Day 6 – The Help of the Holy Spirit
We can never underestimate the work and power of the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
A careful examination of the Scriptures and church history reveals Jesus’ followers not only experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at salvation, but they also received a second encounter of Spirit empowerment as found in Acts 2. The disciples received the Holy Spirit immediately after the resurrection, yet Jesus instructed them to wait for another enduement of His power. John the Baptist referred to this as the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The original Greek word for baptism is baptizo, which means to baptize, dip, dye, immerse, plunge, submerge, inundate, flood, swamp, soak, douse, drench, and saturate. Ponder each of these words for a moment.
With Holy Spirit baptism comes a release of spiritual power, gifts, and ability, enabling a Christian to do and know things beyond their natural abilities (1 Cor. 12:1-11).
If you are uncertain whether you have received this second marvelous gift of the Holy Spirit, now is the time to take a small step of faith and ask Him for it. It really is that simple. We must take Jesus’ words in Luke 11:11-13 at face value. Just as we received Him into our lives by faith, we also welcome the Holy Spirit’s second experience by faith.
When you are ready, take some uninterrupted time to expectantly ask your Heavenly Father for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Don’t hurry or rush this time. You may have a physical sensation of peace or joy, or you may not (the sense of His presence may come later). Nevertheless, based upon God’s Word and your faith–even if it is mustard seed tiny–you have received the Holy Spirit’s overflow.
With Spirit baptism, you now have access to the gift of spiritual language or speaking in tongues. This is a Spirit-led prayer language from your spirit directly to God’s throne room that will edify your faith tremendously, just as Paul tells us (1 Cor. 14:4).
How do you maintain Spirit fullness? Make time regularly to sit in the His presence. He is inside you to bring strength, courage, wisdom, and supernatural ability as He draws you closer to The Great Healer, the Lord Jesus.
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Ponder how you were encouraged by today’s thoughts. Do you have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit? Invite Him to make himself known to you.
Further Bible References:
1 Cor. 12:7-11 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice ; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
1 Cor. 14:4 A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
John 20:22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Luke 24:49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
Luke 11:11-13 11 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
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