The Holy Spirit in happy and sad moments
Daily Scripture
Acts 13:49-52, 20:22-28, 37-38
Acts 13
49 and the Lord’s word was broadcast throughout the entire region. 50 However, the Jews provoked the prominent women among the Gentile God-worshippers, as well as the city’s leaders. They instigated others to harass Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their district. 51 Paul and Barnabas shook the dust from their feet and went to Iconium. 52 Because of the abundant presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, the disciples were overflowing with happiness.
Acts 20
[Paul said to the elders of the church in Ephesus,] 22 Now, compelled by the Spirit, I’m going to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there. 23 What I do know is that the Holy Spirit testifies to me from city to city that prisons and troubles await me. 24 But nothing, not even my life, is more important than my completing my mission. This is nothing other than the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus: to testify about the good news of God’s grace.
25 “I know that none of you will see me again—you among whom I traveled and proclaimed the kingdom. 26 Therefore, today I testify to you that I’m not responsible for anyone’s fate. 27 I haven’t avoided proclaiming the entire plan of God to you. 28 Watch yourselves and the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as supervisors, to shepherd God’s church, which he obtained with the death of his own Son.
37 They cried uncontrollably as everyone embraced and kissed Paul. 38 They were especially grieved by his statement that they would never see him again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
God doesn’t leave us on our own after we believe. God provides the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide, and strengthen us. Acts 13 told about violent opposition forcing the apostles Paul and Barnabas to leave another Antioch, this one in the Roman province of Pisidia. Depressing, right? Not really: “The disciples shook the dust off their feet and went on their way ‘filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit’ (13:52)…. What they knew and felt was not just given by the Lord’s Spirit. It was the Lord’s Spirit welling up within them. And Paul and Barnabas would need that for the challenge and difficulties that lay ahead of them.” * In Acts 20 there were tears about separation, but not hopeless separation. “Paul had been a dynamic teacher and preacher, but he had also been a caring friend. When he had to leave for the ship, tears of love flowed freely and the elders tenderly kissed the apostle on the neck.” **
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God’s Kingdom has never depended solely on one individual, no matter how gifted. Even the great apostle Paul knew his time and his reach were limited and told the elders of the church in Ephesus that they needed to depend not mainly on him, but on the Holy Spirit’s presence with them. “Your task is not something you have dreamed up. The Holy Spirit, who has led Paul halfway round the known world and used him in so many extraordinary ways, has made them ‘overseers’, guardians, episkopoi–a word that, within a generation of Paul, would mean something like our ‘bishop’, and from which indeed that English word is directly derived. Here, though, it clearly doesn’t refer to a single leader, but to each of the ‘elders’ (verse 17).” *** Have you ever felt prompted by the Spirit to take a specific action or make a choice? How can you, like Paul and the Ephesian elders, become more attuned to the Spirit’s leading in your daily life?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you didn’t promise that life will always be easy, but you did say I can have your peace and joy even when things are hard. Help me keep attuning my mind to your Spirit, to make that more and more a reality. Amen.
GPS Insights
Mindi McKenna
Mindi McKenna has been a member of Resurrection for nearly 26 years. She enjoys teaching Disciple 1 and Meet Your Bible classes; volunteering with our refugee and prison ministries and participating in a women’s small group and in the Faith and Fellowship Sunday School class. Mindi is passionate about inspiring and equipping people to share God’s love with others.
In today’s Scripture, we read that the disciples felt “… the abundant presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives…” (Acts 13:53). And Paul said, “… compelled by the Holy Spirit I’m going…” (Acts 20:22). And the elders were told, “… the Holy Spirit has placed you there…” (Acts 20:28). Wow.
Do you experience “the abundant presence of the Holy Spirit” in your life? Do you believe “the Holy Spirit has placed you” right where you are? Do you ever feel “compelled by the Holy Spirit” to go somewhere, or to say or do something?
One time, several years ago, I’d gone on vacation. I hadn’t planned on communicating with anyone back home while gone, but I kept sensing a “nudge” from the Holy Spirit. Not an audible voice. More like a thought that kept popping into my mind, accompanied by an urge to contact my friend Karen. I couldn’t imagine why. I knew that Karen’s brother was sick, but I thought his condition was chronic and long-term. So, when the urge first came to “contact Karen” I ignored it. The thought returned. I began wondering if it might be a nudge from the Holy Spirit, so I contacted Karen. And–you guessed it–her brother had just died. I was glad God’s Spirit had compelled me to act, so I could offer comfort to Karen in her time of grief.
That was an especially vivid time of having been nudged by the Holy Spirit to act. But it wasn’t the only time. Often, the nudge to act involves helping others–making a phone call to encourage someone or giving extra time or money to help someone in need.
Sometimes I’ve sensed God’s Spirit guide me to stop doing something. For instance, one time the Holy Spirit compelled me to stop leading a small group. I didn’t know why. But by that point in my life, I’d learned to trust the nudges. So, I stepped down from that leadership role. And–you guessed it–soon afterward, it became clear why God had compelled me to step down. One of my family ended up in the hospital for a month, and another one passed away. Both situations required a lot of my time. If I hadn’t stopped leading the group, they wouldn’t have received proper leadership, and I would have been stressed by the competing time demands. God knew what we would need before we did.
Over the years, as I’ve learned to trust and obey the Holy Spirit’s nudges, the nudges have become clearer. Now whenever one comes, I’m less concerned about details I don’t yet know, and more intrigued by knowing I’m about to see God do something cool.
That’s why today’s Scripture reading is so exciting. Because when we’re compelled by God’s Holy Spirit to act, if we do it, we will experience what the Scriptures call “the abundant presence of the Holy Spirit.” And it will be awesome!
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Lloyd John Ogilvie, The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 28: Acts. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983, p. 215.
** Ibid., p. 289.
*** Wright, N. T., Acts for Everyone, Part Two: Chapters 13-28 (The New Testament for Everyone) (p. 137). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
