On the night of the party, as people started to fill the banquet hall, you could feel the excitement in the air. People came dressed in their very best clothes. The atmosphere had been carefully planned with excellent lighting and decor. A popular band provided the music. People enjoyed great food as they met with friends and family and caught up on the latest news. Every detail of the party from beginning to end was presided over with great care.

There was one person at the party who knew every other person at the party, Livy. Livy was the dependable friend they all called when they needed something, anything. She would turn up ready to help anyone, at any time. Livy had been instrumental in organizing the party. She generously gave her time and attention to the party like it was her very own baby.

As the hours passed everyone was having a great time, many people said it was the best party they had ever attended. The party’s organizers were especially pleased with their ability to pull off such a successful party. And with their chests puffed out, they proudly walked around soaking up every minute. Except Livy…

Strangely, Livy was largely ignored. When she looked for somewhere to sit she was repeatedly told, “These seats are saved.” No one welcomed her to their table to eat. No one invited Livy into their conversations as they stood around in their cliquey huddles. When the dance floor filled up, no one asked Livy to dance. But Livy loved to dance, so she started to dance without a partner –very carefree.

Livy noticed some disapproving looks from people who thought it unacceptable to dance alone. They didn’t like the way Livy danced. So Livy quietly made her way off the dance floor, to a table in a back corner of the room, and there she stayed, alone. She felt unwelcome and unloved at her own party.

As Livy faded further into the background, seemingly unknown and unseen, there was a growing assumption among the party organizers, “Maybe Livy was an unnecessary guest.” After all, “We really didn’t need her help organizing the party.”

Livy overheard the comment. It hurt deeply. Livy had helped that person pass exams, move into campus apartments, and so many other things over the years. Like she had helped everyone at that party.

Livy left the party and went home. No one noticed her absence. They just kept partying into the early hours of the morning. The organizers were sure this party would go down in the record books as one of the greatest. They were so proud of what they had accomplished.

Some readers may have guessed the meaning of the parable by now: Livy is the Holy Spirit, and the party is the Church.

FRUIT: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23, ESV).

GIFTS: One is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues (1Cor 12:8-10, ESV).

When the GIFTS are on display, there is obvious power and fascination. People can be in awe and wowed by their expression. The GIFTS and workings of the Holy Spirit can be really, very stunning. They are marvelous. They move our hearts, opening our hearts up, sometimes in ways we don’t realize.

God’s intent with the GIFTS is that they lead to greater love, faith, and fear of the Lord—our choosing to live in righty related to Him. This is building up and maturing of the FRUIT of the Spirit in us. Though…

This hasn’t always been the case in church life. Many of us have seen the GIFTS being put on display and the persons exercising them receiving praise and the attention of man because the gifts can be exploited. And vulnerable people have too often attributed more to the person exercising the gift, than the GIFT-Giver, the Holy Spirit.

And so, I write this with a caution: It is the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit on display in a life that matters so much more to God, than our exercise of the GIFTS that He gives us freely.

We absolutely want both. We need both. But do not be quick to think highly of a person who can exercise the GIFTS. God does not raise that person above his/her brothers or sisters. We should not.

The GIFTS are given to us. Every one of us can exercise them. They are for the profit of all the people around us. The Spirit gives them “for the common good” of all (1Cor 12:7).

The FRUIT however take time to grow and ripen. This is the maturing God is looking for in all of us. This is the discipleship process. This is becoming more like Jesus. In his Prepare The Way For The Lord sermon, John the Baptist said, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt 3:8 and Lu 3:8, ESV). Remember, repentance is giving up our old way of thinking and aligning to Jesus. Thinking change leads to behavior change. The more we align with Jesus, the more we become like Him in every aspect of life.

When our maturity (FRUIT) is matching the demonstration (GIFTS) of the Spirit, this is the sweet spot of walking in step with the Spirit (Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16). We will live every day with His flow through us. This is where our lives become a destructive force against the enemy, pulling his gates, and advancing the kingdom of God. This is God’s intent for our lives.

