Power

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Jesus rose from the dead and showed himself to around five hundred eyewitnesses in the span of forty days. After those few days, it was time for Jesus to return to the Father. From the perspective of the disciples, this must have been a hard transition. They had suffered the brutal loss of their dear friend, good teacher and long-awaited Messiah, and now, after just receiving him back, they had to say goodbye again.

Jesus had instructed them to go to their neighbours and all over the world to tell others about what they had seen and heard, and to make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). This was a big job and there may well have been anxiety about doing this without him. Only, they weren’t called to do it without him. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would go with them and dwell in them and empower them for every good work. He promised that through his Spirit they would receive the power they needed to carry out this task.

This job that the disciples were given is given to us too. We are called to send and to go and to make disciples. The Holy Spirit and the power to carry out this task is given to us too.

This power is not some superpower by which we have superhuman strength and abilities to change or save the world but is the all-powerful God of the universe living in us and using us for the expansion of his kingdom! The Holy Spirit enables us to go, send, make disciples, and even just make it through the day!

He is the source of our power which completely removes any room for us to boast in our own strength. The Holy Spirit in us enables us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and to lean not on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5).

Let us approach this mission with confidence in the God who sends us and confidence that he will give us the power we need for each new day.