What are you filled with this Christmas? Many folks have cars filled with gifts, homes filled with decorations, tables filled with food, and stockings filled with things we will never use. We are filled to over the top. However, when we read about the birth of Jesus, we find that instead of being filled with the things of the world, they were filled with the Holy Ghost!
* The angel came to Zacharias and told him that he would have a son who would be "FILLED with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15-17).
* When Mary came to visit her cousin Elisabeth during her sixth month of pregnancy, the moment she greeted her “the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was FILLED with the Holy Ghost: and she spake out with a loud voice” (Luke 1:41-42).
* At the circumcision celebration for John the Baptist, his father, Zacharias was "FILLED with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied” (Luke 1:67).
* Jesus was conceived by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT COMING UPON Mary (Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:35).
* When Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus to the temple to be dedicated, Simeon, a man FILLED with the Holy Spirit and waiting for the coming of the Messiah, took him up in his arms and blessed God (Luke 2:25-28).
* During Jesus' childhood he was FILLED with wisdom (Luke 2:40).
The challenge is: what are we filled with as we remember the birth of Christ? Are we filled with anxiety and busyness or are we filled with the Holy Spirit? Imagine if we spent as much time seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit as rushing around buying gifts and preparing for Christmas. What would happen? Imagine if we took time to listen to the Holy Spirit. What would He say to us? What difference would it make in our lives and in our homes? Imagine if we asked the Holy Spirit to lead us instead of doing our own agenda. How would He direct us?
May you enjoy a FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT Christmas or Hanukkah if you are celebrating Hanukkah.
Love from Nancy Campbell
How I love this painting of Simeon, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, holding Jesus in his arms, and blessing him (Luke 1:25-32).