You remember Peter, right? Peter was the disciple who at the lowest point of His Christian life denied Jesus three times on the night Jesus was arrested.
But something wonderful and amazing happened to Peter! After weeping bitterly over his sin, Peter returns to the fellowship of the apostles and we find in Acts chapter 2 that they were all together in one place waiting on the promise of the Holy Spirit.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. ~Acts 2:1-4
Peter and the rest in that upper room received the promised Holy Spirit! Not only had Jesus told them about the gift of the Holy Spirit ~ the power they would need to be His witnesses in this life ~ but this was also prophecy from the Old Testament being fulfilled.
And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. ~Joel 2:28-32
Trusting God for the power to live this life is something we must all come to terms with in our spiritual growth. God knew we couldn't live this life to be His witnesses in our own strength and power. In fact, if you're like me, you've failed miserably each time you have tried.
Instead, we must learn to surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside each one of us the moment we surrender our hearts and lives to Jesus. It is at that very moment of surrender that the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts.
It is when we realize that we have this power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us that we can begin to grow into all that God desires for us to be. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. We receive it all and each day we grow a little bit in each characteristic of the Holy Spirit.
We can see a change in Peter's life after he received the Holy Spirit. Can the same be said of our lives? That's my prayer, as I'm sure it is the prayer for your life as well.
Peter has become a bold witness for Jesus! He boldly addresses the mockers in Acts 2 with his famous sermon of Acts 2:14-40 which results in the salvation and baptism of "about three thousand souls" (verse 41).
Beloved, you and I have this same Holy Spirit power living inside of us! May we surrender every day to the power of the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us by God...
...to enable us to be who God created us to be and to do all that Jesus has called us to do as His witnesses to a lost and dying world.
Walking in His Grace,
Laurie
I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from
more sweet friends who are BTTB too!
Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome
blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time
to visit my blogging friends listed below.
Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool
Monday: Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance, My Joy-Filled Life
Tuesday: Hip Homeschool Moms, F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDayMonday: Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance, My Joy-Filled Life
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls
Thursday: Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday: A Divine Encounter, Missional Women
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