Empowerment 101

Acts 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (ESV)

Many a time we know all too well that we’re falling short – that we need to do better here or there in our lives – but it’s so hard to have all your bases covered at once. Something, it seems, has to give.

So you cut a corner here, make a compromise there, just to get by. And on top of everything, if you believe in Jesus … well, He demands obedience. He calls us to love the unlovable, to set a godly example. The demands seem endless. So, exhausted, you strive even harder, beating yourself up about all your failures.

Yep, that pressure to perform on multiple fronts eats away at you. It takes its toll. If only I could be a better person. If only I could look a whole lot more like Jesus than I actually do. But at what point exactly did you come to the conclusion that it’s all up to you, that you have to go it alone?

To his hapless, traumatised disciples who’d seen Him unjustly convicted, brutally crucified and miraculously resurrected, Jesus said this:

Acts 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (ESV)

And that Holy Spirit power is for you too, and for me, and indeed for anyone who trusts in Jesus. Power to be Holy. Power to become the person He made you to be. Power to do good, to love, to shine His light into this lost and hurting world.

You don’t have to go it alone. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.