February 7: You will receive power

To the same apostles also, after his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God. While he was with them, he declared, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.” (Acts 1:3-8  NET)

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an automatic blessing that happens when a person is baptized in water. Deliverance, baptism in water, conversion, the new birth, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit are separate experiences that could happen in a fairly short period of time, but which in our experience take close to a year for most people. Obviously we cannot make rules where the Bible makes no rules—everyone is different—but these changes are so radical, and transform us to such a high degree on the inside, that it is impossible for them to happen overnight. For some it takes a year, for others it may take several months. These are certainly not magical changes that God performs all by Himself—they require effort, humility, honestly, sacrifice, and persistence on our part, all in large doses.

Today’s passage makes it clear that Jesus wanted His disciples to concentrate on receiving His Spirit. He didn’t want them to be busy traveling all over the world healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the Good News; He limited them to Jerusalem—something that not even Jesus did during His ministry. He did this because whenever we want more of God, whenever we want His Spirit, we have to focus on Him to the exclusion of everything else in our lives. This doesn’t mean that we have to stop cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, or going to work—of course not. But it does mean that we will do everything with Him in mind, will be in a spirit of prayer throughout the day, and that we will cut certain things out of our lives in order to attend church, read the Bible, and seek His presence. Another way to seek God’s Spirit, that many people forget, is to live out our faith. It’s no good to read the Bible and seek God on Sunday and Wednesday, and then resist the Holy Spirit’s promptings throughout the week. Living out our faith in obedience is even more important than worship and seeking God’s presence in prayer.

We were made to be filled with the Holy Spirit; only when we are will we be truly happy and strong. If we do not allow Him to fill us and take the lead, our life will have been a waste. Finding Him and holding on to Him needs to be our main goal in life.