Initialised, Activated And Empowered

FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT...

"Be filled with the Spirit" the great apostle wrote. "Wait until you receive the Holy Spirit" said Christ. An apostle and the Messiah. Both great exponents of truth taught that the Christian life is empowered by mere knowledge. Neither is it empowered by religious effort. No, it is initiated, activated, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

INITIALISATION

Becoming a Christian is not like joining a religious club. It is an utter transformation of the heart. This radical transformation is not achieved by wishful thinking, New Year resolutions, or religious devotion. It is initialised when the Holy Spirit opens a person's spiritual eyes and ears. When this happens, a person sees their true spiritual condition before God and realises their dire situation due to their bankruptcy of soul. They will then find that their previously deaf spiritual ears begin to hear the soft, gentle, voice of God calling them to come and follow. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit initialises, He would convict of sin, reveal the righteousness of God, and convince of the Judgment to come (John 16:8).

John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

ACTIVATED

When a person responds to God's invitation to have their sins forgiven, their guilt expelled, their past redeemed, their future secured, and their destiny glory-bound, the Holy Spirit activates a new birth of their dead spirit. Without the Holy Spirit taking the benefits of the finished work of Christ and activating this salvation in a person's soul, mankind would be left to mere futile guess-work (generally called: religion).

EMPOWERED

After the Holy Spirit has activated new spiritual life within a new worshiper, He leads His new host to the river of empowerment and invites them to bathe. This Baptism in the Holy Spirit empowers the new worshiper to confidently share their newfound life. One of the surest signs that a person has been baptised with the Holy Spirit is their desire to share the Good News with others. The Holy Spirit within them compels them to reach out to those crippled by their burden of guilt and sin.

Shackled By a Heavy burden,
'Neath a load of guilt and shame,
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.

He touched me, O he touched me,
And O the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened, and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.

Other evidences of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, known as the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, is the activation of spiritual gifts beyond the activation gift of salvation. In Mark 16, Jesus announced that these gifts included speaking in tongues, casting out demons, and healing the sick. Mere religion or positive thinking can not compete with this offer.

If you sense your soul being initialised, then receive the grace of God to have your soul activated by the Holy Spirit. If you have had your soul activated, then begin to seek the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. This is most commonly done within the community of the Redeemed as they worship together. In an atmosphere of praise, an activated soul can seek the Baptism with the Spirit, pray and receive prayer, and have their tongue wonderfully redeemed with newness.

Acts 10:44-46 ¶ While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God."

Pray that more people will be initialised by the Holy Spirit. Pray that more people will be activated by the Holy Spirit. Pray that those who are activated by the Holy Spirit will be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Ps. Andrew