What Does it Mean to Be Spirit Filled, and How Does One Become Spirit Filled?

Pastor Jim Verkest, Mosinee United Methodist Church

The one thing that is sure about the Person of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit is that, by human standards, it is unpredictable.
The Spirit moves where it chooses to move. The Holy Spirits work is transformation to a large extent and that can be accomplished instantaneously or gradually, depending on the will of God. If there is one Person of the Trinity that is the most difficult to understand, it is the Holy Spirit.
Having said that, there are many passages of Scripture that speak of the work of the Spirit/Holy Spirit, both in the Old Testament and New Testament. Because the context of the question seems to be more Christian focused, I will defer to what is found in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
There are many references to being Spirit filled in the New Testament. Perhaps the most interesting of these is the reference in Luke 1:15 to John the Baptist being filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth. Later in Luke 1:41, we hear that Johns mother was filled by the Holy Spirit at the sound of Marys, Jesus mother, voice and that the baby in Elizabeth (John) leaped within her.
These are wonderful examples of how God chooses, through the Spirit, to take the initiative in someones life. God chose John the Baptist for a very special ministry. A ministry that would set the stage for the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. His mother was more than ju ...