Category: When you believed

Psalm 139:7-10 NIV –
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

The Holy Spirit can meet us powerfully at any time and any place. We never go beyond the reach of his Spirit. This is good news. Do you feel distant? Are you in the depths or the far side of the sea? He is there. Turn to God and let his Holy Spirit fill you right where you are. Let him give you new hope and new strength. Let his perfect love abolish every fear.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, fill me once again with your Holy Spirit, right where I am. Renew my faith. Renew my strength. Fill me to overflowing as I turn back to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “One Thing Remains” by Jesus Culture (Click here).

– ES

Acts 19:5-6 NIV – they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

“Whilst all Christians have the Holy Spirit, there is more to experience. We use the word experience deliberately. Whenever the Spirit is poured out in the book of Acts it is obvious. People don’t logically infer that they have the Spirit; they know they have received the Spirit and they can clearly see the effects. These effects include… speaking in tongues (2:4; 10:46; 19:6), praising the mighty works of God (2:11; 10:46), prophesying (19:6), being given extraordinary boldness and power to witness (1:8; 6:10; 9:17, 22), obedience to God (5:32), and the working of miracles, signs and wonders (6:8; 13:9–11).”
[Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft, Everyday Supernatural: Living a Spirit-Led Life without Being Weird, 32-33]

Receiving the Holy Spirit is an act of faith, but it is not only an act of faith. Being filled can at times, also be an experience. Let’s be open to all the ways God can be experienced as we worship, pray, and seek the Lord.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, I want more of you. Help me to experience you and to know your loving presence in a fresh and powerful way. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Open your heart to the Spirit’s work as you worship to “Over My Head” by Bethel (Click here).

– ES

Acts 19:1b-2 NIV – There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

“After all, they were disciples, presumably meaning at least that they intended to be part of the kingdom-of-God movement which John the Baptist had launched, and they had been baptized.” [N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone (Part Two), 110]

These disciples wanted to follow God. And in a sense, they had done everything they knew they could do to be part of the kingdom of God. But something was missing. The news about Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit was delayed. But once this caught up with them, everything changed.

Like the disciples in Acts 19, sometimes we can feel like parts of our lives missed the fact that Jesus changed everything. But take heart, for even today, even right now, the good news can catch up with us in a powerful way.

Let’s pray: Father in heaven, we know everything has changed in Jesus Christ. Let your good news impact new areas in me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Get caught up in the good news as you worship to the song “The Same Jesus” by Matt Redman (Click here).

– ES

Luke 11:9-10, 13 NLT – And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

Recall what Justin said about his wife, Brooke, in their testimony video. “She began to pray for me (I didn’t know) in the closet. She was praying for me to truly encounter God and receive the Holy Spirit.” Brooke then responds, “That’s right. So we prayed, about four years of prayer.”

Think about that. Four years of prayer. Brooke really wanted her husband Justin to experience the Holy Spirit like she had. God in his timing opened the door at the appropriate moment and Justin had a radical encounter with the Holy Spirit. It utterly transformed him. When we seek a powerful filling of the Spirit for ourselves or for others, let us persevere in prayer and not lose heart. God will surely breakthrough in his perfect timing.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we know there is so much more we are to experience. We continue to ask for a radical filling of the Spirit for ourselves and for those you’ve placed upon our hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let the Spirit stir up supernatural faith, hope, and love in you as you worship to the song “Do It Again” by Elevation Worship (Click here).

– ES

1 John 4:4b NIV – the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Acts 19:1a NIV – While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.

“Everything we know about Ephesus indicates that it was a place where not only social and civic power, but also religious and spiritual power, were concentrated. Perhaps that, too, is why Luke has begun his account of Paul’s work there with a story about a fresh outpouring of the spirit. There must be nothing second-hand about the spirit’s power when you are faced with the powers of the world.” [N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone (Part Two), 113]

The disciples who did not know the Holy Spirit were found in Ephesus. No doubt God sent Paul to these individuals to help them receive the Holy Spirit. When living in a world full of all kinds of opposition, there is no substitute for the powerful filling and refilling of the Holy Spirit. Our power is not found in self-will or human strategies. Our power must come from the Holy Spirit himself who is greater than the world.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we find ourselves living among power structures that oppose your people and your kingdom. Let us be radically filled with your Holy Spirit once again, that we may live for the glory of your name in every circumstance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let the Spirit fill you as you worship to the song “Surrounded (Fight My Battles)” by Upper Room (Click here).

– ES