Sunday, November 18, 2018

Evidence of His Power in You

Hello everyone,

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a precious gift for every born-again believer and is essential for us to live out our Christian faith purposefully and victoriously.  As we study the scriptures, we see how speaking in tongues, which is a personal, heavenly, prayer language is available for every Believer who is baptised in the Holy Spirit.  There are such amazing benefits for those who regularly spend time praying in their heavenly language, in fact they are so wonderful that we simply cannot ignore the importance of this precious gift.  

Regardless of the denomination to which you belong or what you have been taught to believe, it is an irrefutable fact that Jesus said believers would speak with new tongues.  Jesus said in Mark 16:17, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;”.

Today we are going to look at one of the benefits of praying in tongues which is the fact that it provides evidence that we are filled with the supernatural power of God!

As a born-again child of God, your body has become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit!   1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,”.

1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.”  This means your spirit and His Holy Spirit have become one!  At the point of your conversion, the Holy Spirit took your human spirit which was lost to sin, and recreated it in Himself!  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”

Then, as I explained in the previous letter, every child of God can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  This is where we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us up and activate us with His power.  It’s important to note that when we become born again, the Holy Spirit does take up residency in us, and promises to remain in us.  He doesn’t leave us.  However, to activate His power to flow in and through us - to do what is naturally not possible to do, we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  

Look at what John the Baptist said about Jesus,  John 1:32-34, “John gave further evidence, saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it dwelt on Him [never to depart].  And I did not know Him nor recognize Him, but He Who sent me to baptizein (with) water said to me, Upon Him Whom you shall see the Spirit descend and remain, that One is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen [that happen—I actually did see it] and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”  
The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus to operate supernaturally from that moment on.  His power flowed through Jesus as He worked signs, wonders and miracles.  It also gave Him the power to withstand the temptation and attack of the enemy.  

Luke 4:1, “THEN JESUS, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit.”  Jesus was then led by the Holy Spirt into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Because the Holy Spirit gave Him the appropriate word to respond every time, He stood up to the devil and overcame every temptation and trap he had laid out for Him.  This is important for us to pay attention to, because when we are baptised in the Holy Spirit, we are given the same power to overcome every trap and temptation the enemy has laid up for us.

Look at what happened next:  
Luke 4:14, 17-19, “Then Jesus went back full of and under the power of the [Holy] Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of Him spread through the whole region round about....And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the daywhen salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].”

Just as the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus to do all this, the baptism of the Holy Spirit we receive empowers us to do the very same!

A wonderful way to understand this is by looking at what the Word baptism means.   It comes from the Greek Word baptizo meaning to fully submerge.  It gives a picture of a piece of cloth being fully submerged into a container that is filled with a solution of water and dye.  Once that cloth is completely soaked in that solution, it has been baptised in it.  When that cloth is lifted out of that solution, it has taken of the exact colour, and even smell of what saturated it. 

When we are baptised with the Holy Spirit, our spirits are literally saturated and soaked in His power.  We are full of and activated by power to do the very same supernatural works Jesus did.  In John 14:12 Jesus said, “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.”  Jesus knew that only once He left the earth to go to His Father, the Holy Spirit would be able to inhabit the lives of those who believed in and accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

Once we are baptised in the Holy Spirit, being filled with His power is something that is not just done once and never again.  In fact the Bible tells us to continue being filled with His power.  Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.”  Every time we need a fresh empowerment of the Holy Spirit’s power to spiritually strengthen and energise us, we can use our faith and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us full of a fresh empowering of His supernatural power.  In fact it’s something that is expected of us, not just suggested.  

Speaking in tongues is evidence that we have been baptised and filled with the power of God.  It’s proof that our bodies are wholly filled and flooded with that power. 

Ephesians 1:19 says that we can know and understand the, “...immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,...”.  

Ephesians 3:19 speaks of how we are, “...filled [through all our being]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!”  

Every time we pray in tongues we are reminded of and have evidence of how our frail human bodies hold within them a treasure that is so powerful and glorious, it cannot be kept for just ourselves!  The power of God that is in us empowers us to do His will and carry out His purpose supernaturally while we are on this earth.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.

What a glorious gift we have to constantly remind us of the power that resides inside us.  This heavenly language is pure evidence of that resident power.  

Next week I’ll speak about another benefit Speaking in Tongues holds for us.  Until then, pray in the Holy Spirit and be reminded of that power that is flowing in and through you!

Much love,

Jenny







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