Holy Spirit

After [the disciples'] prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

—Acts 4:31 NLT

Key Thought


I am touched by several things in the prayer of these early followers of Jesus when they were threatened (Acts 4:24-30 NIV). First, they acknowledge the sovereignty and power of God. Second, they recognize that the situation they face is the fulfillment of prophecy — they are where they...

 

[Disciples praying to the LORD after Peter and John were released from jail:] "You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?'"

—Acts 4:25 NIV

Key Thought


The disciples proclaimed that what was happening in their day was what God had spoken through his servant David by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The violence and opposition that the early followers of Jesus were...

 

[Peter, on Pentecost, quoting from Joel 2:] "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."

—Acts 2:17 NIV

Key Thought


So much handwringing goes on to determine when the "last days" will occur. However, the prophecy of Joel 2 begins to be fulfilled in Acts 2. Therefore, the events happening then are the beginning of the "last...

 

[The LORD said:] "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days."

—Joel 2:28-29 NIV

Key Thought


Throughout the Old Testament, God's Spirit would come upon special leaders or agents of God's will to do his work. Most of the time, the Spirit's presence would be temporary to help with a...

 

When the Feast of Pentecost came, [the apostles] were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force — no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

—Acts 2:1-4 MESSAGE

Key Thought


The image of "tongues of fire that separated and came to...

 

[Not long after Jesus' ascension,] Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, "Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus."

—Acts 1:15-16 NIV

Key Thought


The crucifixion of Jesus was not an accident. The passion of Christ was part of God's plan from the beginning (1 Peter 1:18-20)...

 

Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ...

—Luke 10:21 NLT

Key Thought


All too frequently, we pursue the wrong things hoping that they will make us happy. Real joy, however, comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we look at the life of Jesus and at the lives of his early followers, we see that the presence of the Holy Spirit brought them joy. The Spirit's presence can do the same for us. This joy from the Spirit comes from many things...

 

[Jesus, in the synagogue, reading from Isaiah:] "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD's favor has come."

—Luke 4:18-19 NLT

Key Thought


Luke makes clear that Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb through the Holy Spirit, anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism, and...

 

When you send your Spirit, [all creatures] are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

—Psalm 104:30 NIV

Key Thought


Psalm 104 praises God as creator and sustainer of the earth. One of the dimensions of his providential care has to do with the work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that was hovering above the primordial formless creation (Genesis 1:1-2) waiting for the Father's word to complete the work of creation is even now the Father's partner in...

 

Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above and the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests.

—Isaiah 32:15 MESSAGE

Key Thought


Throughout the Old Testament prophets, there are statements made about the coming of a new day for God's people. It will be a day of healing, victory, and joy. It will be a time when bad things are made right, and even the land will be healed of harshness, desolation, and unproductivity. And...