My Walk with Christ
An ordinary guy on a supernatural journey.
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The Rock San Diego – 5/31/09 – The Invisible Man Initiation: Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Posted on June 29th, 2009 No commentsToday we are continuing our study of the Holy Spirit and the vital role that He plays in our lives and our salvation.
If you don’t have the Holy Spirit you are living in ‘head knowledge’ and not living with the power of God.God is the Creator of all things, including the plan for our lives and our salvation. Jesus executed the contract for our salvation by dying on the cross and the Holy Spirit is the active manager of that contract. Today we “plunge” (pun intended) into a study of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
1. Baptism means to immerse or plunge.Consume yourself with God – make it your primary focus. It’s not about “God, do something to me and just make me right” it’s about “what are you going to do to pursue God?” (reading the Bible, praying, saying the right things, etc)God created many symbols in the Bible, one of which is the submersion under water, which represents the passing from death into life. As Jesus died and rose from the dead, when you accept Him as Savior, you are to be baptized – laid down in water (as in dying) and then rising up again, fresh, new and reborn.
2. All are baptized with the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation.God has unique experiences in store for each believer. But, never will your experiences contradict the Bible – never – but they will be different from other’s experiences. Some of those experiences are painful.For by the Sprit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews of Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)The Holy Spirit blesses all believers, regardless of background or past actions. When you accept Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit, and will continue to receive the Spirit as you change to fit God’s purpose.
3. Holy Spirit baptism empowers you to be a witness.The reason for the Holy Spirit is Acts 1:8 – You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be witnesses…It’s not about you, it’s about Christ. We are each a witness to Him in different ways. Expecting an ‘ability’ is a form of pride. Your gift(s) is between you and God.Embrace your uniqueness. A diamond in a dark room has no bling. We are all cut in a unique way. Our job is to reflect God in our own unique way.Today’s lesson plan listed several people from the Bible and the results of their being filled with the Spirit. Here are a few:a. Paul received the Holy Spirit in Acts 9:17 and the scales fell from his eyes.b. Stephen in Acts 6:10 received the Holy Spirit and began preaching. When he received the Spirit again in Acts 7:55, he actually saw God.c. The believers gathered at the Jewish Pentecost received the Spirit in Acts 2 and they began to speak tongues.Being baptized in the Holy Spirit doesn’t necessarily mean that you will suddenly be able to speak tongues, heal the lame or walk on water. But simply being a witness for Christ – telling others about Him and how He has changed your life – is a sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.…simply being a witness for Christ – telling others about Him and how He has changed your life – is a sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
4. Holy Spirit baptism should be an ongoing process.Ask God to fill you all the time – seek Him day in and day out. Don’t create just a religious habit.Do you eat only one meal a day? Do you only drink at only one point in the evening? Your body is in need of substance all day, just as your soul is in need of the Spirit all the time. Miles pointed out that when you surrender to Him, your growth and transformation is a process. Usually the mental and social changes take place first: people with whom you associate, ways in which you spend your time, etc. As you grow and mature, other things in your life begin to change as well, such as your willingness to tithe part of your income to the church for the furtherance of the ministry.
5. Holy Spirit baptism is not a result of you getting more of the Holy Spirit, but of the Holy Spirit getting more of you.You get all of Him – the problem may be, He isn’t getting all of you.The last part of you that gets saved is usually in your wallet. Usually what happens is a person gives God more of his/her life in stages. Fear keeps people from trusting God with their whole being. They may be afraid of what may ask of them. They may think he’ll take their fun away – He won’t take your fun away, but it will be fun you don’t need to be paranoid about.God has a plan and a purpose for your life, and this purpose is not to make your life rainbows and lollipops. There is work involved. God wants you to reach your potential, but that requires discipline.Is the saving of your soul worth it?Perhaps the better question is: what if you’re the only one that can reach another person to save him or her?Leave a reply