The Prophet Joel in the Old Testament foretold what would happen in the lives of God’s people when they receive the Holy Spirit: “…your sons and daughters shall prophesy…” (Joel 2:28). Notice he didn’t say, “They shall keep quiet,” but that “they shall speak words of power.” An evidence that you’ve received the Holy Spirit is when the Gospel of Jesus Christ is your number one passion; when you preach it with boldness, because it’s like a fire, shut up in your bones.

 

Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life is to strengthen you to function as an able minister of the Gospel. After the Apostle Peter received the Holy Spirit, his fears disappeared. The once “unlearned fisherman” began to say and do supernatural things, so much so that in one day, through his preaching, three thousand souls were converted.

 

Perhaps, you’ve experienced so much pressures and persecutions from preaching the Gospel, and now, you feel like giving up; don’t be discouraged; don’t keep quiet. When Jeremiah preached the Word of God, he was severely persecuted by those around him, and was eventually put in prison. In spite of the pressure and temptation to give up, he exclaimed “…But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jeremiah 20:9).

 

There shouldn’t be enough discouragement in this world to stop you from preaching the Gospel. Anywhere you find yourself, open your mouth, and declare the Gospel freely and boldly. Let those you meet know that salvation has come; God is not mad at them, and that they can now embrace life and immortality through the Gospel.