Verse
“I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Thought
Jesus is directly involved in sending the Holy Spirit to his followers. This included initiating the dawn of the church with the coming of the Spirit that first Pentecost (Acts 2:33-39) and also pouring out the Spirit into the heart of the individual believer (Titus 3:4-7). Paul taught that the gift of the Spirit is the seal of our belonging to God (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13) and the proof that we are God’s children (Rom. 8:9). The presence of the Spirit is crucial and Paul re-baptized people who had not received the Spirit when they were baptized (Acts 19:1-7). The Spirit is the promised blessing of belonging to Christ (Acts 2:33; Gal. 3:14; Eph. 1:13), going back to Jesus’ own promise that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to those who asked for the Spirit to be given to them (Luke 11:13). The Spirit’s presence is our source of “living water” flowing from within us (John 7:37-39). We live as followers of Jesus because the Lord has given us this great gift of grace!
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for Jesus and all that he did to give us life and bring us to you as your holy children. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, your holy presence within us. We praise you and thank you for your abiding grace in us and for us and we pray that we can share this with others who need to know your love. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
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