“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

-Acts 1:8

It can be easy to ask Jesus to come into your life and think, “What more could I possibly need? I’m good with God now, saved from hell and on my way to heaven!” This kind of thinking may be why some followers of Jesus go through life completely unaware that there are two separate works of the Holy Spirit.

The first work of the Holy Spirit is when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and He comes to dwell inside you. The second is when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit and He equips you with power. But not just any power, this power is supernatural.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit gives you power to demonstrate and enforce the kingdom of God. This power can help you in lots of ways, but all of them are intended to help you function the way God designed you to function, to do what He has called you to do in His Kingdom while you are here on the earth.

Put simply, receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues is not only for your personal edification but also for building up others, spreading the gospel, and manifesting God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. When you pray in tongues you are energized and equipped to live with a bold faith and effectiveness.

You might be questioning, “Is this baptism of the Holy Spirit still for today?”  The answer is in Acts 2:39 where we are told, “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”  

Ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit today and receive the power He has for you!