Have you ever been in a meeting where power is flowing but there is no beauty in the air? No moisture on the words of the person who’s speaking? The name of Jesus is not being exalted? Perhaps somebody’s giving a prophetic word, sharing details about a person’s life and past, but nothing in your heart burns. You don’t long to spend more time with Jesus after you hear him or her speak. People may even be healed, but you have no desire to come back the next day. Have you ever asked yourself what brings people to us who are not sick and are born again? It’s the presence of God. Oftentimes we don’t understand the difference between God’s power and God’s presence. God’s power sets the captives free. God’s power destroys the works of the devil. God’s presence helps me fellowship with the Lord.
Presence
As I said earlier in this book, when Jesus breathed upon the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22), the Holy Spirit began to live inside of them. In that moment, they became the temple of the Holy Ghost. No matter where they went or who they were with, they carried the presence of the Lord on the inside of them. This is what it means to be born again. As the glory of God lives in the Holy of Holies, in the tabernacle in the wilderness, our bodies have now become tabernacles for the Holy Spirit. This is a beautiful and holy gift, perhaps the greatest gift we could ever receive—the indwelling Spirit of God. This is the presence of God in our hearts. When the storms are raging around us, there is always peace within, and we are always able to retreat into that beautiful tabernacle that is our heart. And as Jesus said, Heaven is within us (see Luke 17:21). This is why Jesus calmed the storm as He slept during the storm. Yes, there was a storm around Him, but within Him there was perfect peace because His peace was not ruled by what went on around Him. He affected what went on around Him through the presence of God within Him. This is how we are to live.
Are you stressed? Do you have anxiety? Do you feel like the world around you controls you? This could be because you don’t know how to find the Lord’s presence. Or should I say it this way: You don’t know where to find the Lord’s presence. It is within you. What an advantage we have! We literally carry the Kingdom of God within us, who is the King Himself.
I have found that the beauty of the Lord is found in His presence. I remember attending a prophetic meeting in Los Angeles years ago. The man leading the meeting was a good man—very kind. I have great respect for him. He began to give names and details of people’s lives, but something in me did not yearn to come back the following night. I thought to myself, “I am seeing amazing things. Why don’t I want to come back?” It’s because there was a gift in operation. Now, if a gift is manifesting more predominantly than presence, then I will draw people to my gift instead of the presence. Remember, the power of God upon us sets people free around us. The presence of God within us is the key to my personal fellowship with the Lord.
Let’s remember a truth and never forget it: The power flows from the presence of God. The presence of God does not find its origin in the power of God. The power of God flows from Him, and He is the presence. Habakkuk says it this way:
Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise. His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, and there is the hiding of His power (Habakkuk 3:2-4 NASB).
The hiding of His power comes from His person. It comes from Him. “His radiance is like the sunlight,” verse 4 says. “He has rays flashing from His hand, and there is the hiding of His power.” His hand is Jesus always. The hand of the Lord in the Old Testament speaks of Jesus Himself. So many people want power, yet they’ve never gone to the Lord of power and discovered Him. Let’s remember that the presence of the Lord is the Lord Himself. So, when the Lord breathed on those disciples, they received His indwelling presence. This was enough for them to go to Heaven and fellowship with Him every day at any moment. Today, if you know Jesus, you carry the presence of the Lord. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, even until the end of the age (see Heb. 13:5).
Power
Acts 1:8 says, “ Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (KJV). Remember that Jesus is speaking to the same disciples that He spoke to when He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Why would He tell them to wait for power if they already had power? It’s because they had not been entrusted with the power of the Holy Spirit yet. They had been entrusted with the indwelling presence of the Spirit. This was a different experience of which the Lord was speaking. Since they had already been filled internally, He now wanted to clothe them externally. He wanted to change their nature and even their personalities, and make their weaknesses strengths so that the world would meet Jesus. Jesus is clear here that if we wait, we shall receive power. There is no ifs, ands, or buts connected to this promise: “Wait and you shall receive.” Who are we waiting on? Or what are we waiting on? Jesus said that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us was the promise of the Father (see Luke 24:49). If the Father promises something, you can bet your bottom dollar that He wants to give it to you. The key is waiting on the Lord, who is the baptizer. Jesus said that He would pray to the Father and that the Father would send the Holy Spirit (see John 14:16).
