Reading Acts 3:1-10 this morning I was reminded of the
impressiveness of Holy Spirit’s work in believers. The most obvious and
spectacular miracle in the passage is the healing of a man born lame. But this
morning I am especially amazed and challenged by the way God used Peter, a
common man like you and me.
I am confident that Peter’s actions on that morning were the
direct result of his fresh Pentecostal experience. Imagine the boldness it took
to look down at the lame man and tell him to rise up and walk in the name of
Jesus. I can imagine that boldness because
I’ve felt that sort of
boldness when full of the Spirit. That boldness can’t be manufactured. We do
the Lord no service by foolishly attempting to be bold without the
inspiration and authority of the Spirit. The sort of effective boldness Peter
demonstrated comes only to those who are filled with the Spirit.
Being filled with the Spirit is not a once and for all
experience. Like any relationship, it must be maintained. In the very next
chapter we read that Peter was part of a prayer meeting in which they were “all
filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:31). The challenge for us is to seek to be
obedient to God’s command that we “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
Holy boldness and God-glorifying works will surely follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment