Read it: Galatians 5:22-26, Acts 1:8, & Acts 2:1-4
Live it:
In my devotional on Day 9, I wrote about the potential for losing the ability to exercise our spiritual gifts. Today’s readings are, in essence, about the character of and preservation of the opportunity to be used by God in the exercise of our spiritual gifts.
The Galatians passage talks about the “fruit of the Spirit,” and the Acts passages talk about the “empowerment of the Spirit.” The “fruit of the Spirit” is all about the development of godly character through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
First, the Acts passages are the promise to Jesus’ followers that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit. Second, they show the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, which is the fulfillment of the promise. The Acts 2:1-4 experience is available to all Christians today. My personal encouragement to you is to seek to be baptized in the Holy Spirit if you have not already done so.
Do it:
Think about the opportunities you had to use your spiritual gifts. The opportunities that you are grateful for, the ones that were taken away. Now, visualize those opportunities being given back to you as a gift. How grateful are you for the gift of them? Are you going to do anything different the next opportunity you have to use your spiritual gifts?
Pastor Rod