Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Luke 11:13
 
(Jesus said) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

When I read that scripture for the first time my first reaction was, “I’ve spent my whole life in church. Why have I never heard that scripture?”

I decided to stop right then and there and ask for the Holy Spirit. My life was never the same since. The Bible no longer was a history book. It became my prayer book. Jesus was no longer a person of history. He became my best friend. The Holy Spirit was no longer some vague theological concept. He became my constant companion and teacher.

The things I read about in my Bible became first-hand experience in my life. I saw people healed, saved, made whole. Jesus changed me from the inside out. My goals and interests changed. I became a new person in Christ. All this from one tiny prayer. Are you willing to pray that prayer?

Father God, I pray for Your gift
of the Holy Spirit.
Fill me.
Make me new.
I receive Your gift with gratitude.

As a side note, I’ve published a new 366 day devotional book entitled Looking Deeper. It’s available in paperback and e-reader.

Understanding Hidden Things

 

I Corinthians 2:14

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

A man that has not received Christ cannot take in the hidden things of the Spirit of God. To him, for God to have sent His own sinless Son to take the death we deserved in order to give us life, makes no sense. 

It all seems like a pile of gibberish and double-talk. He has no ability to perceive the things of the Holy Spirit because he doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ in him. Only the Holy Spirit can bring that understanding.

After we have walked in the Spirit for a long time, we tend to forget what it was like to walk in the limitations of our own mind. Sometimes we lose patience with those who are still on that dark path. Only God can remind us of that dark time.

Lord Jesus, help us to recall what it was like
to walk through life in the shadows without Your illumination,
ever searching, ever seeking, never finding,
until that glorious day You found us,
and set our feet on Your light path.

As a side note, I’ve published a new 366 day devotional book entitled Looking Deeper. It’s available in paperback and e-reader. Check it out here for paperback and here for eReader version

Jesus' Authority

Luke 10:19
Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.

When Jesus sent out seventy disciples, they returned rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them (Luke 10:17).

Before Jesus left earth, He gave the same charge to all believers (Mark 16:17-18) when He said, “And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The authority He speaks of here is like the authority of a policeman directing traffic. He puts up his hand and cars stop. Not because he has the power within himself to stop cars, but because he has the authority given to him to stop traffic because of his official office.

Jesus gave us His authority to act in His stead. To do the things He did while on earth. Believers are His designated officials. We must be about His business.

Lord Jesus, instill in us Your holy boldness
to step out in faith as we exercise Your authority
at Your direction, to see Your will done
in the here and now before our very eyes.

Day of Accounting

In this scripture, Paul writes to those in Corinth who are arrogant. He tells them he will come soon for a visit if the Lord wills. He’s going to look at their fruit to see if they are spouting empty words or if their ministry is accompanied with signs following.

Those signs could be anything from people being healed of various diseases, delivered from demons, or having their life turned around by the power of the gospel. In a later book Paul refers to people like this as “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (II Timothy 3:15).

We need to behave with an eye on this passage. Are we bringing people to Christ? Are we operating in the power of the Holy Spirit to minister to their needs? Do we see fruit from our labor or do we simply spout an empty doctrine devoid of the Holy Spirit’s power?

These are important questions to ask ourselves because one day we will stand before our Lord and give an account for the days He gave us.

Lord Jesus, please fill my days with Your presence
so that I may see as You see,
hear with Your ears,
and operate in the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit's Power

Acts 1:8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

After Jesus rose from His grave, He met with His disciples. He told them to wait in the city until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit.

He told them at that time they would receive power. They were to open themselves to the third person of the trinity—this promise of the Father (Luke 24:49).

This Spirit was to be their companion because Jesus was going to leave earth. They were to use this power to perform miracles like Jesus did and even greater ones because Jesus was going to the Father (John 14:12). This Spirit would help them walk a moral path and successfully resist the devil.
The promised Holy Spirit arrived and entered the disciples and about 3,000 others on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41).

This was a gift all believers. It is for us today. Repent of your sin, and ask God to baptize you in His Holy Spirit that you might be a powerful force for His kingdom.

