In today’s New Testament reading, we begin the book of Acts. As it’s name suggests, this book details the works of the apostle in the early church, after Christ’s ascension. It shows how they went about fulfilling the Great Commission, serving as a prophetic picture to us of all the possibilities available by the Holy Spirit. It was written by Luke, a medical doctor and companion of the apostle Paul, who we will be introduced to later in the book.
The book opens with Jesus instructing the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The infilling by Holy Spirit was fundamental for the apostles-and us-to fulfill the Great Commission (Acts 1:8).
We also see the disciples astonished by Jesus’ ascension, possibly feeling sad and confused. However, they are encouraged by the promise that He would return again (Acts 1:11).
While we await this glorious return, we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, must continue in the work He has entrusted to us.
Confession: I have the Holy Spirit, I have power to witness Christ to my world.
Today’s reading
Leviticus 15-17
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean.
Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:
Acts 1
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God..