Holy Spirit

Verse
We [Paul and his traveling companions]  looked up the local disciples [in Tyre]  and stayed with them seven days. Their message to Paul, from insight given by the Spirit, was "Don't go to Jerusalem."

— Acts 21:4 MESSAGE

Thought
Okay, I admit this is confusing. Paul is convicted that he must go to Jerusalem. At the same time, he knows hardship awaits him. Now this warning from the Spirit: "Don't go to Jerusalem!" I don't know any way to understand this situation...

 

Verse
[Paul, to the Ephesian elders at Miletus:]  "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood."

— Acts 20:28 NIV

Thought
Paul reminds the Ephesian elders of three heavenly truths about leaders:

1. Leaders are to watch, feed, protect and care for (or shepherd) the people of God.
2. The Holy Spirit is involved in putting leaders into their leadership role...

 

Verse
[Paul, to the Ephesian elders at Miletus:]  "But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I'm completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won't be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead."

— Acts 20:22-23 MESSAGE

Thought
Paul faces an incredibly difficult dilemma: the Holy Spirit is drawing him to Jerusalem and yet...

 

Verse
When Paul placed his hands on them [the people he had just baptized], the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

— Acts 19:6 NIV

Thought
The Holy Spirit is a vital part of our conversion and a crucial part of our daily walk with God and our transformation into the character and compassion of Christ. Paul's teaching and the work of the Holy Spirit in today's verse make clear that God has now fully included this group of people — disciples who...

 

Verse
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

— Acts 19:1-2 NIV

Thought
The Holy Spirit is a crucial part of our conversion. Jesus pours the Spirit out upon us to give us new birth into a new life (Titus 3:5-6; Titus 3:3-7). We are forgiven (Acts 2:38) as the...

 

Verse
They [Paul and his companions on the second missionary journey]  went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them go there either.

— Acts 16:6-7 MESSAGE

Thought
I am not sure how "the Holy Spirit blocked that route." I also am not sure how "the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them...

 

Verse
[The apostles and elders in Jerusalem writing to Gentile Christians:]  "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements ..."

— Acts 15:28 NLT

Thought
Acts 15 is a remarkable reminder of the power of the Holy Spirit to work within a group of people seeking to honor God. Today's verse is from the conclusion of the gathering of apostles, elders, and believers in Jerusalem seeking to address questions about how much...

 

Verse
[Peter, addressing the apostles and elders at the Council in Jerusalem:]  "God knows people's hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us."

— Acts 15:8 NLT

Thought
These words come from Peter's defense for taking the good news of Jesus to Gentiles — Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:1-48). From the moment that the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and the other believers in his household, Peter and his companions...

 

Verse
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

— Acts 13:52 NIV

Thought
The Holy Spirit's presence in God's people is accompanied by joy! Jesus was full of joy because of the Spirit (Luke 10:21), and the same is also true of his disciples (Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22). What I find interesting about today's passage is that all the external reasons for the disciples of Jesus to rejoice are absent. Paul and Barnabas are persecuted and run out of the region of...

 

Verse
Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, "You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord?"

— Acts 13:9-10 NLT

Thought
In today's world where we always question authority, we can often wonder if there is any true and trustworthy authority. The apostles' authority did not come from position, name, rank, or...