#52 Receive God’s power for mission

Read Luke 24:36-53 

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.””

It’s remarkable that the ragged bunch of individuals who first followed Jesus had any impact upon the world at all. They were ordinary, competitive and sometimes even downright selfish. 

Unsurprisingly, Jesus taught that their success in taking His “good news” beyond their homeland was not reliant upon their own strengths, skill sets, personalities or unique strategies. Rather, Jesus guided them to seek the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

As with all of the teachings of Jesus, he never calls people to something that he has not pursued himself. His command to wait to receive God’s power was simply an invitation to receive the same power that he also possessed.

Even though Jesus was sent from heaven by our Father, it wasn’t until after he was baptised that he became “full of the Holy Spirit…[and] led by the Spirit” and living “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:1,14). It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit fully indwelled him that he began to publicly fulfil God’s call upon his life. Likewise, if we are to do the work of Jesus then we need the power of Jesus. To fulfil the call God has for you, you need to be full of, led by and empowered with God’s Holy Spirit just like Jesus!

This is not simply a nice idea. Rather, throughout history many people have had stories where they experienced a supernatural in-filling of God’s Holy Spirit that transformed their life, faith and love forever. This new life and power can come at the moment of salvation or even days, weeks or years later. Whenever he comes, you will know it!

The first Christians heeded not only Jesus’ example (Luke 4) but also his advice (Luke 24). At the beginning of the book of Acts, we see the disciples gathering in anticipation of Jesus’ promised Holy Spirit. While they had no idea what would come of their waiting, when he came, they knew it!

If you cannot recall a season where you’ve been full of, led by or empowered by the Holy Spirit then ask for that today. Simply ask out loud for the Holy Spirit to fill you up. You might even want to repeatedly pray this simple phrase, “Come Holy Spirit”.