Mel Tari - Like a Mighty Wind

You have accepted Jesus, and you are looking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That is a good thing to do, because Jesus promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We can see in the life of the disciples that they had been in the company of Jesus for three and a half years before He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem to receive the promise of the Father.

John the Baptist said first in John 1:33 that Jesus is the one who will come after him who will baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Now you come with the real desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The first step that you need to make before the Lord can baptize you in the Holy Spirit is to make sure that you have been born again. Why? Because the baptism of the Holy Spirit is only given to the believer.

The Bible says in Acts 2:38: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The gift of the Holy Spirit is only for those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior and have been born again. Pray, confess your sins, be sure that you repent from them, and invite Jesus to come into your heart - right now!

If you are not sure that Jesus is your Savior, and you are in a state of unbelief and are seeking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit - for sure you will have a demonic spirit, or a counterfeit spirit. That is why you must settle that you are a believer first, for only one who has repented and accepted Jesus as personal Savior can be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

To continue to the second point, be sure that there is no unconfessed sin in your heart. If you are a believer but there is sin in your heart, confess it to the Lord and bring it to the light. It will be very easy for the Holy Spirit to come down, but the devil still has ground to attack you. Then you have two kinds of spirits working in you. The Holy Spirit will work in you and manifest himself, but the time will come when the devil will also manifest himself. The Holy Spirit will speak to you and the devil will speak to you, and then you will be confused. That's why before the Lord gives you the Holy Spirit, He wants you to make sure that there's no unconfessed sin in your heart.

If you have to ask forgiveness of someone or make restitution with somebody or make peace with anybody, you had better do it. Finish it before you ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit. If you have bitterness, hatred, or unforgiveness in your heart, you open yourself to the counterfeit spirit. Your life will become a real battlefield with the Holy Spirit and the devil fighting together in you.

Now the third point. Make sure that there's no demonic relationship in your life. In the past, for instance, if you have gone to a fortuneteller, read horoscopes, played with the Ouija board, experienced table lifting, or practiced spiritism, you must renounce anything like this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Do it right now and say a prayer something like this: "In the name of the Lord Jesus, I renounce the relationship with the Ouija board, the horoscopes (just name it one by one) that I have made in the past. From now on I will have nothing to do with this demonic power." Commit your life entirely to Jesus and thank Jesus for the deliverance He gives you according to His promise in Isaiah 61:1 that He will open the prison for those who are in bondage.

In Exodus 20:5 it states that God will visit the iniquity of the forefathers unto the third and fourth generation. The Bible clearly says that the spirit of what our forefathers have done comes down to us. Simply pray: "In the name of Jesus I renounce this demonic relationship that has come down from the forefathers."

It is like this story. You have a rowboat and put a motor on it. The boat is tied by a rope to a coconut tree on the bank. Even if the motor is running, you cannot move forward, because the boat is still tied up.

In the Christian life, if you have this demonic witness of a past curse, you will never go forward in you spiritual life. When the Holy Spirit comes down, there's power to run the motor but no progress. The boat is still tied to the coconut tree. Cut the rope by renouncing the sin and old relationship.

Now the fourth step. In Luke 11:11 - 13, the Bible explains that if we ask bread from our parents, we will never receive stones. If we ask for an egg, we shall never receive a scorpion. If we ask for fish, we will never receive a serpent. The promise is given in verse 13 that if you, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more your Heavenly Father will give the Holy spirit to those who ask Him.

We receive the baptism of the Spirit by faith alone. We know we have it, and we can have it, because God's Word promises it. We know when we ask for the Holy Spirit we will never receive an evil spirit but we will receive the Holy Spirit. If we have this confidence in our God, we can pray and ask Him to baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus is the only One who will baptize you in the Spirit. Many people make mistakes by praying to the Holy Spirit like this: "O Holy Spirit, fill me." That's like going to the pool and asking the water to baptize you. It will never happen that way. We must go to the pastor and ask the pastor to immerse us into the water. Jesus is like the pastor. He will baptize you not in the water but in the Holy Spirit.

Just simply pray and ask Jesus, now, to baptize you in the Holy Spirit because you know that if you pray, the Holy Spirit will be given to you.

After you pray and ask Jesus Christ to baptize you in the Holy Ghost, you will begin to praise Him. Why? Because you now know that He has given you the power of His Spirit. When you praise the Lord, it shows that you believe His Word. You praise Him because you know He has done what you asked Him.

One thing you need to pay attention to is that usually people get scared when they are going to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That is very easy to understand. It makes you afraid because you have no experience and are scared about how it is going to happen. You don't need to be worried. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." If you have fear inside, it's not from God; it's from the devil.

Whatever happens, God will take care of you. Many times the devil tells people they will receive a demonic power and people are very afraid. That is the main hindrance many people have when they seek the Holy Spirit. I hope that you don't fear now. Just relax and rest on the promise of God if you are asking for the Holy Spirit. He will give you the Holy Spirit.

There is a difference between the demonic and the Holy Spirit's power. When the demon possesses you, he just forces you to do what he wants. But when the Holy Spirit possesses us, He will never use force. He wants you to submit yourself and yield yourself willingly to Him.

You ask for the Holy Spirit, and as a response of faith, you just praise God. The Bible says in Romans 12 we should yield ourselves as a living sacrifice to give our whole life - body, soul, and spirit.

When you come to the first encounter with Jesus as the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit wants to control our whole being as a person: He wants to control our body as well.

You know what the Bible says?

All the animals in the forest we can tame. In Marineland, I found out they can even tame a crocodile, but one thing you cannot tame is that old guy, the tongue. The Word says in James 3 that you cannot tame this guy. The tongue is like the bit of a horse. If you can control your tongue, you can control your whole person, your whole body. When the Holy Spirit comes, He wants to use and control your tongue. Why? Because when He can control your tongue, He can control your whole body. Our tongue has been so many years under the control of our awful mind and our wicked heart. As the Bible says, what you have in your heart comes out of your mouth.