“Let others whose blood is fired and whose hearts are melted after teh same fashion join hands with you. Make a Mount Carmel of some ante-room, or barracks, or kitchen and offer yourself up as a sacrifice, body, soul and sirit, and believe and wait until you receive the Holy Fire”

General William Booth, THE GENERAL’S LETTERS

My mind turns to the story of Smith Wigglesworth, a man of God (former Salvation Army officer!) who had an incredible ministry healing the sick, saving the lost, preaching with all signs and wonders following. The key moment for him was when he took himself into a room, drew a circle around himself and shouted to God that he wasn’t moving until the Holy Spirit came upon him. He waited, the Spirit came.

I am not good at waiting for anything.

And what about the early believers, their Jesus had died, their Jesus had risen now he is telling them to wait, to hang around in Jerusalem, for the Spirit to come. They waited, I guess they prayed with great expectation because the risen Jesus had suggested it be a good idea. They waited, the Spirit came.

I am not good at waiting for anything.

I’m of the theory that when a person is born again, we receive the baptism of the Spirit. It seems that it is right that this should happen, it is the Spirit that regenerates and creates new life in us, we are born again by the Spirit. But there seems to be a problem. There, in these days, does not seem to be much evidence of this baptism having been received. Every evidence in scripture of people receiving the Spirit for a first time, and for the second time top-ups for that matter, begin to see the power of God manifest through a variety of spiritual gifts.

I’ve seen evidence in these days of people maturing in the fruit of the Spirit, but we’re often slow on the gifts. There is a whole co-operation thing that needs to go on, as well as a lack of education thing happening. The Spirit empowers us all with an array of powerful gifts. Because, frankly, any Christianity which is not charismatic is not Christianity at all.

For me, it was the case of waiting, although I am not good at waiting for anything. Convinced of having new life, convinced of having the Spirit, I had to go through that process of opening up all the vaults and valves, moving the blockages in life that mean the the Spirit coul pour out, be released in my life. We all recieve the Spirit, just like a boiler always has a pilot light (unless it goes out, but that must be a different blog) and that pilot light, when the switch is pressed for the boiler to come on, becomes a flame that can heat a building.

How many of us are on pilot light mode? How many of us need to turn the switch?

Go into a room, draw a circle round yourself, seek God, wait expectanly for him to come…and he probably will.

in Jesus

Andrew