God’s Power For Living – Part Two

The Book of Acts serves as a model for Christians today. God’s power all begins with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Acts is the history of the first century Christian Church, and it contains 56 references to the Holy Spirit by name or in power.

Just prior to Jesus ascending to the Father he said, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”(Acts 1:8). Then in 2:38 it confirms that at the moment of salvation a person receives “the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

As the group of Jesus followers grew, so did the necessity to care for their needs. Seven men were chosen who were “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom,”(Acts 6:3) to perform this duty. So, even serving people was done with power.

The rest of the Book of Acts is full of the power of the Spirit regarding guidance, decision making, and boldness in sharing the faith and interacting with hostile groups of people.

There is a direct application for today. As Christians are more and more excluded from society there needs to be boldness in standing for our beliefs. If we stand before school boards and city councils to speak against decisions, the power of the Holy Spirit must be present. There must be power to resist the woke culture invading some of our churches. If you work for an employer who is anti-Christian it requires divine power to withstand it. In Acts, the apostles were often summoned to appear before government authorities for sharing their faith. They spoke with boldness and power. In Luke 12:11-12 we are exhorted to do the same: “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you will defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” In all of the above scenarios, we can also exhibit the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”

Are you facing any situation that is going to require the power given by the Holy Spirit? Claim boldness and authority over it.