Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lord of all, lead me into all You have for me today. ...
“In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make His paths straight.’” ...
(He declared,) “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable Fire’” (Matthew 3:1-12).
Tuesday I blogged on are need to forgive. Fogiveness flows out of our requirement to repent. Why, because I want a revival of the Holy Spirit in me, in you and in our churches. However, before the Holy Spirit can be the “Holy Comforter” He first has to be the Holy Convictor” Before we can receive the baptism of power and Holy Fire, we must first choose the baptism of repentance. That is why John the Baptizer performed a baptism of repentance, to prepare those to receive Jesus’ baptism of Fire.
Thank You, Lord, for the baptism of “water for repentance.” We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without repentance; it’s when we “repent” that the “kingdom of heaven has come near” (v. 2). That’s our salvation, when we repent and turn to You, when we “confess with (our) mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in (our) heart that God raised Him from the dead, (we) will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
But there is more. When we repent and turn to You, we’ll go to heaven when we die, but You also want heaven in us now. You desire to have a people on this earth who are called by Your name, but also display Your nature in their hearts and move in the power of Your Spirit in their lives. You desire that we not only be baptized “with water for repentance,” but that we also be baptized “with the Holy Spirit and Fire” (Matthew 3:11).
This is the Promise of the Father, what our Father has promised to all who wait upon the Lord until we “have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). What You desired for Your first disciples just before You ascended to heaven after Your resurrection, You continue to desire for every disciple, as recorded in the first words of the Book of Acts at the beginning of Your Church in the earth:
“In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. After His suffering He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for the Promise of the Father. ‘This,’ He said, ‘is what you have heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
“So when they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, is this the time when You will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:1-8).
Lord, send Your Fire! Send the Fire that baptizes us with Your Holy Spirit. Send the Fire that fulfills the Promise of our Father for all Your sons and daughters. Your Fire fell on the day of Pentecost for the beginning of Your Church (Acts 2:1). And Your Fire stills falls on all who wait upon You to “be clothed with power from on high,” to “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon (us)” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8).
The Apostle Peter declared the need to repent of sin to receive Holy Spirit fire. On the Day of Pentecost Peter proclaimed: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. For the Promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Him” (Acts 2:38-29).
That same Holy Fire that empowers us is the same Holy Fire that sanctifies us -- that burns out of us everything in us that is not yet like Jesus. “For this is the will of God, (our) sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). That “the God of peace Himself sanctify (us) entirely, and (that our) spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
We can’t do that ourselves; You have to do that in us, by Your Holy Fire burning within us, both empowering us and sanctifying us, to be like You as Your witnesses in our world. “The One who calls (us) is faithful, and He will do this” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Do this in me, Lord. Today and every day. Baptize me afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Consume me with Your Holy Fire. “For indeed our God is a Consuming Fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Come set me ablaze this day and every day to be one of Your burning ones, empowered with the authority of Your Spirit and sanctified with the character of Your nature. Let me continually “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Shine through me, with Your Holy Fire burning in me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My Family,may you be baptized with the Holy Spirit and enter the baptism of repentance, so you can be set ablaze with the Consuming Fire of God to be His witness in your world, with His authority in your words and His character in your heart, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
