Make It Real Feb 09

Question: Should a Christian seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit? How does one know if they have received this Baptism? (Last month we explained the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, you can find the column on our web site at www.beautyforashes.org)

Many people don’t realize that after the resurrection Jesus walked the earth and ministered to His disciples for forty days. I believe that those who trusted in His death and resurrection were born again by His Spirit during those days. To experience salvation, one needs to believe with their heart (belief is of the heart or spirit of a person) and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is Lord. (See Romans 9:9-10) Jesus reveals that one must be born of the Holy Spirit to have the salvation experience. (See John 3:3)

In chapter twenty-four of the book of Luke, you will find the account of Jesus revealing Himself to His disciples after His resurrection. In the book of Acts chapter one, we read of the directions given to His disciples:

I made the first report concerning all things which Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day He was taken up, having given directions to the apostles whom He elected, through the Holy Spirit, to whom also He presented Himself living after His suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them through forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. And having met with them, He charge them not to leave Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, “ which you heard of Me; for John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days after”. Acts 1: 1-6

Jesus has charged us to wait on the promise of the empowering of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to continue reading the book of Acts and allow the Holy Spirit to cause you to seek an experience in Him that will bring the empowerment of His divine nature into your life. In this column last month, I shared the life changing experience with the Holy Spirit that I encountered after reading the book of Acts. I pointed out that Acts 8:14-17 outlined an account of believers who had not yet received the empowering of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe many of you have made a true confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, but you have not sought after an encounter with the Holy Spirit. You need to be completely saturated with His divine power to fulfill the great commission to win souls.

Recently I traveled with a friend who loved the Lord and read the Word daily. She knew that God was living in her heart. However, she had not had a supernatural encounter with the Holy Spirit as revealed in the book of Acts. Her life experiences and attempts to witness did not reveal her divine and powerful God. She had thought that only a few chosen people would live the life in Christ that was filled with His power. After we discussed the teaching from the book of Acts, she realized that she needed to spend time seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
How does one know if they have been saturated in the Holy Spirit? The answer is not about the experience that you felt. It is about the change in your life. Do you operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as discussed in 1 Corinthians 12 ? Do you find the Holy Spirit operating in your life and working through you without your own effort? Do you find yourself hungry for more revelation and understanding of Jesus? The infilling of the Holy Spirit should be an ongoing daily experience of intimacy with our Lord. The fruit of love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience and longsuffering should be noticeably in your life. The hunger and desire to see the Heavenly Father glorified in your life should be increasing. We serve a God of increase!

If you once experienced a supernatural encounter with God, but you did not continue to seek after a deeper relationship with Jesus; then repent and begin to draw close to God once again. If you have never asked for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, then spend time reading the book of Acts and ask for God to fill you to overflowing with His Spirit so that you can do great things for His glory. We all need to be empowered to live the Christian life as a witness that reveals a true and living God.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for not embracing the truth about the empowerment of your Spirit being released upon my life. I desire to glorify you and reveal your power to a hurting world. I need the fullness of the Holy Spirit operating in my life. I want to see Jesus lifted up so that the world will be drawn. Lord Jesus, in faith I receive the baptism of your Holy Spirit. I believe that just as the early Christians experienced the baptism with the supernatural sign of speaking in unknown tongues, I should also receive a divine prayer language when the Holy Spirit comes upon me and fills me to overflowing. Forgive me for allowing fear or intellectualism to stand in the way of my receiving all that you have for me. Lord if my motive is not pure then please reveal this to me so that I may be fully equipped to fulfill the great commission. In Jesus name I pray. Amen