Start With Purpose

Welcome to Day 1 of the 21 Day Fast! Today is all about setting your intentions and clarifying what you hope to gain during this transformative journey.

Reflect on Your Why

• Take a few minutes to journal why you are embarking on this fast.

• Write down three goals—spiritual, mental, and physical—that matter to you.

Remember, your intentions will anchor and motivate you throughout the next three weeks.

The Deeper Life: A 21 Day Devotional to a Deeper Life

January 21 Day Fast 2026

Day 1

Baptism of the Spirit

What do you believe about the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Does this happen once? Have you been baptized in the Spirit?

Receiving the Holy Spirit and being baptized in the Spirit are two different things. Depending on your denominational background, you may have heard this term used in many different ways. You may even be taken aback by this statement already. Hear me out for a moment, then spend time with Jesus as you meditate on these passages.

New Testament Baptism of the Holy Spirit

NT baptism of the Spirit is distinct from the term "receiving the Holy Spirit.” We all receive the Holy Spirit when we are saved. However, just as the disciples received the Spirit, they also received a baptism or infilling of the Holy Spirit at different times after they were saved and baptized. Some holiness teachers would call this “a second blessing” and yet others such as A.W. Tozer would have referred to this working as “the deeper life.”

In this conversation, we will refer to this as both the deeper life and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, using the terms interchangeably.

In reading the following, we find different terms all referring to a baptism of the Spirit in:

Acts 2:4 “The Filling of the Spirit.”

Acts 10:44 “The Spirit Fell on them.”

Joel 2:28 “The Spirit poured out.”

Acts 2:17 “The Spirit was poured out.”

Matthew 3:11 and Acts 1:5 “The Baptism of the Spirit.”

Many debate the use of this phrase; one thing is clear. Jesus is calling us to have an infilling—Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and this is “the deeper life.”

When Jesus used the phrase "Baptized with the Spirit," there must have been images of John baptizing others in the Jordan River—imagery of men and women going down into the water and rising back up, soaking wet with the substance they had just been immersed in. We, too, need to be laid to rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says the Holy Spirit is a gift to be given freely if we just ask as stated in Luke 11:13. Are we asking, are we longing, are we willing and wanting to wade into the deeper waters of the Spirit?

May I burst a few theological bubbles for a minute? Jesus did not save us so we could merely go to heaven. He saved us so we could be saturated, filled, and empowered by the drenching work of the Holy Spirit while here on earth. We can not live a Christ-centered life without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We must be empowered daily.

Where is the empowerment of the Spirit in our individual and corporate lives today?

John 7:37

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “if anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. However, believe in Me, as the Scripture has said: Streams of living water will flow from within him.”  He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified…

My friends, it is time we ask for a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, an infilling of living water that will flow out of us daily, so that anyone who comes near to us will not remain dry.  Valley of Dry Bones come alive…  First in us and then to Judea and Samaria.

Meditation Questions

Biblical Meditation Defined: In the Bible, meditation is a spiritual practice of deeply pondering, reflecting on, and internalizing God's Word and character, distinct from emptying the mind; it's about filling your mind with God's truths to understand, love, and obey Him, leading to transformation and communion with Him, as seen in Joshua 1:8 and the Psalms. It involves repeating scripture, thinking on God's works, and applying His promises to one's life to move knowledge from the head to the heart. 

1. Have I been baptized in the Holy Spirit?

2. Lord, how do I get baptized in the Spirit?

3. Jesus I repent of ________. (That which the Holy Spirit is bringing up in my mind)

4. Holy Spirit, fill me with your Spirit. I want nothing of myself in me anymore.

I want the deeper life with You, Jesus! Empower me with your presence, Lord!

Passages:

As you read through these passages, think about this central theme. God’s Promise and Outpouring of the Holy Spirit as a Gift Given by God, Received by Faith, and Experienced as Empowering Presence.

• John 7:37–39

• Luke 11:13

• Acts 2:17

• Acts 1:5

• Joel 2:28

• Acts 10:44