Jesus has saved me.

Receiving the Holy Spirit.

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

It’s a lot more critical for a believer in Christ to receive the Holy Spirit, than for us to simply write about it. Without receiving the Holy Spirit, we cannot boldly go and preach the gospel, heal the sick and raise the dead. Without receiving the Holy Spirit, we cannot live the Christian life. Will we try? Sure we will. The hunger and passion for God is in the heart of every believer. Yet, until they’ve grown in maturity of understanding of God’s love for them, they’re nowhere ready to receive the Holy Spirit.

I was nowhere in shape to talk about Jesus even after I had heard the gospel. I was rather in fear. I literally saw the church being on the whole other end of the spectrum of faith. But that day Christ baptized me with the Holy Spirit, right before I was to deliver a sermon, a sermon of joy. Right there and then, I was brought to a realm by the Spirit of God that I never knew or even thought existed. Right there, I was overwhelmed with so much joy that I cried like a baby, and blurted out the gospel unhindered, unabridged, unrestrained. Yes, I lost my composure. I lost my religious sanity. I lost my good-behavior composure and shouted from the mountain tops that Jesus has saved me. Jesus has saved me. And nobody, I mean nobody, can ever restrain me from screaming that Jesus Christ has saved me. Because the Lord is my strength to share this very good news.

I know that our hearts simply sink when we fail at certain things. Yet, I pray that if our failures are necessary to prove us that we’re on the wrong path, then may we never succeed by our own human efforts. May the Holy Spirit alone be our confidence go through the open veil, the body of Christ, to enter Holy of Holies, the presence of God.

Anything else is in vain.

“…But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17)