Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
God has always desired a home on earth in order that He might dwell with His people and speak face-to-face with them (Exodus 25:22). Jesus promised us that He would not leave us alone; He will come to us and manifest Himself to us (John 14:18,21).
I believe God has called us to be people of His Presence. I also believe He has called us to be people of His power. It is out of these two revelations, of how loved we are in Christ and how powerful He is in and upon us that we are then able to take our place as “more than conquerors through Him who loved us…” (Rom. 8:37-39).
In the New Testament there is a phrase, “spirit and power,” that has helped me see this. John the Baptist came in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). Mary, the mother of Jesus conceived because the Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Highest overshadowed her (Luke 1:35). The disciples were to receive “power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8).
The Spirit and the power are always linked together, but they are not the same. The Holy Spirit is the Presence of the living God on the earth so we should always value His Presence above all else. However, the Father can never be known properly apart from His power. The power is inherent to His nature. So pursuing the power of God is necessary or we will wind up with a form of godliness and no power (2 Tim. 3:5).
When we were born-again the Holy Spirit came and lived in us. Jesus breathed into His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-22). They became living beings again (Gen. 2:7). When we were baptized in the Holy Spirit we are immersed in the power of God (Acts 1:8). He comes upon us and clothes us with power from heaven (Luke 24:49). We now have the Holy Spirit who is the breath and Presence of the living God dwelling in us and His power is upon us.
I look at being born-again as being filled with the Holy Spirit initially, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit as the release of the Holy Spirit who is already in us. The stated purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is that we become witnesses to Him. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us we can fulfill Jesus commission, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21). We can release His Presence and peace to those around us. He is living in us and that restores us back to the original design in the garden (Gen. 2:7) and He comes upon us to empower us to bring others back to their original design.
Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him. Acts 10:38
The anointing is a Person. He is with us and we have been chosen to carry that Person into every place and circumstance we go. That is our highest call on this earth.
Many Blessings, BW