This book explains the importance and difference between receiving the deposit of the Holy Spirit, and receiving the baptism - i.e. daily infilling of the Holy Spirit. It was written for those who are seeking a genuine experience of God by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It consists of three chapters:
The first shows you why, when you receive the Holy Spirit in your spirit, you will experience him as your greatest comforter. The second chapter is how you can be filled with the Holy Spirit, daily, which is also part of your inheritance; and the third chapter is titled, "Why Without Having God in my life, I Can't See How I Could Have Survived."
I believe this book is different, and actually quite revolutionary because it shows you in a practical way, how to apply the promises of God through the Holy Spirit to your personal life so that you can know how to experience both the miracle of being born-again as well as know how to cultivate your relationship with God by being regularly filled with the Holy Spirit as well as shows you in a practical way how to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Where I quote C. S. writings and my paraphrase:
Listen to how C. S. Lewis explains the process:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to?
The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
My paraphrase:
Jesus Christ is a gentleman. He does not force himself onto you. He does not kick down the door of your heart - first he waits until you invite him - but if you want him to come into your home - your heart- as a Landlord to clean and upgrade every room of your house, then you must regard him as the Owner who you are not afraid to invite into every nook and cranny of your heart. Not as a mere visitor but as a welcomed Invader. For unless you consider him Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. After you invite him
in to take the keys of your home, that's when the real renovation begins, which, even though you feel its uncomfortable, it's actually doing you a world of good. The designs he has in you couldn't be more grander and royal - for your greatest healing: he wants to make your heart - your spirit and soul fit for a King, because he has adopted you as his own Son or daughter with firstborn rights.
OF COURSE, THE HOLY Spirit is holy, and that means he is zealous and he comes as a redeeming fire to cleanse with fire all the dross of our sins. Not a literal physical fire but rather a supernatural force of God's Spirit neutralising all our fallen and lustful ways.
That means if you want to receive this Holy Invader then you need to exchange all that stands between you and him. All your sin. It means you need to give up all those things which you consider important, which actually are not as important as him in your life; those things which compete with your life for God - things which you may consider good because they are exciting, but which in the long run take your time from God, or I should say take away the time which you should be spending praying to him in his presence, which should be his time because you have given not only your life to him but
also your daily time; meaning, you need to spend at least one hour a day praying to him and cultivating your relationship with him. But this kind of cultivation in your relationship doesn't come instantly, but over time, as you keep up a regular schedule to pray to him, although it doesn't have to be one hour.
We need to give up those things which as a Christian we need to surrender to him as God's time; for example, you may have an over indulgence of such vices as alcohol, nicotine, football, even it could be chocolate if your consumption is not in moderation, or your smartphone which are potentially little "idols" in your life. And what is the definition of an idol:
Something which takes your time away from serving God, anything which distracts us from spending time praying and communing with God the Holy Spirit.
Remember if Jesus is not Lord of all, then he is not Lord at all. But if you confess him Lord of your life, then he must be Lord of all your habits - and any bad habits need to be surrendered to him - and if you cannot bring yourself to do that, now, at least you need to ask God to give you his holy desire to want to give up those vices.
Just by praying a simple prayer like this can be very powerful:
"Holy Spirit of God, please show me which area of which room of my heart I need to change andsurrender to your love. Thank you."
Or pray this:
“Dear Holy Spirit,
I need to make you Lord of all my life, because unless you are Lord of all my life, you are not Lord at all; thus, I cannot begin to call you "Lord". So, please give me a deep desire to change - a thirst for the right action to take - as the Bible calls it, "righteousness" so that I would know what to surrender to your love. Please show me and guide me as to what bad habits and attitudes I need to relinquish into your arms so that you would give me the power to overcome all my weaknesses, sinful desires and lusts. Please
help me not to worry about the small things in life, but to trust you for my every need because you are my heavenly father who supplies my every need more than the flowers of the field and birds of the air. Thank you for all you do for me.
Amen."
As it says in the Bible book of Matthew, Chapter 6:25-33,
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body,what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall
we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Non-believers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
John 6:25-33, NIV Bible.
And so you need to prepare to receive Jesus - it means before this King of kings comes and sits on the throne of your life, you need to surrender to his Kingship and authority - those little "gods" - those idols, maybe your wife or your partner - if she is telling you to not be so radical before God; or you are having a sexual relationship with your partner which you know God's word and will is that such a relationship is only reserved within the confines of a covenanted marriage. Maybe you heard or were told that this
is "safe-sex" and you felt justified to have sex outside marriage, which the Bible calls "fornication" and which, in truth, is never safe for anyone involved. Therefore, you need to make a choice whether you are willing to surrender this relationship into God hands by asking him to make or break this relationship if it is competing with his love for you; so you need to stop the sex and sacrifice it on the altar of worship all together, if it stands in the way of your relationship with God. Or such things or potential "idols" as your job or boss who is telling you to work Sundays or to
overwork yourself, which God did not ordain you to do.