Paul was clear, we should be eagerly going after the GIFTS. They change lives. But he raised the FRUIT way above the GIFTS, calling them ὑπερβολὴν (hyperbole) which means: surpassing, excessively beyond measure, extraordinary, more excellent, superlatively beyond measure, and beyond others... as in, going beyond other people because the FRUIT are what God elevates and promotes. (And I mean promotion in the spiritual authority sense, not the worldly ick sense.)

After describing the GIFTS in 1Corinthians 12, Paul writes, “Eagerly desire the greater GIFTS. And yet I will show you the most excellent way” (1Cor 12:31, NIV). Then he proceeds to talk about LOVE in chapter 13. Paul raises LOVE over anything else. He states that all the GIFTS are useless and nothing without LOVE. He further describes LOVE as being patient and kind, gentle and patient, and not at all arrogant or rude. Paul leans this chapter right back into his FRUIT list in Galatians 5.

Pursue both the GIFTS and FRUIT. Pray for them. Let Holy Spirit teach you about them. But above all, let LOVE be what drives you.

As I’m praying, “Jesus release angels over our city” and pleading the blood, I’m also heavy hearted over the fact so many believers will be walking the streets with their kids dressed up, collecting candy, teaching their kids that this night is good and fun, everybody is doing it… while they participate in the darkest night of the year on the satanic calendar: Halloween.

I’ve heard the many reasons Christians give as they participate in Halloween. I was told them when I first moved here from Australia in 2,000. And I was on the staff of a church where I did not have the option to NOT participate.

I did not know any better for the first few years, so I dressed my kids up too. But as I learned about this night, we stopped, and I have since repented of my own naivete and ignorance and participation. Since leaving that church, a decade ago, we have had long prayer and worship nights instead.

Many Christians believe their participation is harmless and that they and their kids are immune from the effects of their participation in darkness. But we are not. Satanists love that Christians get involved on this, their night of nights, Halloween. And they call us Christians dumb and blind because we participate with them on their night; and we are.

Tolerating, participating, or even celebrating death and evil is totally contrary to the life Jesus died to give us. More ritual sacrifices are done this week than at any other time on the satanic calendar, this includes human sacrifice. Please don’t mince my words, I am talking about radical and extreme levels of evil, where people are killed in satanic rituals. Satanists and witches use these rituals to conjure magic spells, send curses, pay blood debts to demons they have traded spiritual intel and power for. They believe they empower demons onto the streets of their cities and that their rituals open portals to the hell. Meanwhile, believers are rendered powerless because they are aligning and agreeing with this occult activity.

We are not immune from the influence of the enemy when we place ourselves in his territory, come into alignment/agreement with his plans, and neither are our kids.

I know this is a strong blog. But as a pastor for over thirty years I have seen too much of the church playing around in the enemy’s territory and then crying out for help when things go south. God of course is patient with us. He rescues us. He helps us in our time of need. But when are we going to rise as His mature sons and daughters and begin living without mixture, break agreement with the enemy, and do the real work of shining His light into the darkness, rather than participating with it?

In the end, all of us choose. God has given us free will and He will never violate our free will. He gave it to us. He counts free will a sacred and holy thing. We are left then with our choices to live set apart from the world in holiness to God, or not.

Now therefore fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14-15, ESV)

God knew Adam would fall and He already had a plan. “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world” (Eph 1:4, NIV). That is, before Adam fell, God chose us “to be holy and blameless in His sight… He predestined us for [full and complete] adoption [back] to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will” (Eph 1:4-5).

Proverbs 8:22-31 describes Jesus as the Lord of Glory, the pre-existent Word, standing with the Father as the Father was creating: “I was there… constantly at His side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence, rejoicing in His whole world and delighting in mankind” (8:27, 30-31). John 1:1-4 also confirms, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” God’s plan was to send Jesus into the earth at the appointed time to redeem ALL that Adam had lost, “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam [Jesus], a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45).

