We now have less than 10 days left in our 52 day journey and Christmas is rapidly approaching. I want to encourage you not to grow weary in these last days but to keep surrendering to the Holy Spirit and seeking him for revelation and insight over these next nine days. For those who haven't yet finished the book, maybe you can set aside an hour this week with your favourite drink, your favourite CD and a quiet spot just to allow God to encourage you through the experience of his servants Rolland & Heidi Baker. Let Mary's example from Luke 10 be our inspiration this week.
After reading Acts 18 I was thinking to myself, it looks like the demonstration of the Spirit's power has ceased for a time as Paul seemed to spend his all his time "reasoning, persuading & debating". But then all of a sudden in chapter 19 Paul meets with some disciples in Ephesus, lays hands on them and they are baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and prophesied. I find Paul's question in verse 2 intriguing: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Obviously this was important to Paul.
And then in verses 11 and 12 it says that God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. Anyone want to comment further on these verses?
The kingdom of God is not about formulaes and words as some Jews learned when they tried to drive out evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus without the underlying authority that comes from knowing him.
There are a few other things from Acts 19 which hit me but for the sake of brevity I will leave it here. May the God of all grace and truth empower you to live for him in all you do today!
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
An eight week journey of seeking God as we read.think.pray.live our way through the gospel of John
An Invitation
Please join us during this lead up to Christmas 2009 by doing the four things listed below. Anyone can join at any time throughout this 8 week period although obviously it would be best if you can begin with us on the first of November 2009.
Requirements:
1. Commit to seeking God EVERY DAY in Nov & Dec '09 in a way that is more radical than anything you have ever done before.
2. Read.think.pray.live your way through the Gospel of John in seven weeks (3 chapters each week) and then 1 John, 2 John, 3 John in the final week.
3. Listen to the Holy Spirit and obey whatever he says to do!!
4. Contribute your insights and experiences to this blog.
May we all continue to seek the Kingdom of God before anything else!
Requirements:
1. Commit to seeking God EVERY DAY in Nov & Dec '09 in a way that is more radical than anything you have ever done before.
2. Read.think.pray.live your way through the Gospel of John in seven weeks (3 chapters each week) and then 1 John, 2 John, 3 John in the final week.
3. Listen to the Holy Spirit and obey whatever he says to do!!
4. Contribute your insights and experiences to this blog.
May we all continue to seek the Kingdom of God before anything else!
2 comments:
Firstly I will give my comment on vs 11&12. I thought that Paul was so into doing what God wanted. He had a huge faith & was just willing to go out preaching, healing & being persecuted, that God wanted to give Paul more. Or something along those lines.
I also found it interesting about the Holy Spirit in v1-7. It's like the traditional church & me for that matter. Not much spoken about the Holy Spirit, not many experiences until you invite him to come.
Post a Comment