Begin with 2 minutes of stillness and silence before God.

The Book of Acts begins where the Gospels leave off - reporting on the actions of the apostles and the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the connecting link between the life of Jesus and the Church, between the Gospels and the Letters. Beginning in Jerusalem, the Church is established and grows rapidly, then faces intense persecution, which drives the believers out into the surrounding areas. It is through this persecution that the Gospel of salvation begins to spread throughout the world.

As we begin our time together reading the Book of Acts, I want us to overlay it with this lens - the fact and reality that this movement is still happening today; the fact and reality that WE, if you are a follower of Jesus and the Holy Spirit resides in you, are part of this movement that we will read about in the weeks to come.

I can only imagine what would be written about the acts of the Holy Spirit and the movement of His church when our time has passed. This is our time in history. We have been written into the story of the movement of the Kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit and His Church.

What if as we read the Book of Acts, we decided to be a 21st-century version of those men and women of God?

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” -Acts 1:8 

The power we receive from the Holy Spirit includes courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability, and authority. The Book of Acts is full of the accounts of men and women who were walking in the power given to them by the Holy Spirit!

This reality is convicting to me. I must ask myself; do I spend more time walking in power or projecting powerlessness? It is easy to get fired up about this idea of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, but then life throws problems at us. But the men and women of the 1st-century church had problems too. As a matter of fact, their lives were on the line, their problems looked like persecution, torture, and death. But they were fueled by the boldness and courage they found from the Holy Spirit, and as Acts 4:13 tells us,  they “had been with Jesus.”

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Do you believe that the power of the Holy Spirit lives in you?
• Take an honest evaluation of your life currently. Would you say that you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit or do you project powerlessness?
• Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for Your Holy Spirit and making Your children Your dwelling place.  Thank you for Your power that moves in and through the church of Jesus Christ.  Lead and guide us in the way You would have us go.  In Jesus' name, Amen.