Impossible Power

Daily Reading: Acts 1

Scripture Focus: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Devotional Thought: Acts, authored by Luke, was written as an encouragement for the early church, and it serves that purpose for today's church as well. The stories in Acts reveal the Spirit at work bringing life and revival. Indeed, we can accomplish nothing eternal or significant without him!

Jesus’ followers were still trying to grasp what had happened with his death and resurrection and asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v6). Then, as Jesus literally ascends into the clouds of heaven, the disciples are left standing in slack-jawed amazement. It is almost humorous to imagine! Jesus left them with this, “It is not for you to know times of seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (v7-8).

He didn’t leave them waiting and wondering for long. In just a few weeks, the day of Pentecost arrived; the day that the Holy Spirit came to the world to indwell all believers - giving them spiritual understanding, wisdom, supernatural love, unspeakable joy in unlikely circumstances, and the power to forgive and love their enemies, to name a few benefits! These believers (and all who have come after) were charged with taking the gospel message to the whole world, empowered by the Spirit.

Jesus knew that his disciples would face suffering, persecution and even death, so the spread of the gospel would have been humanly impossible without the indwelling power of the Spirit. We too need this power - the power to forgive the undeserving, to love the unlovable, to reach the unreachable. Just as we will see all throughout Acts, these things are possible with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Jenny

Prayer: Lord, help us to realize and embrace the power of the Spirit that you gave us in our own lives. May he be evident on our very faces to all those who encounter us, and may the love that we have for others draw the unbelieving to you. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 2 that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him! (Psalms 67:1-7)