Steps to Christ Today

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The number one thing that God wants from each one of us more than anything else is a one-on-one, intimate, personal relationship. Once you receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to draw that much closer to the Three of Them, and They will then become much more active in your personal life. Do you want this?

The second main reason that you will want this gift is so that you can have God's supernatural power flowing through you so you can fully accomplish whatever God's perfect will is going to be for you in this life. This is where you really enter into what is called the anointing. The anointing is the power of the Holy Spirit operator through you.

Now, before we talk about receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. You need to know why you want it. You need to have a main reason for seeking it. If that reason has a good motive, then we can go to the next stage.

As Christians, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Without Him, our witness will be powerless and our Christian lives nothing but a burden. We might have learning, talent, and eloquence, but without the Spirit, we cannot experience life as God intended for us to. We will not have the assistance of salvation and will not know the joy that comes from serving our Lord.

The ministry of Jesus consists in taking away of the sins and in giving us the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, the receiving of the Holy Spirit and Baptist belong together. They signal our new birth. In baptism we are identified with Christ, and Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can live in His power and priclaim the good news.

      Conditions for Receiving the Holy Spirit.   

One condition for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is repentance. Hearing the Word of God arouses our conscience and can lead us to an awareness of our true sinfulness and lost condition. True repentance is more than just feeling sorry for the dire consequences of our sins. It is a thorough change of heart and mind so that we see sin for what it really: an ugly evil and rebellion against God. The only way that we can experience true repentance is to be touched by the love of God.

Questions to answer: Why can't we receive the Holy Spirit without trusting God's Word?

Jesus has promised to send the Spirit as His representative. In faith we receive the promised gift. But if we doubt God's promise and do not trust His Word, we are like a double-minded person and cannot expect to receive anything from God. Faith is more than intellectual assent. It is putting our lives on the line, trusting that God will keep His Word and not let us down, regardless of what happens.

Question to answer: Why does persistent intercession make a difference?

God is not reluctant to give us the Spirit. God is good and benevolent, more than we can be even to our own children. Our persistent intercession does not change His mind. Our prayer changes us and brings us into God's presence. Prayer doesn't bring God down to us but brings us up to Him. Our prayers simply reveals our determination, and they prepare us for the gift.

The Next Condition is Obedience to God's Word.

Then, as now, the Holy Spirit is granted to all who obey God. In the Bible, love and obedience go hand in hand, and true faith is expressed in obedience. If we trust God with all our hearts, we will obey His commandments. Jesus said: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word". (John 14:23 NASB)

Obedience is a choice leading to a lifestyle that follows God's will as expressed in His law. We must continue in obedience if we want to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord.

    NOW FOR THE STEPS TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

I compiled this myself. I also plan of following it. You can join me to work towards receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

1. Repentance and Baptism.

Look up Acts 2:38 which says, if you repent and get baptized, you will receive the Holy Spirit. If you read about Jesus' baptism. You can say that he received the Holy Spirit after his baptism.

I know you might not easily have access to get baptized so I want us to start with repentance. Confess your sins to God and ask for forgiveness. We need to learn to control ourselves and to stop engaging in sinful act. Another way to confess that can be helpful,is to get a sheet of paper and write down all your sins. That way you can ask God to forgive you for all of them.

And if you can baptize, get baptized.

2. Full Surrender.

For me, I believe its best if you surrender all to God before your baptism. It will be better that way. Once you realize what the gift of the Holy Spirit entails and that you will have to be willing to fully surrender to whatever God's perfect plan and destiny is going to be for your life – then the next step is to take that big leap of faith and fully surrender everything over to God the Father. What God wants from you are four specific things: Your Body, Your Soul, Your Spirit and Your entire life.

Don't be scared. Surrendering all to God is the best step to take in life. God loves you and will always do what's best for you. If you surrender all to him, he will give you peace and strength that will be required to conquer this world. This way when we have the Holy Spirit, we can get the boldness and courage to minister God's Word. We might even be anointed with special spiritual powers like that of healing, speaking in tongues...etc.

4. Make God your best friend.

You need to make God you best friend and to do so, you will need to read his Word. You can't have a friend and not know about them. You will need to read the Bible to know more about God, your new Best friend. You will also have to get Him involved in every aspect of your life. Even if you are washing the dishes, you can say Thank you Lord for making me alive.

When you are at the road, you can ask God to accompany you and guide your path. We need to try to add God in everything we do. We need to always remember He exists and deserves all our praise. Try to praise him every moment for all He has done for you.

5. Ask

You need to ask God to give you the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened into you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocked it shall be opened...how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:9, 10 & 13b)

Ask, by praying to God - using your voice to ask for the Holy spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit is not a time event. It is something that we should seek and receive every day. Therefore, we need to ask every day through our prayers. We need to seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit every day. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we yield every part of our life to His transforming influence with the result that our walk, talk, and thoughts will reflect Jesus.

I will end this lesson here. I hope you learnt from it. Those steps I listed above were compiled by me. I believe they can be effective if we are trying to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Lord will bless us with His Spirit so that we can have the courage and strength to spread his Word.