Hebrews 6:1-2 (NET) Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Patrick didn’t know that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was given to empower the believer. He thought all it does is to give us the ability to speak in tongues.
After he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he noticed that he was no longer as shy as he used to be. He now had the boldness to preach the gospel to his old friends he was afraid of telling that he was now born again. From experience, he observed that the infilling of the Holy Ghost does much more than to simply give us the ability to speak in tongues, it is our enduement with power. He also observed that when he prayed in tongues, this power was generated within him (1 Corinthians 14:4).
The Lord Jesus told His disciples that they would receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon them, and then they would be witnesses unto Him(Acts 1:8). I don’t know if the disciples expected to speak in tongues when they received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but one thing they surely expected was divine empowerment. This empowerment was the reason why fearful Peter that denied Jesus thrice in the city of Jerusalem could stand boldly in that same city and PREACH Jesus. This power was the reason the apostles and disciples walked in the miraculous, etc.
The empowerment of the Holy Spirit is so we can be effective witnesses unto the Lord. It is not given to us as a Christian accessory. If there is no willingness to be a witness unto the Lord, there is no readiness for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Go into today remembering that the baptism of the Holy Ghost empowers us to fulfill our destinies in God. Every believer who desires this empowerment must be determined to be a witness unto the Lord.
Prayer: Lord, please empower me to fulfill my destiny in you. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.
—Abraham Damilola Arigi
Bible In One Year: Isaiah 18-22 (In Devotional Audio)
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