A Spirit-Filled Heart (Updated) Series

A Christian’s Heart

“A Spirit-Filled Heart”

Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0-WNaXKHO4

As we begin our study on the qualities that every Christian’s heart should possess, I realized that this one quality should start it all off. Because, if there is any one quality that that supersedes all the others it would be a Holy Spirit filled heart, and that’s because such a heart directs the flow of our lives.

The Apostle Paul said, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14 NKJV)

The Holy Spirit is the choreographer who designs, arranges, and directs the flow not only our lives, but also the ministry flow of the church. This is because the Holy Spirit transcends our own ability and empowers us by transforming our inability.

A great example this is when Jesus’s disciples were praying behind closed doors in Jerusalem while waiting for Jesus’s promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And then, on the Day of Pentecost the disciples were endued with heavenly power, Holy Spirit power, and they changed the world.

They went from being afraid to being fearless.

Further, who else can clean up our hearts the way Jesus cleaned out the temple. Now, with this understanding listen to what Jesus said. “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:14-15a NKJV)

What Jesus said is that He was going to send the Holy Spirit, describing Him as another helper like unto Himself.

So just as Jesus cleansed the temple of the money changers and those who sold the sacrifices; thus defiling the temple (Matthew 21:13), the Holy Spirit can cleanse us, kicking out whatever is defiling God’s temple within us.

And that temple that resides within us, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Paul asked, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV)

So, within every believer is God’s holy temple, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we really need to have Holy Spirit-filled hearts, and allow Him to do that inside cleansing, that work of transformation we need.

Let’s take a look at what some of the aspects are of having a Spirit-filled heart.

A Heart Set on Fire

While we say we’d like to be, or better yet, we want to be set on fire by God, the truth is that we fear it. And that’s natural. Just like when we smell smoke, see flames, and feel the heat of fire, there’s something inside that makes us want to run.

But instead of running away from the Holy Spirit, and running away from God’s plan and purpose for our lives, we need to start fanning to flame His fire, and start getting ourselves set ablaze by God, because fire not only melts wax, it also hardens steel.

And that’s exactly what Holy Spirit fire does in our lives. Holy Spirit fire burns away the impurities of our lives while at the same time toughening up our faith.

When we look at Scripture about when God’s fire falls, there are several things that work in our favor when we allow Holy Spirit fire to engulf our hearts.

a. Holy Spirit Fire Directs

We see a similar fire engulfing a bush back in the Old Testament through which the Lord directed Moses in setting free the Hebrew people from over 400 years of bondage to the Egyptians.

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.” (Exodus 3:2 NKJV)

And during the exodus, it was God’s pillar of fire by night that helped lead the way in the wilderness.

For believers today, Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit baptized the disciples they would be His witnesses, that is, directing not only what they said, but where they went and what they did.

On the very first missionary trip by Paul and Barnabas it says that while the leadership of the Antioch church were fasting and in prayer the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have calledthem.” (Acts 13:2 NKJV)

And it goes on to say, “Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.” (Acts 13:4 NKJV)

Now, going back to the burning bush, there is something that we should note, and that is while the fire engulfed the bush it didn’t consume it, that is, it didn’t harm the bush, which brings me to the next point