Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Holy Uprising - Tue Mar 9

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

"Peter replied,'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.'" (Acts 2:38-39)

This was the first sermon by Peter after the resurrection of Jesus. After the people listening were told about the resurrection of Jesus and that He was truly God and came to save them from the penalty of their sins, the people asked what they should do.

This is how Peter responded.

My question for you this morning is: Why did Peter name as the crowning gift of believing in Christ that they would receive the Holy Spirit? He didn't say, 'You will live eternally with God.' (Which is extremely important and the eternal results of having a relationship with God.) He didn't say: 'You will have a great, worry free life.'

It's because the whole point of the Christian life is being a 'little Christ' . . . that the God of the universe now lives IN US! It's because the real and powerful evidence of us having a relationship with God is that the Holy Spirit lives in us!

The point in these 40 Days is that we CANNOT do this alone. We must depend fully on the power of God living in us.

"‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6)

It is a moment by moment choice of yielding ourselves to God's Spirit and inviting Him to invade every crevice of our lives that changes us.

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18)

It's His Spirit that produces the Godly fruit that we so desire.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22)

So, when you become frustrated or discouraged and say: 'I can't do this!'
I would agree. You can't. You can't change by yourself . . . If we could change ourselves completely, we all would have done that a long time ago.
But God is ready and willing. Just ask Him: 'Holy Spirit, come in and lead me and direct me.' And then be ready to listen and willing to obey.

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