August 5, 2026 · 4 min

Embracing the Holy Spirit: A Message of Faith, Purpose, and Spiritual Gifts

A heartfelt reflection on spiritual baptism, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and how Scripture helps us grow closer to God and live for His purpose.

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Pause. Reflect. Respond.

Scripture for further study

  1. What do Acts 1 and 2 show about the Holy Spirit’s role in bearing witness to Jesus?
  2. How might the gifts God has given you help someone else?
  3. What would it look like to seek God’s guidance through Scripture and prayer today?

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Episode transcript

Edited from the Riverside recording for readability. Wording may vary slightly from the published audio.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Bread where I share God's word with you. Before you start in that heavy traffic, before you start that stressful job, before you succumb to the world's distractions around you, let's reflect on a message from the Holy Spirit. All glory to God the Father. There's a moment when we accept Jesus Christ into our life and we welcome him as our Savior.

And we are saved through God's grace. There's also a time when we do a water baptism. This water baptism is repentance of our sins, it's the death of our old life and the birth into Christ's kingdom. Then there is the next level, the level that you guys probably will think I'm crazy, but there's plenty of biblical evidence to support it. That level is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This can only be given by God. This is what it talks about in Acts chapter one and chapter two. When God pours out the Holy Spirit on us, we are filled with His Spirit, and we can receive spiritual gifts. That's right. These gifts are the ability to prophesy, the ability to heal, the ability to speak in tongues to others if there's an interpreter, knowledge, wisdom. And we can pray directly to God through our spirit in these tongues, even without an interpreter. You can find all kinds of examples of this happening after Pentecost, which is most people's hang up. I'm learning that it doesn't happen when you first believe, although there are a few examples in the Bible. It happens as you read the Bible and seek God. His DNA becomes a part of you. Then you can pray to him for the special gift of pouring out of the Holy Spirit. It's important to remember that we don't do this for ourselves, though. This is all done for the glory of God. And anything that He bestows upon you should always be thought of that way. It should be used to praise God and to show others his works. That's our purpose, to grow God's kingdom. All this other stuff here on earth is not meant for us. Although we fall in love with it, we are distracted by the world, by Satan of our true purpose. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you believe in God because Jesus is God. I prayed to God last night to use me as his vessel to get this message out to everyone that I know. It doesn't matter if they believe you or not, it matters that they know.

They don't talk about this stuff in church. Most people go to church, service worship, and go home, never picking up their Bible the rest of the week. I could tell you you will never have the DNA of God if you do not read the Bible. I never knew this, but it is alive. God will show you something new in the Bible every time you read it, even if you've already read that chapter. As you read and you seek Him and learn more, he will show you more. So this morning I pray that this message that I feel the Holy Spirit wants me to send to you, I pray this message finds your ears, goes into your head, down to your heart and fills it with God's love. I don't want to beg you guys because it has to be your decision. I pray that you will ask Jesus into your heart and declare him your Savior with your mouth. I love you all like Jesus loves us. Amen, my brothers and sisters. All glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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