The law, grace and truth (26)

Father, thank you for this new month of May. As we have ushered into May, we receive every good and every perfect gift that You have prepared for Your sons and daughters. By your grace and mercy, may Your sons and daughters be prepared to receive these gifts as well not by power, not by might but by the Spirit of the LORD. Thank you that the lines have fallen for them in pleasant places and they have a good inheritance in Christ. Thank you Father that eye has not seen nor ear heard what You have prepared for them that love You and yet You reveal it to them in the name of Jesus. Thank you Father for the blessing of walking in divine health, that with long healthy lives you will satisfy Your people and show them your salvation. Thank you for levelling the mountains before them and making the crooked places straight as You order their steps LORD in the name of Jesus. Thank you for a fresh hunger for Your righteousness and Your Word among your people. Thank you LORD for each and every son and daughter who is born again and has received Your salvation. Thank you that they are born of the incorruptible seed and You will not allow them to see corruption in the name of Jesus. Thank you LORD that by Your power You are preserving each and every one of their lives, their loved ones and all that concerns them from the evil one in the name of Jesus. Thank you Father that the works of their hands are blessed. They are blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Thank you LORD for Your favor that surrounds them like a shield. Thank you for guarding their hearts and minds with Your peace that surpasses understanding and for meeting all their needs according to Your riches in glory. We speak the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus over each day of the month of May and may Your will Abba be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you Father for sending forth Your ministering angels concerning this prayer as Your people move from glory to glory in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank you LORD.

Today's lead Word is from Acts 19:3-6 (NKJV)

"3.And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism."

4.Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."

5.When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6.And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied."

Amen, thank you LORD.

In this excerpt, we see the distinction between repentance that comes from John's baptism and the repentance that comes from receiving Christ. This conversation is happening between Apostle Paul and twelve disciples he met at Ephesus. These disciples were baptized into John's baptism but had not heard of the Holy Spirit. John the baptist always made it clear that his ministry was only paving the way for Christ's ministry. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist tells the people, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

When we look at the above text, as much as we are under the grace and truth today, Apostle Paul chose to follow the spiritual protocol. Paul could have laid hands to pray for these men since they were already baptized in John's baptism but he specifically baptized them in the name of Jesus and then laid hands on them. As much as John's baptism was also about repentance, it did not have the power to cleanse away one's sin.

Jesus in John 3:5 (NKJV) says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." With the baptism in the name of Jesus, God's arms are now wide open not only to the descendants of Israel but to also all the world so that none will perish but receive eternal life. On that note, only the baptism in the name of Jesus can enable a child of God receive the Holy Spirit.

I'll end with Jesus' Word found in 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."

Amen, thank you LORD.

Invitation to be born again: If you would like to receive eternal life and the free gift of salvation that is found in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, please say this prayer with me;

"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and with God as my loving Father today and forever. Thank you Father that because the Son has made me free, I am now free indeed." AMEN.

HALLELUJAH, PRAISE GOD! YOU ARE OFFICIALLY REDEEMED. PLEASE FIND A CHURCH AND GET WATER BAPTIZED!