KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, November 17, 2017
Chapters: Acts 1-3
Message: Releasing The Power of The Holy Spirit
Hello My Friend,
Within the soul of every saved, born again Christian lies a power deep inside their souls, and that is the Holy Spirit. I will admit that as much as I talk about God and Jesus I rarely talk about the Holy Spirit, who is just as much a part of my life as God and Jesus are, in fact, it is God’s Spirit that is inside of me. Jesus remained on earth for forty days after His resurrection, before His ascension into heaven, He gathered the eleven apostles together reminding them of His promise to send the Holy Spirit once He leaves.
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” – Acts 1:1-5.
“O Theophilus,” Theophilus; friend of God. Those who receive the Lord, Jesus Christ as their Saviour are not only saved from hell, they are baptized with the Spirit of God. Do you know the famous quote from Spider-man, “With great power comes great responsibility.”? Having the Holy Spirit in us takes great responsibility. Why? We have God’s Spirit inside of us, our number one priority from the second we are saved ought to be learning God’s will for our lives. Of course, it takes time to grow in the Lord, but you have to start somewhere and the only way to release the power of the Holy Spirit inside is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the closer we get to Him, the more we see His power. After Jesus ascended up into heaven, the disciples now called Apostles (witnesses of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection sent out into other lands to preach the Gospel), had no idea what to do next as they were told to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. They, along with other believers gather in a room to talk about all this, to pray, and to discuss a replacement for Judas Iscariot.
“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,” – Acts 1:15-24.
“must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.” You see, Jesus did not just have the twelve disciples following Him throughout His entire ministry, He had many others from the time He was baptized. Jesus wanted twelve men that witnessed His death, burial, and resurrection to become the first evangelists, they were His witness that the accounts told of Him are true, that way there was proof. Of course, we who walk by faith have not seen and believe, but someone had to start, who better to tell His story than one who had seen what happened. And just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit came down, it was an amazing sight, little flames of fire began falling down from heaven onto their bodies. It was on the day of Pentecost, Jews came from all over the world, and witnessed something incredible, so incredible that they thought all the Apostles were drunk. Peter stood up and began explaining the only spirit they were filled with was the Holy Spirit.
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Acts 2:14-21.
“I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:” Here is the scenario, Jews from all over the world, speaking languages such as Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, and Greek, gathering to observe the feast of weeks, which was seven weeks after the Passover. As soon as the Holy Spirit fell upon them and began speaking, everyone heard the Gospel spoken in their very own language even though the Apostles continued to speak in their own language. This is the true meaning of speaking in tongues, and while many false witnesses claim to speak in tongues today, if it were true, we would be able to understand them. “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” – I Corinthians 14:27-28.
Now, we must be careful, God will give us the power to reach people in the most unusual circumstances, but we must understand that He is the one who saves a soul, not us, we are merely the vessel He uses. Point in case, we learn this through a man who was crippled from birth, every day someone would drop him off in front of the temple and he would beg for money. Peter and John saw him, they did not give Him money, they gave Him the Gospel, Peter took him by the hand and he was able to walk for the first time in his life.
“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” – Acts 3:6,9-16.
“whereof we are witnesses.” Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit, He will enable all who allow Him to work in their lives the power to do anything, the key reason being that someone could get saved. While the Holy Spirit does give us the power to do and get through anything, He will only do it if it will glorify God. We are not miracle workers, but we can be the miracle someone needs. God does give us the power to heal people in many ways through His power, but only He can save a life that truly wants to be saved. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.” – I Corinthians 12:15,28-31.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” – Acts 1:11.
Today’s Prayer: God, No other power in the world can compare to Your Power, only You can give me the power to overcome my afflictions, trials, and difficulties and in the midst of them, be a testimony to others. I try and try to handle things on my own, but it never works, You are my hope, my peace, my comfort, and my sanity. Lord, I need Your power, give me Your power and work in me so much that others see You through me and receive You too. Thank You for loving me and not giving up on me and for always being there when I need You, even when I try to do things on my own. I love You, Lord and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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