And so, God created us anew in Christ.

The new creation in Christ are ALL people who through faith in Christ have been baptized into His death and are now raised to a new life in Him through His resurrection (Rom 3:22, 6:3-4). The new creation has been made spiritually alive in Christ and joined to Him in an unbreakable spiritual union because the Spirit of God is now living on the inside (Rom 6:11; 8:9, 11). Our new union with Christ is a spiritual fellowship where we are brought into an intimacy that surpasses all others and we now can share inseparably in His love (1Cor 1:9; Rom 8:39)

“What counts” now, “is the new creation” (Gal 6:15). For every believer who is in Christ, “the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor 5:17). The old dead man, and the sin that once entangled it, has been done away with (Heb 12:1). Believers in Christ have been called and ordained by a divine re-instatement, back into the extreme high place of relationship with God. Paul writes of our current status, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realm in Christ” (Eph 2:6).

God bestows the highest of honors upon ALL believers by making our heart His home. He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and then dwells in our heart through the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor 3:16). He marks us with His “seal” of ownership upon our heart and calls us the “sons and daughters of God” (2Cor 1:22, 6:16; Eph 1:13). We are no longer servants, we are called His “friends” (John 15:15).

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus completely returned us to our status as God’s friend, just as Adam had enjoyed. No one has been left outside this invitation to friendship. We have all been welcomed to walk with God in the cool of the Garden, that is, in relationship with Him, together with all the people who enjoy His strong and unmistakable presence in their lives.

More than a welcome, God’s heart’s cry is for people to understand and accept this mind-blowing revelation: this is invitation into friendship with the Creator of the world.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism’s states, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  (Westminster Assembly, The Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. 1643-1652.)

Enjoyment is the reward of deep friendship with God.

A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” because it reveals what we believe about God. It reveals whether we believe His Word, His promises, His GOOD intentions, His offer of friendship and deep desire for us… or not. (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge Of The Holy.)

God deeply desires friendship with us.

It wasn’t just man’s loss in the Garden, God lost something in the Garden too, the loss of communion with us broke His heart. God has not stopped yearning over us and He broods over us, waiting, longing for men to respond. God’s longing for deep intimacy and true connection with humanity is on display through His word. We are the apple of His eye (Deut 32:10; Ps 17:8; Zech 2:8). We are His very special and precious possession (1 Pet 2:9).

Friendship is His invitation to us, an invitation back to His heart, back to nearness, to intimacy with our Father, our very GOOD and loving God.

Theistic means God-centered. And to have optimism is to expect the best possible outcome in every situation. It’s the glass is half-full attitude. Optimism is better said, hope! Because biblically, hope is anchored in trust and faith in God.

So we can rewrite the phrase this way: JOY is God-centered HOPE about life.

JOY is TRUST in God. The level of joy we experience, shows our level of trust in God.

To trust God with our lives is to live with the assumption, that ultimately, God knows what He is doing and our life will turn out the way God wants. God is always working (Jn 5:17, NIV). God knows what He is doing. God loves us. God knows what we need (Matt 6:8). God is all powerful. God is going to get His way. No one can stand in His way.

Here is a one hour spontaneous worship video for soaking prayer: John Mark Pantana: Trust

Link here: After That First Day Of Pentecost

Many believers live below God’s design for the normal Christian life because they live constrained by sin and worldly entanglement or hindered by doubt, fear, and unbelief. But none of this is a problem for Jesus. It is only a problem for us if we are unwilling to surrender it to God. He is bigger than any sin habit. Bigger than any entanglement. Bigger than any doubt. Bigger than any fear. Bigger than any unbelief. He is so much bigger!

We’ve just got to let Him be bigger than all those things. We do this simply through surrender:

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” Acts 3:19-20a (ESV) 

The first phrase of Act 3:19 in Greek is μετανοήσατε οὖν καὶ ἐπιστρέψατε and is directly translated, “repent therefore and turn again.”

