March 14 – Acts 1:1-11

March 14 – Acts 1:1-11

Lesson: He Empowers

Dear Lord, bless our time with you today.  Meet us where we are at, guide our minds, and hold our hearts as we search for Your truth.

First, do your own quiet time with God and 4R journaling.  When you are complete, come back here for the lesson.

Request Gods’ help

Read Acts 1:1-11

Record a verse that stands out to you

Respond to God

Anyone remember the old cartoon, “He-man”?  What was it he used to say? Oh!  “I have the poowweerrrrrrrrrr!!!!” as he’d raise his sword in both hands towards the sky.  Well, that takes me right back to my childhood.  I used to wonder what it would be like to be that powerful, that prepared and brave.  At the time I was so small and insignificant, the world was so huge I couldn’t begin to fathom it.  In my tiny world I tried to be a brave He-man to my little brother.  I say little, but really he’s only 16 months younger than me.  And one day… he would become my own He-man.  But I digress.

The Spirit’s ministry is to empower; to make us stronger and confident. In ourselves?  Oh, noooo….. in Jesus!  Empowerment comes in when we are called to do the will of God, what He asks us to do and what He calls us to do.  The Spirit encourages and strengthens us to be able to actually do it.  In that empowerment we can point it all back to God, for it was in His strength that we did it.  All praise will be towards He who gives us the strength. There can be no denying how great and mighty our God is.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to walk the path of Jesus. (And as a plug, if you have not worked your way through Sharon’s “Walk This Way” study, you are missing out!  I encourage you to start that after this one finishes!).  But in the meantime, we will just sit here for a moment and ponder what that looks like.  Remember Peter?  Goodness is he a great example of what walking the path of Jesus looks like, even the honesty and transparency of his faltering.  Peter was impulsive, strong willed and lacked self-discipline.  He was going on his own strength and his own knowledge.  While his intentions were going in the right direction according to his point of view, he widely missed the mark… often.  And aren’t we all just like that, some more than others, some less than others. But I think we can all see a bit ourselves in Peter.  (Matthew 16; Matthew 26; John 21)

What does it look like to be empowered by the Holy Spirit?  Let’s look back at Peter once again. In Acts 8 and Acts 4: 5-12 we encounter a new Peter!  Anyone who encountered him had no choice but to see how God works and who He is.  The Spirit empowers us to what?  Be a witness! To be set apart from all other humans.  Walking as Jesus walked should be impossible, there is no way we could ever hope to even be like Him in the slightest.  Yet, we have the Holy Spirit living and breathing within us, giving us the strength and the courage to do what God calls us to do.

You are not alone, for in you is the Spirit of empowerment.  Go through the rest of your day knowing that God will enable you to do all of the wonderful things that He has planned for you.

Dear Heavenly Father, we stand vigilant watch and we pray that we might not enter temptation.  Our spirit is willing and yet our flesh is weak. But in You, oh Lord, we have the strength.  In You, we have the empowerment to stay the course.

(Further reading: Exodus 31:2-3; Judges 13:25; Romans 7:15-25; Romans 12:1-2)

What’s next?

As the Spirit leads, in the comment section below, share what He has laid on your heart.

Then join us again tomorrow to learn about the ministry of helping.