Holy Spirit

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?

—Galatians 3:2 NIV

Key Thought​

Most of us love lists. We can check things off our lists and show we've completed our tasks. If we don't complete our list, we feel like we deserve any negative consequences. The Holy Spirit, however, is not something we deserve. The Spirit is a gift Jesus gives to those who believe in him — those who trust in and share...

 

[Paul wrote,] For by God's grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.

—Romans 15:15b-17 NLT

Key Thought​

There are moments when we recognize that we are in the center of God's will, doing what he would have us do, exactly when and...

 

And after [the Jewish leaders in Rome] had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet ..."

—Acts 28:25 NLT

Key Thought​

Jewish leaders in Rome come to visit Paul while he is under house arrest. He shares the good news of Jesus with them. Some believe this message, but some reject it. This situation leads to disagreements among the leaders. But it...

 

After several days of visiting [in Caesarea], a prophet from Judea by the name of Agabus came down to see [Paul and his traveling companions and hosts]. He went right up to Paul, took Paul's belt, and, in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet. He said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to godless unbelievers."

—Acts 21:10-11 MESSAGE

Key Thought​

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[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

Key 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...

 

[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

Key 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...

 

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

—Acts 19:6 NIV

Key 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...

 

[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

Key Thought​

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

 

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

Key Thought​

The Holy Spirit is a crucial part of our conversion and of our Christian lives. 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...

 

[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

Key Thought​

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