• μετανοήσατε —repent
• οὖν —therefore
• καὶ —and
• ἐπιστρέψατε —turn again

But it can also be translated, “Repent and repent again!” or, “Turn to the Lord, and keep turning to the Lord!” or to paraphrase, “Swap your unbelief for the truth about God!”

The two words μετανοήσατε and ἐπιστρέψατε are similar in definition and put into the same phrase to reinforce each other. The Holy Spirit does not waste words. He is stating, strongly, to emphasize the next statements:

“That your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…”

Repentance is not, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” about a thing. Repentance is a change of mind. Which then changes behavior. Repentance is active. “I thought one way about a thing but now I see God’s truth and exchange my old thinking and believe God’s truth.”

God’s truth always brings freedom. Jesus said, “Truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32).

Repenting and turning to the Lord is this: getting our eyes of self and fixing our eyes on Jesus because what we fix our eyes on we start moving toward. The closer we walk to Jesus, the more we become like Him. And since He is TRUTH, we will walk into more and more truth.

Jesus is the One who blots out all our sin. He washes us completely clean. Erasing even the memory of it. This is freedom!

God’s promise to us as all this transformation is happening is: times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord.

Refreshing is revival (ἀναψύξεως in the Greek). It is the same as saying a powerful baptism will come from the Holy Spirit, in wave after wave after wave of refreshing. Remember from previous blog posts, baptism means full immersion in the Spirit, so imagine being fully immersed in the ocean. The mighty presence of the Holy Spirit in us and fully surrounding us is the refreshing we need, continually.

God’s design for the normal Christian life is one of full surrender of our lives, a complete turning to Him, walking in His truth, fully washed clean of all sin, and living everyday in the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit. This kind of freedom, joy, and power is what destroys the enemy kingdom. It is how we take cities. It is how we go on the offense and advance God’s kingdom. This has been His intent from the beginning.

• Praise, loud and unrestrained praise
• Singing/declaring in a new spiritual tongue
• Prophetic declarations of God’s goodness
• Amazement, wonder, and marveling at God
• Strong and bold evangelistic preaching
• Deeper conviction of sin and unbelief, leading to repentance, leading to:
• God continually adding to their number
• Steadfast following the apostles teaching about Jesus and the kingdom of God
• Miracles, signs, wonders, healings
• Freedom to dance, leap, sing, jump, and praise with joy
• Gathering constantly to pray and worship
• Radical increase of fervent, expectant, and joy-filled prayer
• Revelation of the family of God
• Giving themselves to fellowship, and breaking of bread
• Meeting other’s needs/deep commitment to one another
• Unity and one-heartedness borne by the Spirit
• Loving/preferring others
• Constant joyful celebration
• Fearlessness concerning any persecution from the Jewish leaders
• Obedience to God
• Rightly fearing God in His holiness
• Mixture and idolatry exposed and dealt with, quickly
• Willingness to lay their lives down for the gospel

If you read through the book of Acts, ALL these responses are found in the first couple of chapters. This is the normal Christian life.

As you keep reading, notice the increasing pace of ministry, with greater reach. Because now there are more people doing the minitry, not just Jesus. The rapidly growing church were doing everything Jesus showed and taught them. And the types of miracles they were doing increased, just as Jesus had promised: “Whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn 14:12, NIV).

This was God’s determined purpose all along: the baptism of the Holy Spirit brought, and still brings today, an exponential multiplication of the life and ministry of Jesus everywhere the Holy Spirit is welcomed. 

Jesus was the first person to be baptized by the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lu 3:21- 22; Jn 1:32-34). The second time the Holy Spirit baptized people was in Jerusalem, ten days after Jesus had ascended to heaven. Jesus had instructed His disciples to gather in Jerusalem and wait for the Promise of the Father: the Holy Spirit, and over those ten days, one-hundred and twenty of them gathered in an upper room, hiding away from the religious leaders, yet also excited, expectant, waiting, and praying (Act 1:4-5, 8, 14-15).

