Holy Spirit

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. What gave the apostles their authority was not position, name...

 

Verse

Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus.

— Acts 13:4 msg

Thought

We can be run off. We can be sent out. But the real yearning on most of our hearts is to be propelled into the next phase of our life by God's will and the Holy Spirit's power. We don't want to strike out on our own, but we want to journey in the strength and power of the Lord. We want to be secure that we are led by the Spirit...

 

Verse

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

— Acts 13:2 tniv

Thought

Worship should propel us to mission. That was true for Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-8) and it was true for the church in Antioch. When we worship, the Holy Spirit of God is at work among us and within us (John 4:23-24; Phil. 3:3; Eph. 5:18-21). Whether the Holy Spirit voiced this message through a prophet, through...

 

Verse
Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

— Acts 11:27-28 esv

Thought
Troubles are coming. Yet the message Agabus delivered wasn't primarily about the troubles that were coming, but they were a call for brothers and sisters in Jesus' family to get ready to help those in need (see vs. 29-30). When...

 

Verse

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.

— Acts 11:24 nlt

Thought

Earlier in the book of Acts, we meet Stephen, who is described as being "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5). Now Barnabas is described in these similar terms. Ministry must be based on the work of God through us as we are gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our faith that God can do more than we can even imagine is...

 

Verse

"As I began to speak," Peter continued, "the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord's words when he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God's way?"

— Acts 11:15-17 nlt

Thought

Breaking through prejudice and hatred is tough. We often need some dramatic act...

 

Verse
"The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house."

— Acts 11:12 tniv

Thought
The apostle Peter had to justify why he went to the house of a Gentile and ate with him (Acts 11:1-3). Clearly Peter went to share the good news of Jesus, but the sticking point was table fellowship with Gentiles. While this seems unbelievable to me, I can still remember the time when racism was more widely accepted...

 

Verse

Then Peter asked, "Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?" So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

— Acts 10:46b-48 nlt

Thought

Can anyone properly object when the Holy Spirit has clearly been involved? "No!" So Gentiles were baptized and their fellow Jewish and Gentile Christians had become friends and they shared...

 

Verse

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.

— Acts 10:44-45 tniv

Thought

Jesus had promised his closest followers that the Holy Spirit would bring them power and enable them to be his witnesses to people all over the world (Acts 1:8). Yet after several years, they had only moved outside the...

 

Verse

"This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel — that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."

— Acts 10:36-38 nlt

Thought

Don't you love...