It had been an exhausting and invigorating month and a half for Jesus’ disciples. Their time was filled with days of rejoicing and peace along with days of darkness and fear. I imagine there was much confusion those last days that Jesus walked the earth, but there was also much revelation as Jesus opened the disciple’s eyes and taught them from the scripture and showed them how everything in the law and the prophets pointed directly toward a Messiah.
If we were watching this drama unfold from the disciple’s eyes, Acts chapter one would be such a beautiful twist in the plot. The disciples had just spent forty days with the resurrected Jesus listening to him speak of the kingdom of God, not to mention years previously following Christ and listening to his teachings. They had already mourned his death once, and now he prepared to ascend into heaven and again they would be left. But Jesus leaves them with a promise: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
I wonder if the disciples left Mount Olivet rejoicing and praising the Lord or in solemn silence? Were they filled with fear and suffering from loosing the tangible Jesus or were they hopeful in anticipation of this great gift that was about to come? We do not have much detail as to the mood of the disciples, but we do know that the disciples returned to Jerusalem to await the promised Spirit in an attitude of prayer.
These men and women gather together in an up stairs room from where they were staying and devoted themselves to prayer. Howard Marshal writes, “If the Holy Spirit is the divine gift which empowers and guides the church, the corresponding human attitude toward God is prayer. It is as the church prays that it receives the Spirit.”
As I have been studying and meditating on these passages in Acts, I am struck and convicted again and again by how closely prayer is connected to the Spirit moving and how much the children of God should long for the Holy Spirit to move in their life.
John 16:7-11, Jesus says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.”
What a powerful thought! Believers today are at greater advantage to understand and live the gospel then the disciples that were in the physical presence of Jesus because we have the Holy Spirit. Yet so often, we live our Christian life not empowered by the Spirit because we do not take the time to seek God and pray.
Tim Keller poses a question in a study he wrote on Acts, “If the Holy Spirit left your life today, would it look any different?”
Are you convicted of sin? Are the fruits of the spirit evident in your life (Galatians 5)? Do your conversations with friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers exhibit a life filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you long to spend time in the word of God? Does God’s word pierce your heart like a sword? Do you make decisions about how you will spend your time, money, and life based on obedience to the Lord? Are you moved with compassion for all the lost around you? Is your boldness to proclaim the gospel growing?
The answers to these questions point to whether your life is a Spirit-led life or not. And we cannot force ourselves to have the "right" answers...this is not a check list of do's and don'ts, when we examine a spirit led life we should be humbled and broken to know that we cannot do this just by willing it ourselves, it is only through the power of God and the holy spirit...so let us continue to pray for that in our lives. May we as Christian brothers and sisters be devoted to prayer. May our church and our lives be directed and guided by the Holy Spirit and nothing less.
If we were watching this drama unfold from the disciple’s eyes, Acts chapter one would be such a beautiful twist in the plot. The disciples had just spent forty days with the resurrected Jesus listening to him speak of the kingdom of God, not to mention years previously following Christ and listening to his teachings. They had already mourned his death once, and now he prepared to ascend into heaven and again they would be left. But Jesus leaves them with a promise: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
I wonder if the disciples left Mount Olivet rejoicing and praising the Lord or in solemn silence? Were they filled with fear and suffering from loosing the tangible Jesus or were they hopeful in anticipation of this great gift that was about to come? We do not have much detail as to the mood of the disciples, but we do know that the disciples returned to Jerusalem to await the promised Spirit in an attitude of prayer.
These men and women gather together in an up stairs room from where they were staying and devoted themselves to prayer. Howard Marshal writes, “If the Holy Spirit is the divine gift which empowers and guides the church, the corresponding human attitude toward God is prayer. It is as the church prays that it receives the Spirit.”
As I have been studying and meditating on these passages in Acts, I am struck and convicted again and again by how closely prayer is connected to the Spirit moving and how much the children of God should long for the Holy Spirit to move in their life.
John 16:7-11, Jesus says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.”
What a powerful thought! Believers today are at greater advantage to understand and live the gospel then the disciples that were in the physical presence of Jesus because we have the Holy Spirit. Yet so often, we live our Christian life not empowered by the Spirit because we do not take the time to seek God and pray.
