If you are a product of the 1960s, you will remember that as a child, your Saturday mornings were filled with watching so many incredible cartoons, including The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Possibly like me, you would be glued to the television for another dose of Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Underdog, Top Cat, Mister Magoo, Snagglepuss, Jonny Quest, and Magilla Gorilla. Those were amazing days!
If I had to choose one cartoon character as a favorite, hands down, it would be Hanna-Barbera’s Yogi Bear. Though it’s been well over 50 years since those days, if I close my eyes, I can still see Yogi looking at his Jellystone Park sidekick, Boo-Boo, and saying, “I’m smarter than the av-er-age bear” as he connived his way to stealing an unsuspecting camper’s “pic-a-nic” basket. (Yogi’s distinct way of saying certain words is driving my spell-check crazy.)
I know the world isn’t filled with those who claim to be “smarter than the av-er-age bear”. Thankfully, here is a truth found in God’s Word that is so simple to understand. In praying with individuals to receive the infilling or baptism in God’s Holy Spirit, you don’t have to be Yogi Bear to know that you know that you know that God ALWAYS wants to pour His Spirit into and onto those individuals. Luke 11:13 makes His will known.
“Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things
to your children. How much more your heavenly Father
will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:13 (New Century Version)
It’s so plain. It’s so simple. It is God’s unequivocal will to ALWAYS baptize EVERYONE (including children) who asks to be baptized with His precious Spirit.
I love what Charles Finney stated in his Revival Lectures:
“God says he is more ready to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, than parents are to give bread unto their children. Here we are bound to believe that we shall receive it when we pray for it. You have no right to put an if, and say, “Lord, if it be your will, give us thy Holy Spirit.” This is an insult to God. To put an if into God’s promise, where God has put none, is tantamount to charging God with being insincere. It is like saying, “O God, if thou art in earnest in making these promises, grant us the blessing we pray for.”
Are you smarter than the av-er-age bear? If not, don’t be discouraged. Luke 11 tells us to give our brains a break. No “You who, Boo-Boo” thinking is required. When you pray with someone to receive this gift from heaven, they can and will be filled to overflowing. It’s just that simple. So, go ahead and encourage people to ask for this promised gift. Rest assured. They will be filled with the Holy Spirit!
