The Promise Of Power

Acts 1:6-8

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. (Acts 1:8)

EARLY CHRISTIANS WENT around their cities, regions, and beyond telling people about Jesus and demonstrating a new way of life and power for living. They still had problems and conflicts of their own, to be sure—they didn’t stop being human—but they nevertheless became committed to a gospel of salvation and restoration. After all, that’s the context for the promise Jesus gave his disciples when they asked about the timing of his restoration of the Kingdom. Instead of telling them they were thinking along the wrong lines, he told them they didn’t need to know such things. Meanwhile, they would receive power for the Kingdom work he had assigned them.

Nothing in the New Testament suggests that the power of the Holy Spirit wanes or ceases, though God may move in different ways in different seasons. He has certain emphases that fit specific times and places, and sometimes we are led to cry out for a fresh move. And he does move. The power is still there. The world needs people who are filled with the Spirit and energized by him. And, as with everything else of lasting significance, there’s only one way to receive his power: by being in his presence.

We know God is always with us; his presence is not in question. But his manifest presence—that’s another story. We aren’t empowered by the Holy Spirit by default; we have to be in relationship and conversation with God and available for his purposes, just as the first believers were on the Day of Pentecost. In fact, we have an open invitation to press in to his promises with faith and persistence. When we do—and when we cultivate the kind of relationship that makes us aware of and receptive to his power—things happen. Doors open. Opportunities to be ministers of restoration come up. And we have the means to step into them with power.

{Holy Spirit, I make myself available to you. I lay down my agendas and embrace yours. I lay aside my strength and choose to lean into yours. I open myself to whatever opportunities you place before me to cultivate your Kingdom, restore lives, and express the message of salvation in every area of life. Amen.