Wednesday, February 19, 2014

February 20, 2014

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Imagine you have a glass that is partially filled with dirt. What will happen if you pour fresh cool water into that glass?

Or, if you have a glass of clear cool water and you dump a few tablespoons of dirt into that glass, how will that work out?

In either scenario you will end up with a glass of muddy water.

So, how do you get a glass filled with clear, cool water?

If you want it clear you must empty the dirt and clean the class.

And if you want it full of water you must empty everything else out of that class.

Only a clean empty glass can be filled with pure water.

So it is with the Holy Spirit. You cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit unless you are emptied of your sinful and selfish nature. 

And you can't receive the Spirit until you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

That is what happened to Peter that changed him from a fan of Jesus to a follower of Jesus.

It is what happened to Peter that changed him from denying Jesus to becoming a disciple.

Becoming Spirit-Filled is what filled him with "agape" love because God's Spirit is His perfect love! So, being filled with the Spirit is being filled with His love.

God's love IS the power of His Spirit!

The power of the Holy Spirit changed Peter from having a "Peter Moment" to starting a "Peter Movement".

Have you emptied yourself so you can be filled with His Spirit?