Pastor and author Jack Hayford shared the following beautiful insight about the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit does not seek to be mysterious, but He is the most mysterious of the Godhead. We can read in the Word about the Father, and we can read about the Son who came and walked among us. But Jesus tells us that when the Spirit comes, He will not speak of Himself; that “he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13).
The workings of the Holy Spirit are invisible, glorious, and gentle. He never tells us about Himself. He comes to glorify Jesus—helping us to see Jesus more, to understand Jesus better, to respond to Jesus more obediently, to love Jesus with a deeper heart of commitment.
So the symbols of the Holy Spirit become essential to our gaining an understanding of what He’s like…—ways in which the reality of the invisible penetrate the visible. When we talk about the Holy Spirit as rain, for example, the purpose is not to think, “Oh, the Holy Spirit is like rain.” The purpose is to get wet.
Needing to be refreshed does not mean that I’ve backslid or sinned. When the lawn endures a hot day, it dries up and needs the refreshing of rain. The Holy Spirit, coming as rain, comes to bring refreshing and restoration.
Friends, we need to “get wet!” We need the Holy Spirit’s refreshing and restoration. We need His Baptism!
Before His return to heaven, Jesus gave His disciples 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). That promise was fulfilled in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost.
Think about this: If the followers of Jesus needed the empowering of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for the 1st century, how much more do we need that same empowering for the 21st century! We don’t need power and divine resources less today; we need them even more. May the Lord clothe us with His power from heaven today just as He did for His 1st century disciples (Luke 24:49).
I need a fresh anointing and baptism! What about you? Are you ready to receive everything Jesus has for you? Don’t you want more than you have right now? More power! More anointing! More authority! More people brought to Jesus! Lord, please make it happen!
This Sunday, June 12, we will conclude our teaching series, “AND”, by focusing on the Holy Spirit AND Spirit Baptism with four questions: What is Spirit Baptism? Who can Receive Spirit Baptism? How can I be Sure that I have received Spirit Baptism? How do I receive Spirit Baptism? Please join us at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God).
As you probably heard by now, Shirley and I tested positive last week for Covid19. Thankfully, it has been like a flu for us, an inconvenience for me and a little rougher experience for my wife. My symptoms were a sore throat which would get irritated and cause a coughing fit. Shirley’s main symptom was a loss of energy. She even slept through her birthday last week! Thankfully we did not require special medication and did not have to go to the hospital. If you happen to contract Covid, hopefully your experience will be like mine. Most of the time it did not look like I was even sick. And on the plus side, the good news is I lost at least 9 pounds during that time!
I guess something was going around as a number of people wound up sick and were not able to worship together on Sunday. For those who were able to gather together, Mahalo for all you did to make it happen! For those who missed it, I pray you are feeling much better and I look forward to seeing you this Sunday!
Coming Up: June 19 is Father’s Day. All Dads in attendance will receive a free gift. Please don’t miss it!
Aloha ke Akua!