ICS Daily Devotions
Baptized by the Holy Spirit
Acts 10:38 (NKJV) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Sometimes, we may have a tendency to rely more on our natural abilities than to have the Holy Spirit to work through us. Some may even think that the Holy Spirit is not necessary for being involved in all areas of our lives. But who are we to say that we do not need the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, if Christ, the head of the Church, needed the empowerment of the Holy Spirit? The disciples saw the work of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus when He went about praying for the sick, casting out demons and preaching the word of God.
The devil thought he had solved the problem when Jesus was crucified on the cross and the stone was rolled across the opening of the grave. What he didn’t know was that God was raising up a mighty army for Himself to impact the world!
Once upon a time in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God was upon the King, the Priest and the Prophet. There were limitations for the Spirit due to the sin of mankind. However, when Jesus was made sin for us and gave us His robe of righteousness, then it paved the way for the Holy Spirit to resides in the heart of every believer. God had a plan that it will be the church age after the death and resurrection of Christ. He would send the Holy Spirit to empower and mobilize the believers for ministry across the world. Every believer will have at least one spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit as He wills. Therefore, Jesus instructed His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them although they had already received the Holy Spirit when He blew upon them previously. It was a second spiritual experience. It was the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Every believer on the day of Pentecost was filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in godliness and operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are a witness to the world when we love one another and work well with one another to glorify the name of the Lord. We have been entrusted with the word and ministry of reconciliation to the lost who need to be saved.
Truly, the Holy Spirit is God’s essential gift to the church, and He is so needed. The same Holy Spirit who was with the Lord’s ministry is present in the New Testament’s believers today! The Holy Spirit longed to work in and through us to bless the people around us because we are His hands, eyes, legs and conduit where His power will flow.
It is a movement of believers empowered by the Holy Spirit who worked through Jesus moving in and through every believer to do something for the Lord! What comes with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is the boldness to preach the gospel, to minister to the lost with our spiritual gifts, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead who has extreme creative power and He lives in us. We are a channel of God’s blessing. We are a conduit for the power of God to flow through us into the person who is receiving the ministry.
Sermon series: Our Church experiencing God Together (CG campaign 3)
