Holy Spirit 2of4

Unprepared Soldier
Mr. Wigglesnot gave up fire fighting not sure what went with the endeavor. He joins the US Army. He receives his designated examinations, shots, and haircut along with the others. Everything is proceeding normally. Walking down an assembly line of supply bins they are instructed to pick-up one item from each bin. He walks in the line; he picks a pair of boots, a compass, and a canteen watching the guys in front of him. He continues, picks up a shaving kit, uniform, small bible, and a toothbrush. Suddenly, he starts to get a little nervous as the guy in front of him picks a backpack from the large bin at the end. He wonders out loud, “Do I have to carry that thing? It looks clumsy.” “That guy looks weird just putting it on.” “I don’t remember anyone telling me that I would have to wear anything weird.” He is hesitating and a line is clustering behind him. He looks down at the items in front of him and makes a verbal inventory; “I got the haircut, uniform, shots, compass, canteen, boots, shaving kit, and toothbrush, what could I possibly be lacking?” None of these things made him look badly out of step with society, most of them he could hide neatly away in his pockets. Looking over at some of the guys wearing the backpack, he almost wanted to laugh. After watching them a bit longer, he did chuckle a little. Decidedly, he walks away from the bins with only the initial supplies. Through the training; then out on the field of battle.
Out on the field, he watches as the guys beside him pull supplies from their backpacks. They have matches to start a fire, a field manual, some meal rations. He thinks about his growling stomach and feels a bit bitter. Mr. Wiggelsnot cut his finger and searched his pockets fruitlessly for even a Bandaid, nothing. These guys pull out needed supplies for every situation; it seems that nothing catches them by surprise. Strained and weary, he returns home when his duty is complete, having made little difference in the battle. Mr. Wigglesnot looked prepared, but without the needed supplies, he met failure.
This story is a little wild, I know, no commander would allow a soldier to skip the needed supplies. Many believers do go into battle with only the bare essentials. Trying to do the will of God without the baptism of the Holy Spirit is much like going into battle without the necessary equipment. Some refuse the baptism in the Holy Spirit because that just looks weird. I was one of these. Everything about this church thing and Christianity could be neatly tucked into normal culture, but not that baptism in the Holy Spirit thing. I thought I wanted Christianity to sound more like warm fuzzy philosophy than a powerful living force. I discovered that warm fuzzy philosophy does nothing to heal the real hurts that surround us. People are hurting and dying all around us and only a powerful living force can change that. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the yielding of our lives to the flow of this life-giving, healing power.
Some believe that this empowerment of the Holy Spirit is for others and not for them. Imagine that you are the commander of a vast army with unlimited supply resources. What benefit would there be in leaving a soldier without the needed supplies to succeed in battle? I cannot think of one. God has a purpose to fulfill in this Earth and He has chosen to use, you and I to accomplish it. He will grant to us everything that we need to get the job done. This promise if for you and your children and as many as will receive. How much more will the father give the spirit to those who ask? The power that we find in the Biblical book of Acts is for the work of the Kingdom, that work continues today.