“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Jesus’ ministry on earth lasted for three and a half years, from His baptism through to His ascension. During that whole time, nobody received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But at the end of His earthly ministry Jesus Christ didn’t just want to leave an empty space in the lives of his disciples when he left. So, He gathered His disciples and said to them, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit is an “Advocate.” The Greek text uses the word “paraclete”,– which means someone who comes alongside us as a helper. When we personally know the Holy Spirit, we realize that He is the most extraordinary being in the world and that nothing exists that can compare to Him.

Jesus told them that if He left, He would not leave them as orphans, but that He would leave someone to help them. Jesus was so real while He was on the earth that people could touch Him, see Him, and hear Him. In the same way Christians need to learn to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, – just as real as if we were meeting Jesus in person. The Lord had already said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that point in time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:38-39).

After persevering in fasting and praying for ten days, the disciples finally received the awaited Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came into the room it was like a mighty rushing wind, but as He came upon the disciples He rested on each of them like tongues of fire. Immediately they began to worship in other tongues, in languages they never knew, and they spoke about the wonders of God in those foreign languages (Acts 2:1-11). When some people in the crowd made fun of them and suggested they were just drunk, Peter stood up and started to teach on the anointing of the Holy Spirit. At the end of his message the crowd felt convicted and asked, “…what shall we do?” Peter replied, “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” (Acts 2:38). That day, 3,000 Jews converted to Christianity because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which was operating through the lives of Peter and John.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“My name is Pastor Carlo and I’m from the Philippines. Ever since my church entered into the Vision that the Lord gave Pastor Castellanos, miraculous things have begun to happen in our lives and ministry. I’d like to share the story of one of my disciples, because God radically transformed his life in December 2008 after he attended a convention in Manilla where Pastor Cesar Castellanos was preaching.

My disciple is a doctor by profession and when he returned to his province, God placed in his heart a desire to start a church. He had many doubts about doing this, but one day something happened that made his doubts disappear. One morning while he was working at the hospital a woman arrived with no vital signs, her face was blue, she had no pulse, no heart beat, and saliva was coming out of her mouth. He said “This woman is dead.” He gave her CPR repeatedly but the woman did not respond. He continued to press on her chest because he wanted people to see that he was doing something, – but nothing happened. He did this several times but the woman showed no signs of life. Then the Lord began to speak to him and told him, “pray in the name of Jesus,” so he began to pray in his mind, because he was afraid of others hearing him. Then he heard the Lord telling him, “Pray louder.” So, he began to pray softly, but nothing happened. Then the Lord said, “Louder!” At that moment he raised his voice and said in faith, “In the name of Jesus!” This woman got up, but he told her, “Please, please, don’t get up, don’t stand up,” and the woman did not know where she was. This woman had been brought back to life.

The woman’s husband had left the hospital because he thought his wife was dead. He had no idea that she had been raised back to life. Then, he received an incredible phone call and quickly returned to the hospital to find his wife totally healed the had to send someone to find. God was glorified, and this couple went to church where they surrendered their lives completely to the Lord.

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“He turned my weakness into power, and my spirit was reborn when I received the Divine Counselor.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Three.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: 1 Chronicles 3-4; Psalms 125
• New Testament: Luke 7:18-35; Colossians 1:15-29