Free Filled with the Spirit: Understanding God's Power in Your Life by Joyce Meyer Page A

passage:
never to depart
and
descend and remain.
Why were they used in reference to the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
    Under the Old Covenant, many times the Spirit of God would come upon people temporarily in certain situations or for certain events. He was with them but not in them.
    For example, when the Old Testament prophets prophesied in the name of the Lord, the Spirit of God would come upon them and give them messages for His people. 2 The prophets would then deliver those messages under the anointing, or power, of God and the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit. But then the Holy Spirit would leave the prophets and would not come again until God had another message to give them.
    It is important for us to know that the Bible says that the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus and remained, never to depart. Thus, we may be assured we are never without the help we need for any task in life.
    Jesus as the Baptizer in the Spirit
    But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].
    Romans 8:9
    Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. 3 This baptism in the Spirit is not a visitation or a one-time occurrence in the life of the believer.
    When Jesus baptizes a person in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit comes into that individual’s life to take up permanent residence there. But before a person can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, that person must be born again.
    If we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living in us, then the Holy Spirit is there within us also because the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all One. 4 This is one of those things that our finite mind cannot grasp. It does not work out mathematically, but, nonetheless, it is true. God is a triune God — one God — yet three Persons. We could not even believe in Jesus if it were not for the Holy Spirit Who brings truth and revelation to us. That is part of His ministry.

2
    T HE M INISTRY OF THE H OLY S PIRIT
    And while being in their company and eating at the table with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak.
    For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.
    Acts 1:4,5
    If anyone is born again, the Holy Spirit is definitely working in their life. I always say, “They have the Holy Spirit, but until they are filled completely with the Holy Spirit, He doesn’t have them.”
    The Holy Spirit began to work in my life when, as a nine-year-old child, I went to an altar and asked Jesus to be my Savior. But I lived many, many years as a miserable, unhappy, discontented, unfulfilled, unfruitful Christian who had no victory in my life. Like many Christians, I had enough of Jesus to stay out of hell — but not enough to walk in victory. He was my Savior but not my Lord.
    But when I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He began a brand-new work in me. A new era in my life was opened up to me, one in which I saw the Word of God in an entirely new way. There was a new love for God and His Word in my heart that drew me to want to know Him like I had never known Him before. As a result of the ministry of the Holy Spirit within me, I was able to start winning the victory over my problems, which were many.
    It is a vital part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to help us and strengthen us so we can have real victory in our life and enjoy the abundant life that Christ died to provide for us. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is such an important part of our life as believers that in Acts 1 Jesus commanded His disciples not to leave Jerusalem right away after His ascension into heaven, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which was the baptism