Today’s Tasting: Acts 1–3
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples over a forty-day period and continued to teach them about the Kingdom of God. He told them to remain in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit to carry the Gospel message “even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). At the end of that time, the disciples saw him lifted up into heaven.
On the day of Pentecost they were all together when the Holy Spirit descended upon them with a “noise like a violent rushing wind … And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 1:2–4). When they heard the noise a crowd gathered, and they were amazed that each one heard in his own language what the disciples were saying, even though there were Greeks and Romans, Arabs and Jews among them. So they marveled, and some mocked the disciples, thinking they were drunk.
Then Peter addressed the crowd, preaching from the prophets and showing that Jesus Christ, whom they had crucified, was indeed the Messiah. Many believed and the church grew daily as the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. As Peter and John were going to the temple they encountered a man who had been lame from birth. Looking at him, Peter commanded, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” (Acts 3:6) and the man leaped up and began to walk. Then Peter once again preached to the crowd looking on, telling them that he had performed this sign only through faith in Jesus.
Today’s Nourishment: That must have been an amazing time to be a Christian! To be around to witness the birth of the church and to see thousands of people coming to faith in Christ! The significant lesson for us as Christians today is to observe what happens when ordinary people operate in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter was an uneducated fisherman, not a learned scholar or teacher of theology. Yet when the Spirit moved in him, he preached a sermon that pierced the hearts of those who heard him and three thousand people were saved that day! Peter had no microphones, no worship music, no video clips, but that day he turned the world upside down for Christ!
Imagine the difference we can make to this suffering world if we allow ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Oh my dear reader, that is my prayer for you today—that you would earnestly seek His Holy Spirit to empower your life and allow Him to use you for His glory!
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Tomorrow’s Delight: Acts 4-6
Joanne Creary
Well Woman Coaching LLC
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Joanne,
Without His Spirit, we can do nothing. I pray, “Holy Spirit, empower me to accomplish the things you want me to accomplish for your kingdom.”