The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life

Pastor Charles Stanley always writes excellent, faith filled, faith encouraging books. This book is definitely a life changing book. It tells how to live knowing the Holy Spirit is in you, if your a Christian. Highly recommend this book. Life changing.

Dr. Stanley provides insights that help a Christian to tap into the abundant life described by Jesus in the Gospels by showing them how to apply priciples that work. For example, he writes "you will enjoy exercising your gift. You will look forward to the responsibilities you are given that call on you to use your gift" (p. 137). In other words, being all that God intended you to be is an exciting adventure of discovery. It enables a person to discover who they are and the God who made them. In making a point about God's sovereignty, Dr. Stanley notes "the Holy Spirit decides who gets which gifts" (p. 134). As a result, the person is seeking to discover what God has already put in place in his or her life. The adventure continues as one uses those gifts for the kingdom of God and His purposes.

The Wonderful Spirit-filled Life by Charles Stanley is one of the most important training books you can have in your private library. It's simple, clear, lucid teaching. It is NOT fanatical or extreme in its presentation of how to have a Spirit-filled walk. It is very direct. Very accurate. If you follow the basic steps, by book's end, you'll have an empowered Christian life. As a Charismatic, there are a few doctrinal points Stanley made that I don't agree with. However, they were not large enough to deter me from growing through this book, nor ordering extra copies to give away. Overall, a very balanced presentation that can take you to a deeper walk with the Master.

I bought this book for two main reasons. First, I want to know more about the Holy Spirit, and the role it has in my Christian walk. Second, I have heard Charles Stanley preach before, and he seems like a reliable source for helping further my Christian development. This book confirmed both my reasons.In his book Dr. Stanley does an outstanding job of explaining how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. Although I do not agree with all of his conclusions about the Holy Spirit (most specifically when he talks about the limited availability of speaking in tongues for all Christians), overall, I think this book is right on target. Whether you are a new Christian, or have walked with God for years, I think that this book can help bring new light to a subject that is often misunderstood. Using a lot of scriptures, and his extensive research on the subject, Dr. Stanley has greatly increased my understanding of the Holy Spirit. I liked the book because he offers a lot of practical advice about seeking God's Holy Spirit. I really enjoyed the fact that Dr. Stanley shares his own struggle with grasping everything that the Holy Spirit has to offer us as Christians. I think that many Christian leaders in his position would perhaps be too proud to discuss their own journey towards a greater understanding of God's spirit. Lastly, I think that this book has helped further my quest for knowledge about the Holy Spirit. Dr. Stanley includes a list of the resources he used while writing the book, at the end of each chapter which will serve as an excellent guide for me in the future.I highly recommend this book to any believer who is wanting to learn more about the Holy Spirit. If you are like me, you want to learn the truth from a reliable source. I think this book will meet your need, if that is your desire.

I read this book only two years after believing on the name of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I thought the Holy Spirit was beside me. I never knew He was such an important part of me (inside me). It helped me not to fear the enemy any more. I mean, if the Spirit if within me, how could the enemy have any power over me? I live a victorious Christian Life and this book has helped me tremendously. Since reading this book, I understand how God speaks to me, and that means victory--if you surrender, of course!

In an outstanding, well researched, & documented book, Dr. Stanley identifies key factors contributing to the pervasive misunderstanding of the Third Person of the Trinity. In his no nonsense, yet comfortable style, he separates the wheat from the chaff. Through the use of personal dilemmas, exceptional Scripture referencing & works of noteable authors (such as Billy Graham and J. Oswald Sanders), infused with functional strategies for application, Dr. Stanley presents a clear case for anyone interested in moving in the direction of truth. His logic is compelling. He captures problems with human emotion beautifully. With all of the confusion about the identity of the Holy Spirit, and the unfortunate trend of some to try to "manipulate" Him, for their purposes, this is a giant breath of fresh air. Upon completion one may find himself saying, "Well of course! That makes perfect sense!" As a result of this book, I'm currently reading Hannah Whitall Smith's classic 19th century "The Christians Secret of a Happy Life". Wow! His generous in text referencing has whet my appetite. An amazingly brilliant, insightful, and honest piece of work.