More

 

It's okay to want more and more of the Lord. More of His presence, His healing, His wisdom, His leading, His love, His everything! In our natural life it's commonly seen as being greedy or a negative attribute to be craving and wanting more; being insatiable. However, those are just misdirected cravings. We are designed by God to want more and more of Him. 

I've been in the book of Acts a lot this week and this morning I'm reading chapters 7 and 8. I'm struck by so many things in these passages but what stayed with me this morning is how we need to receive the Holy Spirit. I have been filled with the Holy Spirit for about 6 years now and I find myself trying to explain this importance to other believers. As I read in Acts 8, I'm noticing more that we need the boldness and the 'in your face' power of the Holy Spirit to reach the lost. It is with His miraculous signs, deliverance, and healings that even those deep into the occult were saved. 

Peter and John came to where Philip was ministering in Samaria after they heard that the people there were accepting the word of God. "When they arrived, they prayed for them that they may receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:15-17). There isn't further mention in this passage about what happened with the Spirit filled Samaritans but considering they were saved by the undeniable power of the Holy Spirit and then were filled themselves, I would assume that they too performed many signs, deliverances and healings with the power of His spirit in order to continue to reach the lost. 

Before I was saved, I went to many churches trying to find God. I was sincerely trying to believe but couldn't.  Most churches felt stale, like empty rituals to me and motivational speeches based on old wisdom. The teachings fell to the floor with my seared conscious, hardened heart and deaf ears. I would leave feeling a little more hopeless. My salvation testimony involves being touched personally by His supernatural presence. My real journey into following Christ started when I started going to a church that was, and is, intentional in hosting the Holy Spirit. It is His Spirit that transforms us, His Spirit that opens our eyes, softens our hearts and heals us. Church we need His Spirit within us to reach others. Don't settle for less <3