Thursday 28 Jul 2016

July 28: Acts 1:4-8

Key Verse: Acts 1:8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Devotion:
One of the last things Jesus did with the disciples was to gather them together and remind them of the promises of God. This passage is the reminder of the Holy Spirit or comforter which was still to come to them. Not just someone to make them feel better or peaceful but rather someone to empower them to do what Jesus had said they should be doing.

We all get a bit scared when we come to doing what God said we should be doing, and this is quite natural for all of us. But as we read through the book of the acts of the apostles we find just how many of God’s promises were real and so awesome in many ways. The coming of the Holy Spirit to give the disciples the power, might, confidence and wisdom to go out into all the areas around Jerusalem and tell people of the wonders of God and the truth of how the prophetic words of so many came to being.

Jesus continued to show people of His power and might but He always gave the glory for His miracles to God the Father. He told people He could do nothing without God and without His power. He did this to make sure we understood just how much we can do when we trust in God and the Holy Spirit as well. Something I personally fall short on many times because of my lack of faith at times.

Jesus never showed any sign of weakness in this area because He knew God would always carry out every promise and answer every ardent prayer. Those same promises stand for us as well. But sometimes our lack of faith gets in the way. Jesus wanted the disciples to see what faith could do; and the only way to see this was to allow them to experience the promises coming true. God wants us to see this same truth.

Points to Ponder:
Do you allow your lack of faith to get in the way?

Will you allow your faith to be bigger than your fears?