Getting In Step With The Spirit

You possess and are possessed by a great blessing of God. Unfortunately this is a blessing that many in the Church acknowledge and deny all in the same breath. It is a blessing that requires our constant surrender and a blessing we must allow to control us. After the blessing of salvation this is the greatest blessing we have ever received :

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Every believer receives the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus Christ and this is fantastic news. It is by the Spirit of God that we are able to know the mind and will of God. But there is a difference between having the Holy Spirit and being possessed by the Spirit. There is a difference between being marked by a seal and being baptised in the Spirit.

Water baptism is great and important as our testimony to the world of the inner transformation that has and is taking place. It is our testimony that we have died to our old life and no longer live for ourselves, having been raised again to life in Jesus Christ. But Jesus came to do more than just save us, he came to give us abundant Kingdom living. After this act of salvation he sent to us the Holy Spirit, that we would be baptised by fire, fully possessed by the power of God.

In Acts 19 we find Apostle Paul coming into the city of Ephesus where he came across a group of men who said they were believers. Paul challenged them on where they were spiritually and after baptising them in the name of Jesus he laid hands on them and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Church is receiving the first baptism but is choosing to ignore the second. No wonder we are so weak.

How do we expect to live in this dark world and survive spiritually without the power of God realized in us? Jesus said we are not orphans, he would not leave us alone, that he would send the Holy Spirit so we would be empowered to live just like Jesus did.

Few people understand that Jesus did nothing on this earth according to his divine nature. Everything that made him equal to the Father he set aside to walk fully as man. He faced hunger as a man. He required rest as a man. He needed to eat and drink as a man. He faced temptation as a man. He did all the supernatural stuff, including overcoming temptation by the power of the Holy Spirit who possessed him. What John the Baptist saw at Jesus' baptism was more than just a symbolic act of the Spirit. It was the power of God coming on Jesus just as Jesus has made that power available to us, to do even greater things than Jesus has done. This is according to the Word of God not the opinion of a man.

It's time that the Church wake up and receive the second baptism so we can escape this self effort we are doing to live. Those who have not received the baptism of fire need to ask Jesus for it. That's what he told us to do. We need to see that fire fall upon the Church again so we can get back to the supernatural work of the Church.

It is great that we show love to the world by running daycares and feeding the homeless. This is very much what we need to do but there is more. We also have the supernatural work to do. We need to heal the sick, cast out demons, quiet the storms, feed the masses so that we are also given the opportunity to present salvation. When is the last time you introduced Jesus to someone? Why do you think we are even here? For these things we need the baptism of fire.

Come on people, let's get in step with the Spirit!