Holy Spirit Power
”But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Pentecost was a powerful day (Acts 2). Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection the disciples received the Holy Spirit (again? John 20:22) just as Jesus had told them would happen. But the purpose of receiving the Spirit was not for them to feel God’s love (although they would receive the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), or to speak in tongues (per se), but to have power to be bold witnesses to share with people the Good News of Jesus Christ. Which is exactly what they did. All the disciples, especially Peter, shared about Jesus in the native languages of the people present, and 3,000 people believed and were baptized that day (Acts 2:38-41).
They continued to witness for Christ, with more and more entering the kingdom every day (Acts 2:47; 4:4). Even when they were arrested and threatened not to share about Jesus by the very religious leaders who had Jesus crucified, they refused saying, we must obey Christ not you, and speak about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20). And when they were released they prayed for more boldness in sharing the gospel and for God to do miracles, signs, and wonders (Acts 4:23-31).
So, being filled with the Holy Spirit is first and foremost to empower us to share the Good News of Jesus with others. If we wonder why we are not seeing Holy Spirit power could it be because we are not sharing the Good News of Jesus with others, or we are not in unity as the Body of Christ (John 17:20-26)? We allow fear, comfort, and laziness to prevent us from intentionally being used by God for this purpose. Our prayers focus on us and our needs and wants rather than opportunities to share Jesus with others. And we dont follow the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit to guide us to places where we will have connection or conversation with unbelievers.
No wonder our churches and Christians are spiritually impotent, we aren’t doing the one thing the Spirit is leading us to do. I suspect we will discover that the more we step out in faith and boldness, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us and show us opportunities to be a witness, the more we will see his power in us.