Beep-Beep.
Right? I know.
Several weeks ago the Lord gave me an analogy about the Holy Ghost and power wheels. If you have a religious spirit about you, this may rub you the wrong way, but if you love Jesus, and you want to go deeper, hang on.
Because after all, it's Sunday night at 11PM when I'm writing this. And I left my bed to do this because I cannot sleep until I get this out of my mind.
So here we go.
Like I said, several weeks ago I was driving home from work and the Lord gave the this analogy of the Holy Spirit and likened it to a Power Wheels ride.
If you are a parent you will get this. And if you were the kid on Christmas morning and your Santa didn't pre-charge your new shiny power wheels, then you will get it.
So if we are friends on Facebook, and you've read anything I've written, then you probably know I love the book of Acts. Mostly because it is the time after Jesus' death -- which to me signals the time we are presently living in.
So in Acts 1, Jesus comes back after his death and spends 40 days with the disciples. And then he tells them that he is leaving and they are to go Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, because with the baptism comes the power they will need to be his witnesses:
Acts 1: 4-9
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a]water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Stop right here. If Jesus were to come to you after his death, show up in the flesh, after his death, and tell you that you are to wait for the power and the promise, wouldn't you think that was important?
Right. Very important.
How important? I'm glad you asked.
This baptism was so important that Jesus told his disciples to not go and make another disciple, to not go and preach the word of God, to not move, to do absolutely nothing, until they received it.
It was so important that Jesus knew without the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the church would not spread with boldness and fire the way He had intended it to do so. That without the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the church would not operate in signs, miracles and wonders.
So here we go, if we are to be disciples and disciple others; If we are to be the church and lead others; If we are to mobilize and move in power like the church in Acts; If we are to pastor churches in boldness; then why the heck are there so many believers and Christian leaders out there satisfied to live a Christian life that is powerless and void of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost?
It abaolustly baffles me.
And so tonight I was talking to a friend on Facebook about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. And she said you're going to have to break this down for me. Because here's the thing, it's not preached in most churches. Why? Because how can pastors preach on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit when they themselves don't have it! They cant!
Now before you get all religious on me and tell me that you received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit when you gave your life to Jesus and were water Baptized, let me direct you to Acts 8 and 19:
Acts 8:14-17 NIV
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 19: 1-7 NIV
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spiritwhen[a] you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
John's baptism is the water baptism. If you love Jesus and you've been water baptized, then glory!! But there is more! Hallelujah! The more is the Holy Ghost. It's the power you need as a Christian to walk into the calling God has for you.
The evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongues. And I'm not just talking about the one religious people say needs an interpreter, I'm talking about the ability to pray in tongues, in your God-given heavenly language, the one God made for you so you can pray His perfect will. Isn't that cool? How many of us wish we would've known we had a secret language growing up?
And here is the other cool thing!!!! This is for EVERY BELIEVER. It does not matter your denomination. The church in the book of Acts did not have a denomination. When I was in Africa with a methodist church group, surrounded by different denominations, the Holy Ghost did not play favorites. Every denomination, praying in the spirit, even me, the Baptist. The Baptism is no respecter of denominations! Glory!
So many times I talk about my experiences in Africa and one of the main reasons is because to me that was the the divider of my life. What do I mean by that? It was the point where I can tangibly say pre and post baptism of the Holy Ghost. And the point where I can look at my life and see the difference it has made to be able to move in the power of the Holy Ghost.
30 years without moving in the power compared to just days baptized in the Holy Spirit. I did more for the Kingdom in those first few days after being baptized in the Holy Ghost than I had done in the 30 years leading up to that point.
That is the power of the baptism of the Holy Ghost!
And The baptism of the Holy Ghost is for every believer!
EVERY BELIEVER!
Mark 16:17-18 NIV
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
What if Pastor's had to be Holy Ghost filled/baptized before they could preach? Before they could lead? Dang, I bet that would make a difference.
What if every Christian took that charge that Jesus gave to the disciples, the one where He said do not make a move until you receive the power of the Holy Ghost and applied that to their life?
What if we as Christian's got so hungry to move in the gift the Lord has for us, that we would become dissatisfied with any life that was not Holy Ghost filled?
The world would be straight fire.
And so here is where the analogy the Lord gave me about the power wheels comes into play.
When you get that new power wheels, you're given a new name. You are now the owner of a power wheels. It's like when we choose Jesus, you were given a new name and new blood in Jesus.
Congratulations, you are now a power wheels owner, or in this matter, a Christian. Hallelujah!
And so then maybe you went on to get water baptized. Which in this analogy, you put the battery in. Hallelujah! GO!!
But here's the important part. Remember when Jesus told the disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Ghost? Don't do anything else until you get that power?
Here it is: that power wheels battery has to be charged for like 48 hours before you drive that thing at full capacity.
And if you woke up on Christmas morning and Santa didn't charge it, you were sad because you couldn't operate in power. Your power wheels were powerless.
And if you woke up on Christmas morning and maybe Santa charged it but it was only a little charged, you drove it down the drive way and it died.
But just maybe your power wheels got the full charge and you woke up on Christmas morning and you drove that bad boy all the way around your neighborhood in your Christmas pajamas full of joy, pedal to the metal, wind blowing in your hair, full of POWER.
See my friends, that is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Moving in power. Fully charged. Ready to go out into the world. Charged up on the power Jesus has for us.
If we as Christians are to operate in power, we must have the full charge our battery needs.
And even more important than that, it is not a one time charge. Every power wheels will die if the battery isn't plugged back into the source.
It's a daily charging that needs to take place. A daily baptism of the Holy Ghost. A daily filling up on the power. We won't make it to the finish line without it.
One of the things I was exposed to in seminary school was a man named John Wesley. I can still remember the classroom I was sitting in when I read an article he wrote on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. See at that time, I had been baptized in the Holy Ghost, but I had never stopped to think about how important it was for a daily Baptism.
And it hit me hard. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something we must do every day. It burns the chaff out of our life. It gives us power. The ability to move in signs and miracles. Praying in the Spirit or the perfect will of God.
Without it, we are powerless. Our discipleship is futile and we are left operating on our own power .. which just means we are pushing our dead power wheels back to the garage because it ran out of juice or was never charged in the first place.
A life without the baptism of the Holy Ghost is a dead, beat-up, go it alone, Fred Flintstone type of power wheels.
We need the power of the Holy Ghost. The world needs a baptized in the Holy Ghost church.
And so I want to encourage you. If you are reading this and you've not recieved the baptism of the Holy Ghost, get it. It is for every believer. The gift is for you. Charge yourself up. Do it daily. Get all the power you can for your power wheels and go and be a disciple who sets your community on fire for God.
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