Divine Healing Made Simple: Simplifying the supernatural to make healing & miracles a part of your everyday life (The Kingdom of God Made Simple Book 1) by Praying Medic Page A
Authors: Praying Medic
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in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
ACTS 1:8
This third relationship with the Holy Spirit is noteworthy for a couple of reasons:
1. Jesus tied the power for ministry to the new relationship they had not yet experienced. “You will receive power –
when
the Spirit comes upon you.”
2. When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit came to rest ‘upon’ Him, and remained there (see Jn. 1:32). The baptism of Jesus was the point at which His ministry began. He received the anointing and power for ministry through the same experience He later told the disciples they would have.
In Acts 2:3, the Holy Spirit manifested as divided tongues of fire resting “upon” the believers. In Acts chapter 8, Peter and John went to Samaria to assist the new believers in receiving the Holy Spirit, as described in the following passage:
For as yet He had fallen upon
(epi)
none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
ACTS 8:16
The apostle Paul likewise assisted people in receiving the Holy Spirit after they became believers:
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came “on”
(epi)
them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.
ACTS 19:6
Finally, Peter taught that the Spirit of God rested “upon” believers:
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, be happy; for the spirit of glory and of God rests “upon”
(epi)
you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1 PET. 4:14
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit does in fact rest “upon” believers today, just as He did with the saints of the Old Testament. If we agree that Jesus and the disciples had the Spirit come to rest
upon
them at the starting point of their ministry, we could make the case that the power for ministry depends on this experience.
In the account of creation in Genesis 1:2, we see the Spirit of God moving over the face of the waters. What this reveals is that the Spirit of God moves. We also know that the voice of God spoke as the Spirit was moving and things were created that had not yet existed. Implied here is the fact that when the voice of God speaks, when and where His Spirit is moving, creative miracles occur.
It is frequently taught that God is present everywhere and yet people claim that God’s presence “shows up” in different locations for different reasons. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?
One of the main verses used to support the idea that God is present everywhere is from this observation by the psalmist:
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
PSALM 139:7-10
This is where I must attempt to explain something that seems to be a contradiction. The Bible does teach (or at least it implies) that God is present everywhere. And yet it also teaches that in some way, He appears at certain times in certain places where He was not previously present, or at least not present in the same way. One example is when God’s manifest presence (or His glory) inhabited the temple of worship. Another is the indwelling of His spirit inside of us, after we are born again. So here is our question – how can God become present in some place when He is already present everywhere?
Let’s look at a few more passages of scripture.
In the following passage, God’s Spirit appeared in a cloud, from which He spoke:
Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him,
(Moses)
and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
NUM. 11:25
In the days of the kings of Israel, the manifest presence
ACTS 1:8
This third relationship with the Holy Spirit is noteworthy for a couple of reasons:
1. Jesus tied the power for ministry to the new relationship they had not yet experienced. “You will receive power –
when
the Spirit comes upon you.”
2. When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit came to rest ‘upon’ Him, and remained there (see Jn. 1:32). The baptism of Jesus was the point at which His ministry began. He received the anointing and power for ministry through the same experience He later told the disciples they would have.
In Acts 2:3, the Holy Spirit manifested as divided tongues of fire resting “upon” the believers. In Acts chapter 8, Peter and John went to Samaria to assist the new believers in receiving the Holy Spirit, as described in the following passage:
For as yet He had fallen upon
(epi)
none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
ACTS 8:16
The apostle Paul likewise assisted people in receiving the Holy Spirit after they became believers:
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came “on”
(epi)
them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.
ACTS 19:6
Finally, Peter taught that the Spirit of God rested “upon” believers:
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, be happy; for the spirit of glory and of God rests “upon”
(epi)
you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1 PET. 4:14
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit does in fact rest “upon” believers today, just as He did with the saints of the Old Testament. If we agree that Jesus and the disciples had the Spirit come to rest
upon
them at the starting point of their ministry, we could make the case that the power for ministry depends on this experience.
In the account of creation in Genesis 1:2, we see the Spirit of God moving over the face of the waters. What this reveals is that the Spirit of God moves. We also know that the voice of God spoke as the Spirit was moving and things were created that had not yet existed. Implied here is the fact that when the voice of God speaks, when and where His Spirit is moving, creative miracles occur.
It is frequently taught that God is present everywhere and yet people claim that God’s presence “shows up” in different locations for different reasons. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?
One of the main verses used to support the idea that God is present everywhere is from this observation by the psalmist:
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
PSALM 139:7-10
This is where I must attempt to explain something that seems to be a contradiction. The Bible does teach (or at least it implies) that God is present everywhere. And yet it also teaches that in some way, He appears at certain times in certain places where He was not previously present, or at least not present in the same way. One example is when God’s manifest presence (or His glory) inhabited the temple of worship. Another is the indwelling of His spirit inside of us, after we are born again. So here is our question – how can God become present in some place when He is already present everywhere?
Let’s look at a few more passages of scripture.
In the following passage, God’s Spirit appeared in a cloud, from which He spoke:
Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him,
(Moses)
and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
NUM. 11:25
In the days of the kings of Israel, the manifest presence
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