Jesus had always lived in Heaven, with all the privileges of being divine. Then in order to reconcile us to God, he volunteered to become a human baby in a poor family, without much privilege at all - such a change in circumstances. He even had to learn how to live as a boy, obedient to his human parents, while redeveloping as a human his relationship with his Father God. The incarnation of Christ is all about Jesus' becoming one of us to share in human life and understand it from our perspective. Therefore, to a large extent, he started out just like us.
Then one day he turned up in front of his cousin, John the Baptist, and asked to be baptized. After a bit of a disagreement, John gave in and when Jesus came back out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove and remained on him. Now Jesus already knew who he was - he had referred to God as his Father when he was 12 years old, so presumably he had some sort of relationship with his Father and the Holy Spirit before he was baptized. However, this was clearly a turning point for him. The upshot was that he was finally ready to minister and when he returned to Galilee he did so in the power of the Spirit in a way that he hadn't before (Luke's Gospel chapter 4, verse 14). This man who had been the village carpenter was now unrecognisable. It fact, it took a while for the people who heard him in the Synagogue at Nazareth to realize who he was.
Jesus' tools changed from hammers and chisels to parables and miracles. However, he often said that he didn't work on his own because he did only what his Father wanted - but He was also filled with the Holy Spirit. So the whole of the Trinity worked together while Jesus was on Earth. Jesus was so successful since he was himself God, but also because of his reliance on working in accord with his Father's wishes and ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit, with whom he was constantly filled.
Is it any wonder that Christian ministry can feel dry if we just get on with what we think that we should be doing, perhaps because that's what our job description says, or it's what we've been taught, or perhaps that's what the people around us expect of us? What we do for God is full of life and power if we constantly make sure that we are keeping in step with our Heavenly Father and remaining filled with the Holy Spirit - and that might mean not doing what others think we should be.
To minister powerfully, Jesus needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit; we can't expect to work effectively for God without the same source of power.
I was at an ordination service a few years ago at which the speaker turned to the congregation at one point and told us not to expect that the people being ordained were going to run around and sort out all the practical and administrative duties at their churches. They would do some of that, but they were primarily being set aside to be with God. If we didn't give them enough time to be with him, then we couldn't expect that they would be very visionary or effective at helping us spiritually. How much, though, do we load up our church leaders with expectations of their undertaking the tasks that we could take off them, not realizing that we should be paying them primarily to be still with God and then minister out of the spiritual anointing that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit and surrendered to the will of the Father?
And the same is true for all of us. We might have busy jobs and many family commitments which prevent us from spending hours and hours with God each day, but our spiritual vision and effectiveness will still reflect the amount of time that we spend with him, how much we allow him to fill us and how far we are willing to surrender our lives to him. Striking a good balance between relating personally to God and working out that relationship practically in his Kingdom is oh so important. If you want to be dynamic for God, then make sure that you take time to be with him today, allow him to fill you, and do whatever he says - and tomorrow and the day after ...
Being baptized in the Holy Spirit, or filled with the Holy Spirit, is something promised by John the Baptist (e.g. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 11), Jesus (e.g. Acts chapter 1, verse 5) and Peter (Acts 2:38), and seen to happen many times in Acts when the apostles were ministering or preaching (e.g. Acts 19:6). The result was that people were released to hear God better and speak his words (prophesy), speak in other languages (not all human ones but also heavenly - see Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church, chapter 13, verse 1). Other people receive gifts from the Holy Spirit of supernatural knowledge, wisdom or healing etc (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11).
If you are a Christian but haven't yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit, then you can ask someone who has been to pray for you. If you don't know anyone suitable, then you can ask him into your life now; then relax and let him do what he wants. "Holy Spirit, I want you to fill my life and I surrender to your will and your ways. Empower me to live for you and to minister to others so that your Kingdom grows and your will is done here on Earth."
Remember that if you have any questions you can leave a comment, or email us at Isaiah41v18@gmail.com.
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