“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” - Joel 2:28
God is exciting and wonderful, and knowing Him is what life is all about. In spite of this, for many people, even if they’ve accepted Jesus, Christianity is not exciting at all. This is because, although the Spirit of God may be living in them, He’s still locked up inside.
He needs to be set free so they can become more aware of Him and enjoy Him, and so God can work strongly through them to do the things He wants to do.
In Acts, you can read how much the first friends of Jesus changed after the Spirit was set free in them. That can happen to you too. You can have the same kind of power, love and joy those first Christians had. You can be just as aware of God as they were. You can experience freely the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit.
God can use you to help other people supernaturally, by wisdom and knowledge, healings and miracles, and this will show them God is real.
WHAT IS THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift of God which we can choose to receive after we become Christians, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” - Acts 1:4-5“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, 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!” - Luke 11:11-13
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIVING THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
If you are ready for Heaven, you are ready to receive the Holy Spirit. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God’s Gift to believers.The gift of the Holy Spirit is not given after you have grown to a certain spiritual level, but He has been given to help and empower you so that you can reach higher spiritual levels.
HOW DO I RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
In Acts 2:38, there are two key words that you need to understand in order to receive the Holy Spirit. RECEIVE and GIFT.God the Father gave (poured out) the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost once and for all. Therefore, it is not a matter of God giving you the Holy Spirit, but rather you receiving what God has already given.
Our prayer should not be, “Father, when are you going to give me the Holy Spirit,” but “ Father, help me to RECEIVE what you have already given.”
EVIDENCE OF HAVING RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT
Speaking in tongues is the only reaction to receiving the Holy Spirit that we find in all five instances in Acts when believers received the Holy Spirit.This is the very thing that is keeping many Christians from receiving the Holy Spirit. They are waiting on the Spirit to speak. But the Spirit does not speak in tongues. We speak as the Holy Spirit gives the utterance.
In other words, the Holy Spirit prompts us to speak and impresses the words and syllables of another language upon our thoughts somewhere in our inner being.
We take those words and “sounds” with our own will and BY FAITH we put them upon our tongue and lips and speak them forth. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” - Acts 2:4
THERE IS A DEFINITE STEP OF FAITH when you first begin to speak. You are doing something totally new. Do not be afraid to take a step of FAITH. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” - Mark 11:24
WHY SPEAK IN TONGUES?
WHY NOT? All the writers of the New Testament did. The Apostle Paul said… “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all.” - 1 Corinthians 14:18, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” - 1 Corinthians 14:2ONE FINAL NOTE:
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not the stopping place. This is just the beginning of a new dimension in your Christian life.The Baptism in the Holy Spirit opens the door to the Gifts of the Spirit: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” - 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
Chick here to learn more about:
Water Baptism and Infant Dedication
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
‘He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost
being will flow rivers of living water.’” – John 7:37-38
