SUNDAY July 3, 2022

The Power of the Holy Spirit

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

The book of Acts is a historical book. I pray that as we study it, there will be tremendous growth in the body of Christ, not only in the size of our church, but also there would be a great weeding––a separating of those who are true believers and those who are false professors of the faith. In these last days, we need God’s knowledge, discernment and wisdom––all the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12).

As we study each chapter, we are going to witness the tremendous work of the Holy Spirit in the early Church and in the believers’ lives. The book of Acts can be referred to as the acts of the Holy Spirit, rather than the acts of the Apostles, because it was the fire of God––the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit––that came upon the Church.

As the flame of the Holy Spirit ignited the early Church, history records the Gospel spreading like wildfire from Jerusalem, to all Judea, Samaria, and even unto the uttermost parts of the world. In thirty years, Jesus’ Twelve Disciples (Paul being the twelfth as Judas was a betrayer), took the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. Today, we have airplanes, satellites, radio and TV, cars, buses and trains, but we cannot seem to get the Gospel out to even one of our small surrounding communities––something is wrong. Where is the power of the Holy Spirit?

I believe, the Church today is a Church without power. In some churches there is a focus on Holy Ghost meetings, creating a lot of emotionalism in the Church. God desires to move in the body of Christ through His Holy Ghost, but biblically. God is a God of order. As the Holy Spirit worked through Christ’s disciples in the early church, I believe He still wants to work that way today. He still wants to open the eyes of the blind and to touch the deaf––so they can hear. He wants to heal the cripple––to make them walk. God can even raise someone from the dead. He is God!

When you strip it of everything else, Pentecost stands for power and life. That's what came into the church when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost.
~David Wilkerson~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!