Cgeneration devotional

Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“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.””

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One benefit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit for us as Christians is that we will receive power. But power to do what exactly?

John‬ ‭1‬:‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”

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The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that a lot of people find it difficult to understand so let’s take a look at a couple of points to note regarding it.

Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh…”

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God gave a prophecy through Prophet Joel that a time would come when He would pour out His spirit on all flesh which means every believer would have access to the Holy Sprit, and not just a select few as it was in the Old Testament.

Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ says

“There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”

Today we look at more questions about Baptism.

Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭36‬-‭37‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“…And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

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I believe that one possible reason why some Christians delay being baptised is because they feel they are not spiritual enough or holy enough. So the question today is “when is the right time to get baptised as a Christian?”

Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

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Some Christians are not baptised because they don’t understand why they need to do so, while some are baptised without understanding why they did it! So let’s take a look at the importance of baptism.

Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭MSG‬‬

“That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus...”

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Today let’s look at some of the frequently asked questions about water baptism.

Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ says “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…”

Even though we must have heard about Water Baptism, not many people understand its significance. So is water baptism of any use to me as a Christian?

Proverbs‬ ‭24‬:‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ says “If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small.”

‘Strength’ here is not about our physical strength but about our inner strength. And our inner strength is dependent on our level of faith. So how can we grow our faith so that we don’t buckle under pressure?

Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

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How could the Centurion in Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬-‭13‬ ‭and the Canaanite woman in Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭21‬-‭28‬ who didn’t have any close contact with Jesus have such great faith, meanwhile, Peter and the other disciples who spent all their time with Jesus had little faith?