Filled with Joy

Scripture:    And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52

Observation:   In the midst of persecution and being kicked out of the city, the disciples are able to shake the dust off their feet and leave.  But they leave full of joy and the Holy Spirit.  There is a powerful connection between the filling of the Spirit and attitude.   

Attitude is not something I produce, but the Spirit produces in me.  It is not about bucking up, putting on a good face, but connecting with the Spirit and letting him drive my joy.  Then, even in the midst of tough times, I can have an inner joy and peace and maintain control of my attitude and responses.

Application:  God has been speaking to me recently about attitude.  Specifically, the attitudes he wants me to have and not have.   Today, I hear him reminding me that the source of my attitude is not my own willpower, but hinges on my connection with his Spirit.

Prayer:  Today, I have a day planned to pray and think about my life.  I pray that it would be a day of reconnecting with the Spirit, letting you fill and control my life.  I pray I will leave this day refreshed and filled with the joy of the Spirit.

Why God Conceals Truth

Scripture: For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. Acts 16:28

Observation: A group of believers met to pray and talk about what to do with non-Jewish converts to Christianity. They come to a decision, one that the Holy Spirit communicated to them as a group.

Application: Over the last ten years God has been teaching me how He wants to speak to me through groups. From sermon collaboration to leadership communities and now lately to me through doing devotions with others. This is a contrast from the “get alone and hear from God” approach. While there is a place for that, there is also the truth that God might deliberately conceal truths for me so that I am forced to depend on others to find them out. (This last truth came from a conversation with my friend Randy yesterday—another example of what I am talking about.) Proverbs 25:2: “It is the glory of God to conceal things but the glory of kings is to search things out.” In other words, there might be things the Holy Spirit will say to me only as I listen to Him through others.

Prayer: God, continue moving me down the path of collaborative hearing. Of learning to listen to you through others. You long to speak to your people. Let it be my glory to search it out. Amen

One Day, They Will Look and Believe

Scripture: And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10

Observation: Zechariah is predicting a future day when the nation of Israel will be given a gift—the gift of the Holy Spirit who enables faith so that when they look to Christ in faith, they will be moved to mourning and repentance (pleas for mercy).

Application: We are going through Acts as a church and seeing the growing rejection of the second offer of Jesus Christ by Israel. The first offer, in the gospels, ended in the rejection of Christ to the point of death. The second offer, in Acts, is moving towards the end of national rejection of Christ as the Messiah, and the death of many followers. My heart breaks as I read Acts and see the grace and patience of God who re-offers the kingdom and still finds rejection. This passage in Zechariah reminds me that rejection will not last forever. That one day, Israel will see what they have been blind to for so long—Christ crucified, and when they see him, the Spirit will move them to faith, finally.
Sometimes I look at people and think they are beyond God. They have rejected Christ over and over, and I am quick to dust off my feet and get moving. But if God can change the heart of a nation, he can change the heart of a man.

Prayer: God, thank you for keeping your promises to your people, even when they do not keep their promises to you. Thank you for your love for Israel, and how you keep reaching out. Give me guidance today in knowing when to keep offering the kingdom, and when to move on. Thank you for reminding me that no matter how attractive the offer, the Spirit has to be involved for people to see Christ and be moved to repentance.

And Jesus, Full of the Holy Spirit...

Scripture: And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit…And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… Luke 4:5,14,18

Observation: In Luke 4, we see Jesus relying upon the Holy Spirit. He is filled with the spirit, led by the spirit, exercises the power of the spirit, and has the Spirit upon him. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit is not just reserved for Jesus, but is a pattern for all who would follow him.

Application: I can expect that if I am filled with the Spirit, I can be led by him and used by him as well. What I need to discover is how I can be filled with the spirit. Scripture says: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 Walking by the Spirit is not some spiritual mumbo-jumbo. Walking by the spirit is the normal experience of every believer. This is what Paul meant back in Galatians 2:20: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Walking by the Spirit means accepting by faith that Christ lives in me and has given me power over my passions. I can choose in every situation whether I will respond the way I want, or by the Spirit’s help, to respond the way God wants and empowers me to do. Will I daily decide to continue and trust his power in my life?

Prayer: God, As I continue to grow in my understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit, help me to follow Your example and walk by the Spirit. Thank you for your modeling of this life and your promise I can live it as well. Show me today areas where I am walking by myself and not in step with your Spirit.