Baptized in the Holy Spirit
Month 4: Walking in the Spirit · Walking in the Spirit
Today's Scripture
Read together: Acts 1:5 & Acts 2:4
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. — Acts 2:4
5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 1:5
Memory Verse
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””— Acts 1:8 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 1 Samuel 15–17
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 102 of 365 — young David trusts God and faces Goliath.)The Heart of It
Jesus used a word-picture for what would happen at Pentecost: "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (). Think about what baptized means. To be dipped, plunged, soaked all the way through. When you're baptized in water, you don't just get sprinkled. You go all the way under. Jesus was saying the Spirit would do something just as total. His people would be filled and flooded and surrounded by the Holy Spirit. And that's exactly what happened. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (). Not a few of them. Not just the most important ones. All of them, soaked through with the power of God.
So what is the baptism in the Holy Spirit? It's when a person who already belongs to Jesus is filled with His Spirit for power. Power to witness. Power to serve. Power to live the Christian life with joy instead of just trying hard. It's not a second salvation. You're already saved when you trust Jesus. And it's not about showing off. The whole point is to make us more like Jesus and braver for Jesus. Here's the wonderful part: you simply ask. Jesus said the Father loves to "give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (). The same fullness that filled the first believers is for any child of God who comes asking, including yours.
Around the Table
Being baptized in the Spirit is like being filled all the way up with God's help and love — like a cup filled to the top!
Let's do it: Pretend to fill a cup higher and higher, then say, "Fill me up, Holy Spirit, please!"
"Baptized" means dunked all the way under — soaked through. Why is that a good picture for being filled with the Spirit?
Let's talk: What's the difference between trying really hard to be good and asking God to fill you with His help?
The baptism in the Spirit is power for witness and service. It's given to those who already belong to Jesus. And you receive it simply by asking.
Let's go deeper: The goal of being Spirit-filled is becoming more like Jesus, not getting a spiritual "upgrade" to feel special. Why does that matter?
💬 Conversation Starter
Have you ever been completely soaked? Maybe caught in the rain, or jumped in a pool with your clothes on?— That all-over wetness is the picture Jesus chose for being filled with the Spirit.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
How do we know the baptism in the Spirit is real and not just excitement? Jesus promised it by name (). It produced lasting courage and changed lives across the whole book of Acts. And its fruit is Christlike character, like love, joy, and peace, not just feelings ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
Classic Pentecostal teaching makes a careful distinction. Regeneration is being born again, when we trust Christ. The baptism in the Spirit is a later empowering for witness. Both are gifts of the same grace. Guard two things as you teach it. First, the gospel order. A child is saved by trusting Jesus, period. The Spirit's fullness is for the saved. It is not a hoop to jump through to get saved. Second, the goal. Character over gifting, always. Any teaching that turns the Spirit into a tool for prosperity, status, or hype has lost the plot. The Spirit's signature is Jesus-likeness. Model the asking yourself. Children learn that the Father gives the Spirit "to those who ask" mostly by watching a father who asks.
Draws on: Robert Menzies, Empowered for Witness; Sam Storms, Practicing the Power.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, You promised to fill Your people with Your Spirit. We're not asking to feel special. We're asking to be more like Jesus, and brave for Him. So fill us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen."
To be filled with the Spirit, I simply come to the Father and ask. He loves to give.