Tim Keller poses a question in a study he wrote on Acts, “If the Holy Spirit left your life today, would it look any different?”
Are you convicted of sin? Are the fruits of the spirit evident in your life (Galatians 5)? Do your conversations with friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers exhibit a life filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you long to spend time in the word of God? Does God’s word pierce your heart like a sword? Do you make decisions about how you will spend your time, money, and life based on obedience to the Lord? Are you moved with compassion for all the lost around you? Is your boldness to proclaim the gospel growing?
The answers to these questions point to whether your life is a Spirit-led life or not. And we cannot force ourselves to have the "right" answers...this is not a check list of do's and don'ts, when we examine a spirit led life we should be humbled and broken to know that we cannot do this just by willing it ourselves, it is only through the power of God and the holy spirit...so let us continue to pray for that in our lives. May we as Christian brothers and sisters be devoted to prayer. May our church and our lives be directed and guided by the Holy Spirit and nothing less.
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5 comments:
Dennae,
Thank you for this post; I did not know anyone was still blogging, but am glad to discover you still are every once in awhile. :)
Lately I have been having to deal with thoughts that resemble questions of doubt - doubts concerning my own faith, the gauge of how often my life is exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit, etc. I feel like I have been going through a time of much intellectual growth, but have taken a step back in my passion for pursuing God Himself and His will for our world. To the outsider this may not be readily apparent, but I am present every instance my heart has been rebellious to the prompting of God's Spirit to share the Gospel with that sad face, to be kind toward that hard-to-love individual, to let my time be taken up by self-serving appetites rather than what I know would be glorifying to His name. I have learned yet again that Eddie is still a sinful man, longing for the day I meet gaze with Jesus. I have become so much stronger, but have accordingly realized a greater extent of my weakness.
Are you convicted of sin? Are the fruits of the spirit evident in your life (Galatians 5)? Do your conversations with friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers exhibit a life filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you long to spend time in the word of God? Does God’s word pierce your heart like a sword? Do you make decisions about how you will spend your time, money, and life based on obedience to the Lord? Are you moved with compassion for all the lost around you? Is your boldness to proclaim the gospel growing?
It is encouraging being able to answer those questions positively while failure continues to manifest in my doings. Praise God for the work He has done and will yet do in our lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:22-25 ESV)
I am very excited by the increased devotion to prayer Roosevelt has shown over the last several months. Of course, things are not without fault, but I believe we have come so far from where we were. Let us continue pray for God to cause us to walk in these ways - being devoted to prayer and led by His Spirit.
By the way, I created a new blog. Check it out at ecross.wordpress.com. :)
“If the Holy Spirit left your life today, would it look any different?”
I find that to be a very interesting comment and challenge. I am not sure that "look" is the right word,though. I guess I would say "would you BE any different". Sometimes we can make our lives "look" like they are filled with the Spirit, yet we can be as far from abiding in Him as we could possibly be. I have found that when I truly am abiding in Him, the fruit that comes from my life is so sweet I can almost taste it and my satisfaction in Him is complete.
hi dennae.....just stopping by catching up with you....i don't blog much anymore, but i do think of you a lot.....i emailed you a while back, if your email has changed can you let me know??
love ya,
jen
Wow, I really appreciate what all of you have said. I am very grateful for your post Dennae. I have learned a lot this summer while being around pastors of prayer and devotion; men who see the Spirit manifest Itself in many different ways. The through-and-through common trait amongst all of the wisdom I have gained this summer is to be in prayer. Prayer is such a complex concept. It involves not only seeking but also speaking; not only listening but also taking to heart every sweet word that comes from God.
An interesting lesson I have been telling people about is the concept of being in the presence of the Lord. So many times we see Jesus and/or the disciples going out to a garden or deserted place and then seeing the Spirit move in miraculous ways immediately following. What I have noticed is this: if you want to get warm, get next to the heater. If you want to catch on fire, get anointed with oil and hug that heater tight! The more we spend in the presence of God, who is love, the more loving we become. The more we spend in the midst of His presence the more empowered we become.
It is a simple lesson, if you need something go to the Source.
We cannot expect to see the Spirit act as insanely as He desires if we cannot spend time listening to His voice. (John 10:1-6)
God bless you Rogers(Pierre) family for the blessings that you've been to me! And you as well Eddie!
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