth. No. Being filled with the Spirit is simply this: having my whole nature yielded to His power. When the whole soul is yielded to the Holy Spirit, God Himself will fill it.“

* * * * * * *

“I ask you to remember that the disciples were men who had forsaken all to follow Jesus. The Lord Jesus went to a fisherman and said, “Leave your net behind and follow Me.” To another man He said, “Leave your position as a tax collector and come and follow Me.”

They did it. They left those things behind and followed Jesus. They could later say by the mouth of Peter, We have forsaken all and followed thee (Matthew 19:27). They left their homes, their families, and their good names. Men mocked and laughed at them. Men called them the disciples of Jesus, and when He was despised and hated, they were hated too. They identified themselves with Him and gave themselves up entirely to follow Him. This is the first step to being filled with the Holy Spirit. We must forsake all to follow Christ.

I am not speaking about forsaking sin, though you ought to do that when you are converted. Forsaking all is something that has a far wider meaning. Many Christians think of Jesus as someone who can save them and help them, but they practically deny Him as Master. They think they have a right to have their own will in a thousand things. They speak however they like, do whatever they want to do, and use their property and possessions however they choose. They are pleased with themselves and their lives, and they never stop to consider that they might not have forsaken all for Jesus. They are their own masters, and they have never dreamed of saying, “Jesus, I forsake all to follow You.”

Yet this is the demand of Christ. Jesus has such infinite riches and glory that He deserves it, and He is such a heavenly, spiritual, divine gift that unless we give up everything, our hearts cannot be filled with Him. So Jesus comes and says, “Forsake all and follow Me.”

* * * * * * *

“Now I speak to all workers, especially to those who feel the need of power to work for Christ. My brother, my sister, may your whole heart be ready to say, “That is what I want. I see it. Jesus did not send me to war at my own expense and in my own power. He did not ask me to go and preach and teach in my own strength. Jesus intended for me to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit, even when I am at home in my house teaching my children. That may be my main Christian work now, but for that I need the power of the Holy Spirit. Whether I have a little Sunday school class or a Bible class, or some larger work, the one thing I need is the power of the Holy Spirit – to be filled with the Spirit.”

Let me ask if you are prepared to receive this from our Jesus. He loves to give it. God delights in nothing so much as to honor His Son, and we honor Jesus when souls are filled with the Holy Spirit, because then He proves what He can do for them. Will we not claim it?

Let me give you four very little steps. Let everyone who longs for this blessing now say, first of all, “I must be filled.” Say it to God in the depth of your heart. God commands it; I cannot live my life as I should live without it.

Then, say as the second step, “I may be filled.” It is possible that the promise is for me. Settle that, and let all doubt vanish. These apostles, once so full of pride and of self-life, were filled with the Holy Spirit because they held onto Jesus. With all your sinfulness, if you will but cling to Him, you may be filled.

Thirdly, say, “I must be filled.” To get the pearl of great price, you must sell all; you must give up everything. Are you willing? “Everything, Lord, if I may only have that. Lord, I am desperate to have it from You today.”

Then comes the last step. “I will be filled.” God wants to give it; I will have it. Never mind whether it comes tonight as a flood or in deep silence, or whether it does not come tonight, because God is preparing you for it tomorrow. Say, “I will be filled.” If I entrust myself to Jesus, He will not disappoint me. It is His very nature. It is His work in heaven. It is His delight to give souls the Holy Spirit in full measure. Claim it at once: “I will. My God, it is so solemn, it is almost fearful; it is too blessed and too true. Lord, will You not do it? My trembling heart says I will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Say to God, “Father, I will; for the name of my Savior is Jesus, who saves from all sin and who fills with the Holy Spirit. Glory to His name!”

—Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender, 1895

Andrew Murray (1828-1917), father of eight, was a Scottish evangelist, writer, and beloved pastor, primarily among Dutch settlers in South Africa. He penned over 240 devotional books in his lifetime, which he dictated to his wife, Emma, or his daughter. He was laid aside from active pastoral ministry for three years because of a throat issue, which led him not only into writing, but also, eventually, divine healing. His emphasis on surrender, the deeper life, abiding in Christ, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit have influenced my own thoughts & life more than any other Christian in history 🤎.

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