4 Ways to Move into the Future!

I’m back!

After a few days of posting off, I’m back. We’ve moved into our new home, and are well on our way to getting it all put away (but still a ways to go 🙂 I’m currently responsible to write the Cross Points Church daily devotionals, so I’ll be sharing some of these with you over the next few days.

Enjoy!

Same old, same old

Read the first few verses of Acts 1, and see if you notice anything different about the disciples/apostles. See it?

No, you don’t…because nothing has really changed.

Jesus is alive (again), walking, talking and interacting with them, but they are still asking the same old questions,

When are you going to set Israel free?

No doubt they believed, completely and fully, Jesus was the Messiah, but they were still looking for physical freedom from the oppression of the Roman government. Then everything changes…

A mighty rushing wind.

Read Acts 2, and the world of these same men and women turns completely upside down. They go from worrying about Israel’s freedom to being the early church we all picture them being (Peter and John healing the crippled, Paul preaching all over the world, Peter eating pork and more).

What’s the difference? The Holy Spirit shows up. He enters the picture, and life is never the same again. The disciples go from worrying about the past to seeing a whole new picture of the future.

Living for the future.

Are you stuck in the past? Are you having a hard time letting go of things that happened (or didn’t happen) 10, 20, 30 years ago? If so, pay attention!

Are you filled with the Spirit? I’m not talking about an emotional, one-time, visit the altar, baptized in the Spirit moment. I mean a day by day and moment by moment led by and filled with the Holy Spirit. This is what changes the lives of the disciples. The Holy Spirit moves them from the past to the future.

4 ways to move into the future!

How do you do it? How do you live filled with the Holy Spirit? Acts 2 gives us a pretty good picture of what it means to live filled with God’s Spirit. Here are 4 things the disciples (and their disciples) did to live filled with the Spirit.

1. Together.

The early Christians did life together. They ate together, played together and learned together. This kept everyone accountable. I shared in my sermon on Sunday the importance of being in relationship to build legacy, and the same is true for being filled with the Spirit.

Being together with other Christians helps keep our thoughts and minds on God and His Spirit.

2. Study.

Look at all the different scriptures Peter rattles off in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Peter had been seriously studying God’s Word! The Word of God is alive and active and His Spirit resides within it (Hebrews 4:12). It also allows the Spirit to work in and through us.

3. Prayer.

It’s unclear what exactly the disciples were doing on the Day of Pentecost other than meeting together. You would assume prayer is part of it, but they definitely added prayer as a staple of their days subsequent (Acts 2:42).

Pray and ask God to fill you with His Spirit. Ask Him to give you the power you need to do His word.

4. Act.

Acts 1:8 tells us the reason the Spirit was being sent was to give us power to do Jesus’ command. That means go and act. If we don’t go and act, why would God need to fill us? When God fills you…act on it!

Go!

As you start your day today (or tomorrow), be filled with God’s Spirit. Leave the past and move into the future!