The Baptism of The Holy Spirit is a Gift. When someone receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior they may ask The Lord for this Gift. This is a different experience from the one you have when you are Saved or Born Again. In John 20:21-22 after Jesus is resurrected from the dead, we see that Jesus breathed on those first disciples and they received the Holy Spirit into them. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior that is what happens.
The Holy Spirit comes to live in you and yet there is another Gift that The Lord wants you to have! In Acts 1:3-5 we find that Jesus has been appearing before His disciples over a period of forty days after He has been resurrected from the dead. (Again, remember the disciples were breathed on already, and received The Holy Spirit in them.) Jesus is appearing before His disciples in a different time and setting, while He was eating with them and tells them to wait for the Gift The Father has promised, “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Then at the Feast of Pentecost the very first Baptisms of The Holy Spirit occurred. When The Holy Spirit was poured out on the ones waiting in Jerusalem, they had evidence of their Baptism by speaking in other tongues.
Now you may be thinking, Jamie, I thought that what happened on that day at Pentecost was only for that one day? Well, let’s look. We find the Gift continuing throughout the New Testament that began on that day and it is for every born again Believer! Acts 10: 44-48 tells us, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.”
The people who heard Peter preaching believed in Jesus and as they were listening to The Good News of Jesus, The Holy Spirit came upon them and they received the Gift of the Baptism of The Holy Spirit! And how did Peter and all that was with him and us today know this? They were speaking in other tongues! And then Peter said they should be baptized with water! Get excited friend!
This was on a different day than on Pentecost, with different people and they had not even been baptized with water yet! This Gift was and IS for The Church! If you are a Follower and Believer of Jesus Christ, this Gift is for you too! Begin asking Jesus today to Baptize you in His Holy Spirit! Your life and walk with God will change forever! It is amazing the change that I have experienced since I have been Baptized in The Holy Spirit! Yes, this Gift began after Jesus Christ died on a cross and then was resurrected from the dead. Yes, it began just 50 days from Passover, at the Feast of Pentecost and it is still for us today, yes, it is for you! Yes, YOU CAN, NOW!
Verse of the Day: “. . . wait for the gift . . .” - Acts 1:4 (NIV)
Jamie Carte is Vice President and Senior Minister of Jamie Carte Ministries in Hico, West Virginia, USA. An evangelist, Bible teacher, writer and speaker, Jamie reaches the lost and teaches the Bride of Christ how to prepare for Her Wedding Day, which is The Rapture of The Church. Visit Jamie Carte at http://www.jamiecarte.org.… 
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