Lord Jesus, forgive my sin, enter in
with Your Holy Spirit,
that I may be Your agent here on earth
until You return.

Deceivers

I John 2:20
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.

The apostle John writes this letter to believers to warn them of deceivers in their midst who he calls antichrists; ones who professed to be believers but who had gone away from them and the faith.
Those false believers said only a select few had on inside track to God through special knowledge. They were called Gnostics.

John tells the believers they have a special anointing given them by the Holy Spirit—the only anointing they will ever need. They are to stay closely connected to the Spirit and to each other through the truth of who Jesus is. He is the promised Messiah—the Christ. He is the only way to eternal life.

We have anti-christs today. They say there are many ways to salvation; that Jesus was a good teacher, but not the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world.

But we have access to the same Holy Spirit; the same anointing as the people in John’s day. May we ever listen to the Spirit and draw close to Him and one another in genuine faith in Christ as we see the day of the Lord draw near.

Lord Jesus, may we never forget who You are
and whose we are as we come to the end of this age.
May we long for Your appearing with each new day.

Is Jesus God?

 

Recently someone asked me if Jesus was God.

“Yes. He’s the third part of the trinity. He’s God with skin on. God with a face.”
“I don’t understand that trinity stuff,” she said.

Looking down into my lap and prayed the Lord to show me how to answer her. My hands rested there with the verigated yarn I was knitting on three needles.

Suddenly, I had the answer. “The trinity is like this piece of knitting. It’s all one piece, but it looks different depending on which side you look at.

Today's Need

A person posed a question to me recently. This person asked, “What if the church prayed with the same fervor as those who waited for what Jesus called ‘The promise of the Father.’” The apostles and 120 believers gathered in a common place and prayed for this unknown gift for 40 days after Jesus resurrection.

Acts 2 tells us that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit like a mighty rushing wind. Those same disciples who ran like scared rabbits the night Jesus was arrested, became bold as lions after they had received the outpoured Holy Spirit. Peter preached one sermon and 3,000 were added to the believers in one day.
When we look at the things going on around us today in our world, I think we need that same Holy Spirit to pour forth on us, like on the day of Pentecost. What do you think?

God's Undercover Work

I never cease to be amazed at our loving heavenly Father. On August 3, 2013 I posted an update to my 9/11 story in God’s Little Miracle Book II.

On August 21, I received an e-mail from a lady I didn’t know. She told me she was a daughter of my childhood friend Grant, the man who was the pilot on the United flight on 9/11. I wrote about him in God’s Little Miracle Book II.

She said, “Tomorrow it will have been six weeks,” (since her father died.) “I was having a difficult night, and praying for some type of connection. I Google imaged my father and your book came up. I instantly downloaded the book to my Kindle.

“I am Grant Besley’s daughter. Although I have heard the 9/11 story from him, it was wonderful to read in detail and imagine him telling me again . . . he was a great storyteller.

“Tonight, your book became MY God’s little miracle in a deeply felt prayer that was nearly instantly answered after writing a letter to my Dad.

“Oddly, the intent of my late night was actually to download the Kindle version of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but per my usual mode, I was distracted (Guided by the hand of God) to writing the letter, then the Google search, then my prayer answered!

“He (Dad) once sent me a card with the message “There are no coincidences . . . only God working undercover!”

Truly, our God does hear, answer, and work undercover!

27 Stories

A curious thing happened the other day. Someone questioned me as to why there are 27 stories in God's Little Miracle Book and God's Little Miracle Book II.

I replied, "I couldn't think of any more at the moment and declared it 'done.'"

My inquirer is a Hebrew teacher and explained, "Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a number assigned to it. Letters also have words associate with it. The number twenty-seven is the number for 'kindness.' In Hebrew it's spelled 'checed' (which sounds like hesed in English).'"

I went to blueletterbible.com and looked up "kindness." It references, goodness, kindness, faithfulness.

I sat in awe. Each of the stories in this book demonstrates the kindness, goodness and faithfulness of God to us. It's so fun to write guided by the Holy Spirit!