Today I want to share from the "Grace Inspirations" devotional by Joseph Prince.
THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Before Jesus went back to heaven,
He told His disciples to “wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). There
are thousands of promises in the Bible, so which promise was He referring to?
The early church knew which
promise Jesus was referring to because He had told His disciples, “Do not leave
Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father, which you have heard Me
speak about. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized
with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). Jesus was
referring to the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues (see Acts
2:1–4).
Jesus wants you to know the value
of the Promise of the Father because He said, “You shall receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me...” He did not
say, “You shall do witnessing,” but “You shall be witnesses.”
In other words, your very person will be a witness to Him!
This is because the power you
receive when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit is the same power that so
anointed Peter that the sick were laid on the streets for his shadow to fall on
them and heal them (see Acts 5:15). Even handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul’s
body were so saturated with the anointing of the Spirit that when they touched
the sick, people witnessed diseases and evil spirits leaving the sick (see Acts
19:12)!
That same power caused a Holy
Spirit-baptized church member, who prayed in tongues, to experience God’s
healing power when he laid hands on his mother who was in an advanced stage of
cancer. And because she was healed, she became a witness of the love and power
of God to her friends and unbelieving relatives.
Beloved, when you are baptized in
the Holy Spirit, you will be a witness to others that no problem, trial,
disease or sickness is a match for the power of the Spirit in you!
AMEN! The Spirit of Almighty God is living IN you as a born again believer! When you receive that enduement with power from on high, then YOU will be able to do the works that JESUS did! People will recognize the presence of God IN you and this is exactly what HE and WE desire to have happen! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "What A Beautiful Name" which mentions Holy Spirit!
Shalom in Him!