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This was no small commotion. The Holy Spirit’s arrival was loud and the people who had been baptized were loud also. If you can imagine one-hundred and twenty people lifting their voices in loud praise and worship, with no restraint, no holding back, wild and passionate singing, declaring the goodness of God. It drew a crowd.

Acts 2:5-13 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And at the sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

This describes the disciples singing in tongues, the supernatural gift of tongues, loudly and spontaneously! Many of the onlookers heard the disciples singing in their native languages. Languages the disciples did not know. Yet they were declaring the goodness of God in unknown languages by the supernatural miracle power of the Holy Spirit.

Some onlookers were amazed. Others were skeptical and mocked. This happens every time the Holy Spirit moves. Some, in faith, are amazed, step in, and want more. Others, hard of heart (this is doubt), reject the Holy Spirit. Some even go so far as to mock… God save us from similar, faithless responses!!

Then Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, got up to explain from the scriptures what was happening:

Acts 2:14-18, 21  Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; ¹⁸ even on My male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit, and they shall prophesy ….” ²¹ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Dreams, visions, prophecy, supernatural tongues, these are all ours through the Holy Spirit. Young. Old. Men. Women. No person is left out.

There are many in the Church today who reject the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is a rejection of the Holy Spirit, though they deny such a rejection. They futher reject His gifts and have made false teachings to defend their lack of faith and excuse their rejection. The following verses from Acts 2 make it very clear the Holy Spirit baptism and His gifts were given to beleivers in Christ Jesus for all time:

Acts 2:37-39  Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the Promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.”

It’s worth repeating verse 39: the Promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself. This is for all believers, for all time, until Jesus returns.

The effect of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is radical life transformation and a filling with power so potent that the people who received it that day went on to turn the world upside down; and the world has never been the same.

Those in the crowd who responded to Peter’s preaching were immediately brought into salvation and baptized that very day: Acts 2:41 “Those who received [Peter’s] word were baptized, and they were added that day about three thousand souls.”

Sharing this song because it is a high devotion song. And Jesus wants nothing less than our full devotion. Read the lyrics and listen. Scroll to the bottom for the video, or for links to Youtube and Spotify.

V1
Your presence is not for sale
Your Word is not merchandise
We’re not here to trade our worship
For ways You can bless our lives
We’re not here to make a profit
We’re not here to rob what’s Yours
We’re turning the tables over
There’s only room for the Lord’s

Chorus
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer

V2
Your Spirit above our schedules
Our sermons, our sets, our views
We won’t stand between Your people
And how You might choose to move
We’re not here to build a brand
Or platforms that serve ourselves
‘Cause only the Church You’re building
Can withstand the gates of hell

Chorus
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer

Bridge
In Your House there’s more than a song
In Your House the weak are made strong
In Your House the hearts that are broken will be restored
Will be restored
In Your House we share what we own
In Your House the orphans find home
In Your House the widows in need are provided for
Provided for
In Your House we pray for the sick
In Your House we move in Your gifts
In Your House Your Spirit pours out and there’s always more
There’s always more
In Your House the bound are set free
In Your House the enemy flees
In Your House we witness the gospel worth dying for
Worth dying for
In Your House we take of the bread
In Your House we drink of the wine
In Your House we honor You Jesus above it all
Above it all
In Your House let Your Kingdom come
In Your House let Your will be done
In Your House we give all the glory to You alone
To You alone

Chorus
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer
This is a House of Prayer

Official Video

Click here for Youtube

Click here for Spotify

Early on the morning Jesus was raised from the dead, He immediately began revealing Himself to people:

• Three women: Mary His mom, Mary Magdalene, and Salome (Matt 28:1, 5-10; Mk 16:1-8; Lu 24:1-9; Jn 20:1).
• Mary Magdalene on her own (Mk 16:9-11; Lu 24:10-11; Jn 20:11-18).
• Peter (Lu 24:34; 1Cor 15:5).
• Cleopas and the unnamed disciple on the road to Emmaus (Matt 28:9; Mk 16:12-13; Lu 24:13-35).
• The gathered disciples who were afraid and hiding for their lives, except Thomas who was absent (Mk 16:14; Lu 24:36-43; Jn 20:19-25).

