Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series

Acts 1: ⁸ 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.”

The Disciples had spent over three years under the leadership and tutelage of the greatest teacher who had ever walked the face of the earth.  The relationship was definitely there as was the head knowledge but there was more to come and more that was needed to fulfill their role as Christ’s ambassadors.

Christian, we need more than a casual relationship, we need something much more than a head knowledge of Jesus Christ, His message and His ministry.  Like Peter, James and John we need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, to be effective witnesses. 

We have read about Jesus’ ministry and studied carefully His life transforming miracles but do we actually know the One in whom we profess to believe in?  Before we are able to share with others the power of our God, we must first experience and live in the power of our God!  It has to be more than just trying to tell others about Jesus! 

My life must first be transformed before I can introduce anyone else to the transforming power of Christ!  Not just that but my life must be in the process of being transformed daily by the indwelling Holy Spirit before I can share that truth and that power with another!

Just as the manna from the day before was spoiled and unusable, so too we must daily hunger and thirst after God for a fresh infilling.  It is no surprise that so many Bible believing Christians feel ill-equipped to share their faith with others.  Many of these same people would say that they feel uninspired, weak in their faith, and lacking in knowledge.

We must first drink daily from the well before we can lead anyone else to the well.  Jesus told His disciples to first wait in Jerusalem for the promised Gift of the Father, and that this experience would anoint them and empower them to be effective witnesses, Acts 1:4,5, 8.  This filling with the Spirit was ongoing in the life of each apostle, Acts 4:31 and later the apostle Paul would write to the Ephesian church, 5: ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”  Such filling was not a once for all time experience but an ongoing daily experience of walking with God!   

If you are struggling right now with your faith or feeling uninspired to share your witness, get around believers who put the authority of God’s Word first and who encourage one another to grow in their faith and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and who earnestly yearn for the anointing of the Holy Spirit!