SEARCHLIGHT
How can I be spiritually, emotionally, and physically strong?
SCRIPTURE
[Jesus said] 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. Acts 1:8 NIV
When the Day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 NIV
SPOTLIGHT
The Shell Oil Company brochure explained how I needed to fuel my car with their gasoline because it had the power to #1 clean gunk from my car engine, #2 provide the best protection against wear and tear, #3 protect against corrosion, and #4 reduce friction and improve efficiency. It occurred to me that I could well benefit from having a personal “fuel” like that. Sometimes I get clogged up with emotional gunk. I need a power to protect me from life’s wears and tears. Sometimes I allow things to corrode and build up in my life which leads me not to love and forgive. Other times I need help because of friction in personal relationships. Here is the question that needs to be asked, “Is there a personal fuel to empower me?”
The electric company sent me a brochure entitled “Energy Matters.” It warned that there could be temporary power shortages in my home. Back-up power would be provided through other resources. My thoughts ran to my personal energy concerns. Sometimes I feel weak. Just like you, I daily need physical, emotional, and spiritual energy to “do life well.” I do not want to experience a temporary power shortage. The question that needs an answer is “What can be done to avoid personal power shortage?”
Before the resurrected Christ ascended to heaven, He told the disciples, “YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE.” Read the Acts 1:8 Scripture focus above. They were to wait for an energy source which would continually empower them. Jesus wanted His followers to receive a divine power which would come to be known as the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Like Thomas and the Emmaus Road men, they had seen Him in the flesh, spoke to Him, watched Him eat and also disappear into thin air. What could take the place of seeing Jesus face to face? Jesus was saying there was something more to be given by God to all believers. There was a divine energy source to be tapped which would provide personal power that would never run short.
In Acts 2:1-4, you can read what happened when the 120 people in the Upper Room obeyed Christ’s instruction to wait for the energy fuel that really makes a difference. The winds of Holy Spirit power blew on them and the fire of the Holy Spirit ignited them. It is very clear that the Holy Spirit was IN them, ON them and working THROUGH them. Each person in the Upper Room was a believer. Jesus Christ lived within them. “Do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” [1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV] On the Day of Pentecost, it became clear that “the something more” Jesus had spoken of meant the Holy Spirit comes on you. You are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to worship God with glossolalia. What follows is that the Holy Spirit works through you to witness about Jesus Christ. The120 went into the Jerusalem streets sharing about their resurrected Savior and Lord. From that day on, believers have experienced the same Holy Spirit in them, on them, and working through them.
YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE. You need to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit the way the 120 people in the Upper Room did. The disciples had witnessed the resurrection but needed something more. So do you! Experiencing the divine presence and power of God at a Sunday worship service is exhilarating. But what do you do between Monday and Saturday? The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the personal, empowering fuel you need. You will never run short of divine power as long as you seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He is in you, on you, and works through you. Take time to wait to be baptized in the Holy Spirit as the Upper Room believers did. You will experience the “something more” they did.
SOMETHING TO DO
What steps do you need to take to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Should you do more Bible study on the subject? Perhaps you should speak with a Christian who testifies to having received this divine power. What books could you read? Why not begin to take some time to wait in God’s presence just as the 120 did?
SOUL TIME PRAYER
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for living in me, being on me, and working through me. I need your power daily to live life well. Fill me again and again. AMEN