And this was just the first day! This first day created a lot of excitement, conversation, and faith. The disciple’s fear gave way to fifty days of hope, amazement, praise, and patient-waiting on the yet unknown Holy Spirit.

On the eighth day Jesus appeared to Thomas (Jn 20:26-29). Then sometime over the next forty days before His ascension:

• Jesus gave the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20; Mk 16-15-18; Act 1:3; 1Cor 15:6).
• Jesus met His Disciples on the Galilean seashore and cooked them breakfast (Jn 21:1-23; act 1:3; 1Cor 15:7).
• Jesus “appeared to more than five hundred brothers, at one time…” (1Cor 15:6).

During these many appearances, Jesus encouraged and commissioned the disciples, gave many convincing proofs that He was alive, and taught them about the Kingdom of God (Act 1:3). At the end of these forty days, the disciples watched as Jesus ascended to heaven (Mk 16:19-20; Lu 24:44-53; Act 1:4-12, 13:31). But before He ascended, He gave 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” (Act 1:4-5).

For the next ten days, the disciples gathered in Jerusalem and waited. The gap between Jesus’ resurrection and the outpouring of the mighty Holy Spirit was fifty days in total. Forty days with Jesus making many appearances, and ten days after His ascension, as they waited and prayed together with great expectation and wonder at what was about to happen. No one knew. Not in their wildest dreams could they have imagined what this Pentecost day was going to be like. Nor what it would mean for the rest of their lives.

All they could do was wait and pray in expectant hope for what God had promised.

(Pentecost means fifty. These fifty days are why many of our Bible translations subtitle Acts 2 The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost; or similar.)

The initial filling happens the moment a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, by faith. Before salvation, we were spiritually dead in sin, but once we are born again by the Spirit, we are made spiritually alive in Him. (Jn 3:6; Rom 10:9; Eph 2:1; Col 2:13.) At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit breathes the breath of His spiritual life into us, animating us with this life. This is the moment we come alive to a new life in Christ. We become a new creation. (2Cor 5:17; Eph 4:24; 1Pet 1:3; Col 3:10.)

We read this in John 20 where John explains the days following Jesus’ crucificion: Jesus’ disciples were hiding in a securely locked house. They were hiding from the Jewish leaders, fearing for their lives. John writes, the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to them, alive and in power. He showed them His nail marked hands and the wound on His side saying, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.” And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:21-22).

This is the moment the disciples saw the risen Lord Jesus for the first time. (Other than Mary and the two disicples on the road to Emmaus, Mk 16:9-13; Lu 24:13-35.) This is the moment they were born again, born of the Spirit, and became a new creation. Previous to this, during the years they had followed Jesus as He ministered, they were not yet born again, they were not yet the new creation. Jesus had to first die and be raised from the dead to inaugurate the new covenant in His blood before they could be made into a new creation man.

Jesus breathing on His disciples reversed what Adam had lost. When God created Adam, He formed him from the dust and “breathed the breath of life” into him (Gen 2:7). But when Adam sinned, he spiritually died, and death came to all men after Adam through this first sin (Rom 5:12; 1Cor 15:21-22).

Jesus reversed this, FULLY!

In John 20, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, once more breathed life into men, re-animating us with His life.

