Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

January 23, 2019

by Pastor Hawtree

BIBLE READING: ACTS 1

4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence………..
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The ministry of the Holy Ghost is beyond essential to the Christian. Here, Jesus is getting ready to ascend back into glory. Imagine how excited Jesus must have been to finally go home, and to reunite with God the Father. The sin Jesus had been surrounded with, the abuse and rejection He had endured, and the constant awareness that He was heading to bear our sins on the cross was finally going home. Before Jesus goes, He gives instruction to His disciples about the Holy Ghost.

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT
“The promise of the Father.” “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.” Before Jesus leaves, He gives the promise that the Holy Ghost would come and indwell those who place their faith and trust in Jesus. Jesus literally calls the Holy Spirit “the promise of the Father”. The Holy Spirit is literally proof of the promise that Jesus is coming back for us. He is the down payment of heaven.

THE PRIORITY OF THE SPIRIT
Jesus “commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait”. As Jesus was going to send the disciples out to change the world, He tells them not to head out and start till the Holy Ghost comes upon them. Why is that? Because it is a waste of time to try to do anything without the help and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If these disciples were going to accomplish something great for God, they must have the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The same goes for me and you.

THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” That power is what we need. Jesus did not want the disciples to begin their ministry till they had that power. If you are saved, then the Holy Ghost lives inside of you. If the Holy Ghost is inside of you, you have been given miraculous power through Christ. That power is to be used for us to be witnesses, not just to those around us, but throughout the world. Only through God‘s power can a task that great be accomplished. Only through God‘s power can any purpose be accomplished. I encourage you to utilize that power in everything that you face today.