Christian Foundations 2 - SpiritSample

GOD’S SPIRIT BRINGS POWER

No one would have held much hope for the impact of Jesus' followers once He was gone. Jesus left a group of frightened and inadequate disciples who had already shown their lack of understanding and stickability. It seemed that they were in no way able or ready to take the world by storm. I’m not saying these men didn’t have faith, but they were by no means world-beaters. They weren’t at all ready or willing to be witnesses to this new faith to an antagonistic empire. The future of Christianity looked bleak in the hands of these ordinary country folk. But God’s Spirit changed all that.

Read: Acts 1:4-9

Journal

1. What is God saying to me? Which verse is most significant?

2. What do I want to discuss or explore further?

3. What do I need to do?

4. What sort of power was Jesus talking about?

Reflect

This event occurred between Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb and His ascension to heaven. He was just tidying everything up before He left. Jesus wanted His mates to know that there was a radical, world-changing event about to occur. He called it being “baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Baptized means “dunked” or “immersed.” So His disciples were about to be swamped by the Spirit. (As we have already learned, the same thing happens to each of us when we believe in Jesus.) As Jesus pointed out, what was going to happen to the kingdom of Israel was not the important thing for these Jewish boys. What mattered was that they were going to be immersed in God’s Spirit.

And the result was going to be “power.” The Spirit brings God’s power into our lives. The incredible power that created the universe, that raised up and extinguished empires, that culminated with Jesus’ being raised from the dead, is in believers. And you should see the difference it made for these guys. They were courageous. They were strong. They were outspoken. They were faith-filled. And the world began to be turned upside down through the gospel of Jesus. Ordinary people saturated in the power of the Spirit are spiritually unstoppable. (But remember that it comes with a cost – almost all of them ended up as martyrs for their faith.)

The same Spirit is living in you. You are no longer a slave to fear or weakness or sin or shame or condemnation. You are not trapped by your past or your personality. Like these early disciples of Jesus, you are baptized in the Spirit and you have His power to change, love unconditionally, share this wonderful good news, and impact your world.

Pray

Lord most of the time I feel very ordinary and that’s probably good because it keeps me dependent on You. But You are not ordinary and Your Spirit living in me is not ordinary. Please pour out Your courage and strength and faith into my life through the power of Your Spirit in me. Lord may my faith and my life impact my world.

Respond

I don’t think the Holy Spirit’s power is something we have to try to grasp, but rather something to wait for and look for. As you rest in God’s Spirit today, look for evidence of His power through your life. Look for anything that happens that is God’s doing more than yours.

Written by John Sweetman