He was able to do this because of His sacrifice which cannot be undone. This new life cannot be taken away from us like it was with Adam. We are marked with a seal of ownership over our hearts. We belong to Christ. Purchased with His blood. And we have received the Holy Spirit: “[We] also were included in Christ when [we] heard the message of truth, the gospel of [our] salvation. When [we] believed, [we] were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…” (Eph 1:13-14). This is the initial filling of the Holy Spirit of every believer. With this seal we are now marked by God as His own, permanently. (See also 2 Cor 5:5; Eph 4:30; 1Pet 1:5; Rev 7:3-4, 9:4, 14:1, 22:4.)

This initial filling event occurs previous to the baptism of the Holy Spirit event. It did for Jesus’ disciples. They waited six weeks (Jn 20, Acts 1 and 2). Paul waited three days (Acts 9). For some, it may be months or even years because they have had no one tell them there is a powerful baptism waiting for them (Acts 19:1-5). Sometimes these two events occur simultaneously. First comes the born again experience, being made into the new creation, as we receive the breath of the Spirit of life into our hearts. Then the baptism comes upon the new creation man.

If you have not yet read Acts 2, please do. It is the testimony of the Holy Spirit coming powerfully to baptize the disciples, and the world has never been the same since.

“Things” is translated from ἔργα (erga): works, deeds, miracles, labor in/by the Spirit. It includes preaching the gospel and showing compassion motivated by love for others.

At the end of his gospel, after testifying to all the things Jesus did, John wrote, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (Jn 21:25). So in chapter 14, we have Jesus saying we would do greater things than He did. Then in chapter 21, John is saying that Jesus did so many things there is not enough room for all books to contain all the things.

How exactly are we supposed to do all these greater things?

By the power of the Holy Spirit in us! The Holy Spirit is God. He wants to dwell in us. He wants to come and settle down in our hearts, permanently making our heart His home… in a really, really, really big way.

We need to be fully immersed in the Spirit. This is what baptism is, full immersion in Spirit. Every believer needs this. Jesus wants us to be doing the ministry He did. But we cannot unless we are baptized and walking in power of the Spirit, led and guided everyday by the Spirit.

Real spiritual power, all the power that Jesus Himself had while He walked the earth as man, is made available to the believer who is baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Every time Jesus ministered to others, every miracle, the multiplying of food, the calming of storms, all of His ministry was done through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did all this as a man. He did not do it as God. He never ceased to be God. He was God in human flesh but never flexed His divinity. He never pushed the divinity button. Jesus did everything as a man, like us, to show us how to live fully-filled and led by the Holy Spirit.

If you haven’t yet read Acts 2, go ahead and do it today. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the topic these next few days.

We live in an era where many in the Church have set aside the need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some believe they don’t need it and depend instead upon their intellectual or other capacities. Some have been convinced the Holy Spirit is not active today, as if we need Him less today than Jesus and the first-generation church did. Others have been led to believe the activity of the Holy Spirit is not actually the Holy Spirit, but instead evil spirits and false lying signs from satan. This has led to a disempowered, impotent church. Many are satisfied with church this way, church without the presence and power of God, where people are dependent upon their own abilities, and minister from their own abilities.

I never want this.

We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with Him. We need our own Pentecost experience, and to keep having these experiences, and to keep being filled. Our personal spiritual life needs this, and all true spiritual ministry flows from this. We cannot truly serve Jesus without the Holy Spirit. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism means to be fully immersed, submerged, fully covered over, or overwhelmed. The Holy Spirit comes fully upon and into a person, overwhelming them, immersing them in Himself. It is a baptism of fire and spiritual power (Matt 3:11; Lu 3:16; Acts 1:8). When Paul wrote, “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:15), he used the Greek word πληροῦσθε which is properly defined: be fully filled, keep being filled, be filled increasingly and contiunally more. Baptism is not a one time event, the more we come before the Lord to seek Him and worship Him, the more we are filled.

This week, take time to read Acts 2. It is the testimony of the disciples gathered in the Upper Room after Jesus had ascended to Heaven. They waited and prayed, just as Jesus commanded them, “wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). The Promise came, the mighty Holy Spirit came and turned their world upside down.

