Today’s Reading: Acts 11-12
Key Verse: Acts 11:16-17
Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, “John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?
Our Scripture records an amazing shift in the hearts and minds of these Jewish believers in Jesus. Peter had baptized Gentiles without them first becoming Jews. For this breach of Jewish practice, Peter was summoned back to Jerusalem to defend his unprecedented action. The key point in Peter’s defense was John the Baptist’s prophecy and it’s fulfillment both in the 120 in the Upper Room and now that “they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God” experience. Consider the two deaths in chapter 12…that of James, the brother of John, and that of Herod. James was put to death by Herod. The fisherman Apostle, James, now sits with the King of Kings forever. The kingdom Herod sought to hold, crumbled. The glory he sought was lost. The result of his pride was undoubtedly eternal damnation.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, I thank You that, as John the Baptist said of You, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” By Your grace, You have baptized me in the same way as You did for the believers as recorded in the book of Acts. I magnify You in my worship. As Paul wrote in Eph. 5:18-21, I desire with all my heart that I will continue to “be filled with the Spirit.” Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
My Grandpa Mainse and his brother Ed would meet each morning at the fence between their farms for prayer. They were at the time called, “Shouting Methodists.” It is said that they could be heard over on the next concession. I’ve heard my Doctor of Theology father shout for Joy on one occasion. I’ve been so filled with the Spirit at times that It’s next to impossible to keep quiet or to express what’s going on inside of me in my ordinary English language. Of course, one can control one’s exuberance. The Scripture says, “The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet” (1 Cor. 14:32). I find great strength for each day as my human spirit is filled with God’s Spirit. I experience an effective witness for Jesus and my cup of joy is filled to overflowing.
