Still receive the Holy Spirit?

[trulyblezzed]

If someone hasn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit, can they still receive the Holy Spirit?

The reason I ask is this. I took a new girl to church with me and she was sitting with me and another leader. At the end of service, we all went up to the alter to receive. The other leader we were with started receiving the spirit od Joy, which makes you laugh uncontrollably (to an extent because you can stop if you really wanted to because God also gives us the spirit of self-control).

Well during the next service, WHILE THE PREACHER WAS PREACHING... we weren't even at the alter; he was literally in the middle of the message, the new girl started to laugh uncontrollably. Now, she told me afterwards that she couldn't control it, but honestly I think she was faking it because she saw the other leader doing it previously and thought maybe she could "fit in" by doing it.

Now we all know there's a time and a place for everything and we CAN control ourselves when we receiving. If we couldn't control it, we would be sitting at work shaking all over the place! (or crying, or laughing, or falling depending what He wants to give us).

Obviously I need to confront the new girl and stress to her that we shouldn't fake receiving, but before I do that, I need to scriptural backup and Christian advise about how to go about this situation.

 

[Janette]

Receiving the Spirit

I know from experience that you can receive the Holy Spirit whether or not you have been baptized, and even whether or not you have been Saved. If God wants to make use of you, He will. And if that requires infusing you with one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, He might do that too.

However, with very few exceptions, the Holy Spirit never manifests in a way that is disruptive. It sounds to me that this girl just desperately wanted to fit in and so she started into nervous laughter. Another possibility is that she was being afflicted by demonic forces at that moment.