He has been turning the world upside down ever since.

Today, we’re going a little deeper on defining prayer for the person with a heart to follow Jesus, the person willing to laying aside the self, to take up Jesus, and put Him at the center.

The Greek word προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai) is the most frequently used word in the New Testament for “pray” or “prayer” and it means: to pray, supplicate, or worship. It is used eighty-six times and always as a direct address to God for personal communion, petition, requesting, intercession, worship, thanksgiving, or confession.

What I find interesting is how the προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai) is made from two Greek words (origin words):

• πρός  (pros): move toward, esp. for the purpose of nearness, and to make an exchange
• εὔχομαι (euchomai): to pray, wish, will something, make requests, or make a vow

True, sincere prayer, at its most basic, is a laying down of our wishes and will in exchange for His wishes and will. To go deep in prayer requires an exchange of my will for His will. I lay ALL my wishes, wants, dreams, and ambitions down to find out what His heart wants and do that!

And here is where I find a dilemma for many of us. We want to pray. We want to honor God. We want to love Him well. Yet to do this, time with Him in the Secret Place is required. This is where the exchange begins to happen, and we begin to pray His heart and His will. The dilemma is, this is costly on our flesh. So instead, many believers simply avoid the Secret Place because this avoids the exchange, which ultimately avoids the cost to our flesh.

But the exchange is worth it. What we think we are giving up in the exchange is nothing in comparison to His intimate friendship, the increase of His presence, His constant companionship. God is better than anythig in this world… the world that He created… He is better! The exchange is worth it!

In Psalm 139:13-15 (NIV) we read,

1 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

2 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

3 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Three Hebrew words in verse 13 are important for this discussion; 1) Kilyah means the innermost parts, or innermost being. It is used to describe both the kidneys and the mind because the ancients knew of the mind-gut connection. Kilyah is our deepest parts; 2) Beten is the Hebrew word for womb, belly, body, and again, “innermost being” because kilyah and beten are connected and sometimes used interchangeably. But beten particularly includes the unseen depths of the spirit of a person, male or female; and, 3) Cakak means to cover, protect, join or knit together, to overshadow, or completely shut in.

Verse 13 uses the imagery of a mother’s womb to emphasize God’s presence in that Secret Place and His intimate planning and shaping every facet of our being: our spirit, soul, and body, and our particular giftings, dreams, and passions. He is our Creator and He there with us, in our mother’s womb.

A mother’s womb is the physical representation of spiritual womb. A womb is a hidden and mysterious Secret Place where form and shape and an explosion of life is taking place. This happens in the Secret Place, the place we meet privately with God. He touches and changes us there in the Secret womb-like Place.

Verse 15 reads, “I was made in the secret place.” Here secret place is cether, the masculine noun form of sathar from yesterday’s blog on Psalm 91:1, where sathar means a covering, a secret place, to be in hiding, or to be hidden and kept safe under a cover or a shelter… like a womb.

The Secret Place is the place of making, the place of transformation, where we are formed and shaped and become more like Jesus through intimate, personal contact with Him. And we receive more and more of His resurrection life within us the more we prioritize time with Him in the Secret Place.

Jesus said the reason He came was so that we might have “life and have it abundantly,” or “life… to the full” (John 10:10, ESV, NIV). His life in us is explosive, it’s transformational.

If you struggle to understand this, or lack this kind of explosive life in you, begin to spend time with Jesus everyday. Start a new habit of spending 30 minutes a day singing to Him, talking, listening, reading the Word. Maybe build to an hour. You will be building your own Secret Place, a place you go to meet with Him, hidden away from everything and everyone, to prioritize Him.

You will quickly find this secret womb-like, hidden place is where God-dreams are conceived, given life, developed, and birthed. And He will make His many mysteries known to you because He loves to share Himself, lavishly, with His friends… in the Secret Place.