Power of the Holy Spirit

In Acts 5 verse 15; we read that, when the shadow of Peter fell on people, they were healed….
so that was Peter’s gift…..

towards the end of Acts, ch 19: Paul only had to touch a scarf or sweat bands…or apron…anything, and when it was handed to the sick person, it was a healing thing…..
that was Paul’s gift….

That does not mean we can all do it…that was their gift,

God gives each a gift, but not the same as someone else’s….. something that is personally theirs.

Then in Acts 4: we read that Peter and John were threatened.
Anas and his whole priestly family, warned and threatened Peter and John to never again speak about Jesus nor to preach in his name.

Peter and John brought this back to the church family.
And what did they do?

They had to make a decision.
You know, this was a diverse group of people.

There were the young and the old.
There were the single folk as well as those who had families.

There were young believers as well as mature old believers.
The prohibition imposed by the high priest’s counsel was a tremendous obstacle for this young church.

Look at verses 24-30.....
these believers chose instead, to lift their voices in prayer to God.

There was no complaint in their prayer about their situation.
They weren’t vengeful.
Nor did they even ask the Lord for relief.
Not even one among them was worried about their lives
or their job security,
or their family,
or their children....
Instead, they entrusted it all to the Sovereign God.
they simply prayed: “Lord give us the boldness to proclaim Christ, regardless of the dangers of persecution.”

(what would we have done in todays way of liveng?)

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” That is...the whole lot of church people who were there.

When the believers prayed, God answered their prayer by filling each of them with his Spirit.
It’s as if so much power came into that room, which made the whole place shake, barely able to contain it.
It’s as if God himself was eager and excited to answer their prayer.
And when they were all filled, they did not just sit down and bask in God’s blessing.

They went out and did exactly what God wanted them to do in the first place.
They went out and began to speak the word of God Boldly to everyone.
God gave them his Spirit in abundance this time, in answer to their earnest prayer to continue preaching the word of God boldly and testifying to the name of Jesus.

And that is how we should all be, bold in the power of the Holy Spirit.

blessings...
yaddy