spinning my wheels

I have been hesitating to write lately because of all the processing I’ve been doing. Something in me says I need to have all the answers before I publicly state my opinion. But then I am reminded that I don’t have all the answers and I’m getting distracted with this pursuit of trying to figure it out. I’ve been trying to figure out what I believe about the Holy Spirit, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and how spiritual gifts come into all of that. I just had this intense desire to have a solid understanding of it all, but the Lord keeps taking me back to the simplicity of the Gospel. Jesus came to teach, to save, and to send His Spirit to those who believe. Why did he do this? So that we would receive this, walk out the commandment, in Spirit, to “go and preach the gospel” to increase His Kingdom, and ultimately find satisfaction in Him only! The Holy Spirit is what makes it ALL possible. With it we have the power to do whatever He asks us to! With the Holy Spirit, we are pure and blameless. THIS is why it has become such a controversial issue, because the enemy knows the power of the Spirit and he knows that He can’t come up against it.
So back to my “processing”…..the enemy is subtle. He wants us to believe we need to know all the answers. He knows our silly little human brains cannot fathom the Holy Spirit, so he is happy when we start spinning our wheels, researching, discussing it, arguing over it. That is why we must be like children and have simple faith. I have come to believe that each person will have to decide sometime whether we will obey and be baptized in water, the Spirit, and fire. These baptisms do not make or break our salvation. These things are personal, between you and God. Not up to someone who goes running around baptizing whoever they see, speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. The enemy loves these folks, it’s a good distraction and causes hindrance in the Body. Who cares about what everyone else is doing or saying? What is God saying? What is the truth? For those who are walking in obedience and strengthening their relationship with the Lord, He will continue asking us to do things. I think He gives us these “baptisms” because he knows how much we like markers in our life to look back on and see our progression. It’s all a gift, we just need to obey and receive it. He loves our questions and ponderings but He will always ask us to go back to the simple and powerful Gospel. Take my Spirit, love God, and love His people.