Now, just think of this for a moment. Let’s look at the words of Jesus. John 14:16 says, “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever” (KJV). Isn’t this beautiful? Let’s look at this simple spiritual equation for a moment. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon you is the promise of the Father. You have Jesus praying to the Father for you to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus prays, the Father does it. That I can assure you, my friend. Perhaps you’ve thought for a long time, “Well, maybe I just don’t qualify for the power of God. Maybe I have too much sin in my life. Maybe I’ve messed up too much in the past.” Did you know that your past means nothing to the Lord once you come to Jesus and ask Him to forgive your sin? There is not a single one of us alive today who earns the power of the Holy Spirit outside of the mercy and grace of the blood of Jesus. We have qualified for the power of the Holy Spirit because Jesus has qualified us through His sinless life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. It is His work that we are grafted into, receiving blessings that we don’t deserve! Many believe that they have to be good enough to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, but they never realize that it’s the power of the Holy Spirit that changes them in a much profounder way than all their efforts in the natural combined. It’s very important you realize that God wants you to walk in His power for a reason—so that others will meet Jesus. The next time you doubt God’s desire to give you the power of the Holy Spirit, remember the promise of Jesus: “ Ye shall receive power” (Acts 1:8 KJV).
What’s the True Sign of the Holy Spirit Baptism?
Many believe that certain gifts must manifest when somebody has had a legitimate Holy Spirit baptism. That is not my perspective, but I respect the others who believe this way. The true evidence that somebody has been empowered by the Holy Spirit is not the gift of tongues, according to Jesus. For Him, the true sign is power. Power to do what? To be a witness unto Jesus to the ends of the earth. Notice Jesus did not say that we will witness once we have received the power of the Holy Spirit. He said we will be a witness (see Acts 1:8). Your life literally becomes a testimony of who Jesus is to the entire world around you once the Holy Spirit plugs you into power from Heaven. That power dethrones and destroys the influence of the devil in people’s lives.
Acts 10:38 says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him” (NIV). How do we know if somebody has received the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, it’s quite simple. We go around doing good, healing flows through our lives, physical and mental illnesses are healed, inner healing is available, and the power of the devil is destroyed. Why? Because God is with us. The power of the Holy Spirit sets people free. It is literally the ammunition of Heaven against what binds millions of people around you today. I want to be very clear about this: Without the power of the Holy Spirit, people stay unsaved, they stay sick, they stay depressed, and fear will continue to dominate them. Sickness mocks all of us unless we are clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not a side issue. It is not a minor benefit on top of a ministry that we create. Unless our lives are flowing in the power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t have a ministry.
Remember Zechariah 4:6: “‘It is not by might, it is not by power, but it is by My Spirit,’ says the Lord” (see Zech. 4:6). The moment we realize that no matter how smart and organized we feel we are, while it might look in the natural like things are happening, nothing eternal takes place outside of the power of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus needed the power of the Holy Spirit, we need it today. It’s important to remember, however, that this is not a vague power. It is not a higher power. It is a power that flows from a person; that’s why it’s called the power of the Holy Spirit. This power enforces the heart of the person.
Let me explain. The heart of God, the Holy Spirit, is to glorify Jesus. Jesus is glorified when He receives what He paid for. For example, Jesus paid for the salvation of the entire world. Every time somebody is genuinely saved, it glorifies Jesus. It says to the princes and the principalities of the air, to Heaven, and to everybody standing around on the earth that Jesus is enough to change our lives, that He is alive, and that He is still King over our sin. Every time somebody is healed, it glorifies Jesus because it brings into the here and now what the Scripture says Jesus paid for: “…by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). It shows that God is faithful to His promises. When a demon is cast out, it says that God has come. As Jesus said, “When devils are cast out, it’s because the Kingdom has come” (see Luke 11:20; Matt. 12:28). It reveals to the world that Jesus is greater than any power in the universe. So, the power of the Spirit fights for the heartbeat of God. It fights and declares and installs the will of God. When darkness tries to stop what God intends and has paid for, the power of God is needed. Bill Johnson puts it this way: “Our authority is like the policeman’s badge, but our power is like the policeman’s gun. The power is needed to enforce what the badge stands for.” The power of the Holy Spirit enforces what our authority stands for, which is Jesus Himself.
Now, have you ever met people who seem to have power but live like the devil? Have you ever wondered how could God use them—why God would use them? It’s quite simple. While they neglect the presence, the power still remains. The Scripture says, “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:29 KJV). In other words, they are not taken away. This power brings giftings along with it. While the presence of God is in them—the Bible says there’s an anointing that dwells within us that we don’t need anyone to teach us (see 1 John 2:27)—this is this internal presence. While they may be neglecting the presence of God within, the power of God upon them still remains. Why is this? It’s not so much for them as it is for those with whom they come in contact.
Do you remember the parable that says that tares found their way into the harvest field? The landowner said, “Let us wait until the harvest until we remove the tares because it might ruin the harvest. Once the harvest comes, the tares will be thrown into the fire” (see Matt. 13:29-30). Oftentimes the Lord will allow somebody who’s living in sin to continue to flow in power for the sake of the people who are being set free by the power. Elijah was fed meat by ravens during the drought and famine in the wilderness (see 1 Kings 17:6). Ravens were a cursed bird, but God was interested in Elijah. He was willing to feed Elijah through an animal that was cursed. This is a truth we must remember: Just because God is setting others free through our lives, it does not mean that we are free.