ESOCS Devotional 22 November 2022
TEXT: ACTS 13:1-13
MEMORY VERSE: “Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” Acts 13:9-10
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit. That was the reason he could confront Elymas the sorcerer with the power of God (v 9). There is need for a Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit. His purposes in our lives are numerous. He is the power of God in us that enables us to do exploit. A Christian that does not have the Holy Spirit in him is spiritually empty. Many negative things happen to him. The worst is that he would find it extremely difficult to live a life of holiness. But holy lifestyle is the springboard on which we can soar high spiritually and temporally in all areas of life. Before our Lord Jesus went to heaven, He said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14: 26b; 1 John 2:27). The Holy Spirit was given to us to help us. We can’t do without Him.
He is the One that gives us the new birth that would enable us enter the kingdom of God. Our Lord said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we would be able to live a holy lifestyle; and would not be carnally minded. He will make us to be spiritually alive; and not spiritually dead (Rev. 3:1). Our Lord said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). He is the One who transforms us into a new person. Prophet Samuel said to Saul, “Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man” (1 Sam. 10:6).
He is the One that gives us the assurance that we are saved: “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Cor. 5:5); “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 6:16). He is the One who anoints us with power to be witnesses for Jesus as we preach and teach the gospel: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me”(Acts 1:8). Prophet Micah said, “But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin” (Micah 1:8).
He helps us to remove our minds from the things and pleasures of the world and focus on the things of the Spirit and the kingdom of God: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” He helps us in our prayers (Rom. 8:26, 27).
CHALLENGES
- Examine yourself whether you have the Holy Spirit in you.
PRAYERS
- Pray earnestly that the Holy Spirit may be given to you.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
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ESOCS Devotional 22 November 2022
