Get Up and Glow Pt. 11

We have been talking about shining our light for Jesus. We must be lights in this dark world! When so many are saying, “The darkness is becoming too powerful!”…I am standing up to say,”Glowing for Jesus, shining for Jesus is possible!

It is possible because God has given to the church the supernatural baptism of the Holy Spirit  

To his disciples Jesus said…

 “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit….But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:4,5,8

Church, if we want to have the power God intended us to have then we need this baptism. If the Apostles Peter and Paul needed it then we need it too!

So what is the baptism in the Holy Spirit?-

“The baptism in the Holy Spirit  was the normal experience of all in the early Christian church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4,8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth (Acts 8:12-17; 10:44-46; 11:14-16; 15:7-9). With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as an overflowing fullness of the Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 4:8), a deepened reverence for God (Acts 2:43; Hebrews 12:28), an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work (Acts 2:42), and a more active love for Christ, for His Word, and for the lost (Mark 16:20).The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2)” The General Council of the Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths

Here is a  testimony from one who attended the Pentecostal revival at Azusa Street:

“While seeking for the Baptism with the Holy Ghost in Los Angeles, after Sister Ferrell laid hands on me I praised and praised God and saw my Savior in the heavens. And as I praised, I came closer and closer and I was so small. By and by I swept into the wound in His side, and He was not only in me but I in Him, and there I found that rest that passeth all understanding, and He said to me, you are in the bosom of the Father. He said I was clothed upon and in the secret place of the Most High. But I said, Father, I want the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the heavens opened and I was overshadowed, and such power came upon me and went through me. He said, Praise Me, and when I did, angels came and ministered unto me. I was passive in His hands working on my vocal cords, and I realized they were loosing me. I began to praise Him in an unknown language.Lucy Leatherman

If ever the church needed the fires of Pentecost it is now!