Victory in Baptism

I had been wondering about the early church in Acts. I was struggling to figure out why my life is so powerless and why I have never been filled by the Holy Spirit. So I decided to get baptized and had a huge hope that the baptism would be as epic as that of Jesus' baptism, with the Holy Spirit falling from the sky onto me, or I would speak in tongues as we see in the bible or something as amazing as that, but nothing seemed to have happened. 3 Weeks down the line, I realised that I didn’t have any need to watch pornography anymore.

A few weeks later, feeling very free about not having the struggle with porn anymore, I was dreaming that I was in a small room full of people all around me. Everyone was worshiping God in their own way. Some were quietly praying, some were shouting out to God, others danced, a few were filled with tears, some speaking in strange tongues, while others were lying with their face to the floor. I was standing in the middle of the room, looking around and I got the feeling that I must pray. As I started praying, weird words were coming out that I couldn’t understand and I felt like a wind hit me and filled me through my chest. That very moment I passed out and woke up from the dream. I thought to myself, what a weird dream!? It felt so real and I still had a warm feeling in my chest. I had been praying that the Holy Spirit would fill me for a long time and I started wondering, was this real, was this what I had been praying for? Am I now filled with the Holy Spirit or was this just a wacky dream? While I was in the shower I asked God, “If this was real and I am now filled with the Holy Spirit, confirm it today through someone else.”

The day went on and there were no confirmations and I had already forgotten all about the dream, when later during the day a lady said that she wanted to share a piece from the bible. I immediately thought, maybe this is God confirming the dream. Being quite a skeptic, I said to God in my thoughts, if this is Your confirmation for the dream, then make it so clear that I can’t doubt it. The woman started reading from Isaiah 61 and read:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

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I was so excited about this amazing confirmation and it helped show me what I need to now go do, since I have been filled with the Holy Spirit. I learnt that we can ask and we will receive and that when we are willing and ready to work for God's Kingdom He WILL give us the Holy Spirit.