DO YOU WANT EVERYTHING THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU?

That seems like a simple question doesn’t it? Do you want everything that God has for you? The answer actually depends a lot on your understanding of God’s nature–His character. If you trust that God always has the very best in mind for you, and that He gives nothing but good gifts, then the answer is probably a resounding YES!

When Jesus was talking to His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, He addressed the very issue. He knew that it was essential that people understand that the Father only gives good gifts so that they could easily receive the gift of the Holy Spirit when He arrived.

In Luke 11, Jesus says, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! ” (Luke 11:11-13 NIV).

Luke also records this statement from Jesus in the Book of Acts – “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’ ” (Acts 1:4, 5 NIV).

Jesus presented both the Holy Spirit Himself, and “the baptism in the Holy Spirit,” as a good gift from the Father. If this is true, doesn’t it make sense to want everything the Father has for us?

So, if you are a person who has never received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, it might be a good idea to ask yourself, and to ask the Lord, Why? Has something frightened you about this whole topic? Have you simply never been exposed to this part of the Bible, and therefore don’t really understand what the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is? Have you seen or heard things that struck you as very weird, and had people tell you that the Holy Spirit did those things? Whatever the case, I encourage you today to go back to a place of trusting Jesus, trusting the Scriptures, and ask your Father to help you understand and accept everything that He has for you.

Now, you may be saying, but I am a Christian and I already have the Holy Spirit. Right you are. Assuming that you have accepted Jesus as your savior by faith, you are born again, and indeed the Holy Spirit lives in you right now. However, the Bible teaches that there is another, deeper aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry that is available to you. Jesus called it “being baptized in the Holy Spirit.” Stay tuned, because this will be the topic of our next blog.