Receive the Holy Spirit

Going to heaven one day is the ultimate victory, but do you realize that God has something more for you here on earth? 

Jesus told us to pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). 

What is God’s will in heaven? 

“I have come,” Jesus said, “that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). 

 

We can experience the abundant life Jesus died for us to receive, which will increase and be completed when we reach heaven. This abundant life is exceedingly greater than many believers think or ask.

Many Christians believe God can do anything. They pray for peace, joy, healing, and other things lacking. Yet, many seem powerless to receive the abundant life promised in Christ. 

Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “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.” 

The power to live the Christian life comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Christian life isn’t just difficult. It is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Look again at Acts 1:8. Jesus had just told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–5). The disciples had just witnessed the greatest miracle the world had ever seen. They had the greatest news the world had ever heard. What more could they need to be His witnesses? 

Jesus told the disciples exactly what they would need. He told them that the Helper would come upon them. He didn’t want the disciples to share the Good News until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, they would fail.

The disciples hid during Jesus’ crucifixion— before Pentecost and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. During His earthly ministry, they did not understand much of what Jesus told them. But after the day of Pentecost and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, these same men were transformed. They boldly faced the Pharisees and those who had frightened them and declared their guilt in crucifying the Son of God. They performed miraculous deeds as Jesus did (John 14:12). They cast out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they wrote some of the books of the Bible. All but one died a martyr’s death. 

As Jesus told the disciples, they received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. These average men were changed into powerful dynamos who ushered in the new church age and established the kingdom of God here on earth. 

The disciples didn’t just tell people what happened to Jesus. They revealed that Jesus was still alive, living in and through them. 

“For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:20.

You can be a Christian and lack the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to live a victorious Christian life. Many Christians haven’t experienced God’s power. Some people have even rejected Christianity because it has been presented to them without the power of the Holy Spirit. 

If the disciples had not waited for the indwelling Holy Spirit as Jesus instructed, we would not have the opportunity to share the Gospel today. These men believed in Jesus, but He knew they needed the Holy Spirit to present the miraculous power of the Word they preached. We need the power of the same Holy Spirit they needed.

Are you boldly ministering the love of Jesus Christ, or are you hesitant?  Do you experience the Holy Spirit speaking, guiding, and imparting power to you to minister to the body of Christ? Is the Word revealed through you in power?

 

Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, your words as a witness to the change Jesus has made in your life have no power and make no difference in another’s life. Without the Spirit empowering your life, you live a defeated life. But with the power of the Holy Spirit, God does abundantly and exceedingly more through His work in you than you could humanly accomplish.

 

^“Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17).

 

The Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on those baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Peter and John laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

 

Those who have received the Holy Spirit have God’s power, but His power must be accessed. The Holy Spirit doesn’t force Himself on anyone. Receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit isn’t just a one-time experience.

 

You cannot understand the indwelling of the Spirit with your mind. Your reasoning will stand in the way. You will not receive what you question. Surrender all of yourself—your thoughts, fears, feelings, and your preconceptions. Be open to Him and to the gifts He has for you. You need not beg. It is the greatest pleasure of the Father to fill you. You shall receive the Holy Spirit. 

 

 

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