Living in the Power of the Spirit
Acts 1:1-8 

Jesus assured His followers that they would receive the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49), and Pentecost marked the fulfillment of this promise (Acts 2:1-4). God always follows through, and sending His Spirit was no exception. In fact, this amazing blessing still applies today.

The moment a person places faith in the Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells that new believer. He seals all Christians in Him for eternity so nothing can ever steal them from God. But sadly, some don’t choose to live in that power—believers can be saved and yet continue to live in their own strength.

Being “filled with the Holy Spirit” is not an emotional experience. Instead, it involves allowing God to live His life through our actions, thoughts, and words—which means surrendering our desires and self-focus.

Walking in the Spirit has nothing to do with our own abilities. Rather, it depends solely on God’s. We trust, ask Him to take over, and follow in obedience. He will lead us as we pray to Him. And through silent, attentive meditation upon His Word, as well as through the counsel of other believers, we can experience our Father’s guidance, power, protection, and help. His still, small voice will become more obvious to us as we mature in Christ.

If you are saved, God’s Spirit lives within you. But He longs to do much more than simply reside there. He desires to commune with you in intimate relationship so that you experience abundant blessing. Living in your own strength will lead only to failure. Walking by the Spirit brings life

A Day For Remembering   –    No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.

Isaiah 54:17

The 5th of November is notable in English history for two great deliverances granted by God for us. On this day the plot of the Papists to destroy the Houses of Parliament was discovered, 1605.

>While for our princes they prepare

In caverns deep a burning snare,

He shot from heaven a piercing ray,

And the dark treachery brought to day.

And secondly, today is the anniversary of the landing of King William III, at Torbay in 1688, which was crucial for the establishment of religious liberty.

This day should be celebrated not by the revelry of youth, but by the songs of saints. Our Puritan forefathers most devoutly made it a special time of thanksgiving. There is public record of the annual sermons preached by Matthew Henry on this day. Our convictions and our love of liberty should make us regard its anniversary with holy gratitude. Let our hearts and lips exclaim, “We have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old.”1

You have made this nation the home of the Gospel; and when the enemy has risen against her, You have shielded her. Help us to offer repeated songs for repeated deliverances.

Grant us more and more a hatred of sin, and hasten the day of your coming. Till then and ever, we believe the promise, “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.” Should it not be laid upon the heart of every lover of the Gospel of Jesus on this day to plead for the overturning of false doctrines and the extension of divine truth? Would it not be well to search our own hearts and turn out any of the lumber of self-righteousness that may lie concealed within?

1Psalm 44:1

The family reading plan for November 5, 2011

2 Kings 18 | Philemon 1

Clinging to God’s Promises
Luke 24:13-49 

The Bible is a goldmine of promises for believers. These are declarations of God’s gracious intention to give us a gift. During any season, but especially in hard times, they provide an anchor for our souls. They give us hope, enabling us to be courageous and bold when facing life’s storms.

But many individuals do not rely on God’s assurances. There are two reasons for this. First, far too many people are unaware of His promises. Second, some simply do not believe them to be true. A lot of believers can quote Scripture, but when they face a daunting trial—like failing health or job loss—their confidence waivers and doubt prevails.

If we’re unaware of all that Scripture guarantees us, we can Read and study, but we can’t make ourselves believe. Faith is a gift from almighty God. Luke 24 documents two times that people came face to face with Jesus but failed to recognize Him. He had to open their spiritual eyes before they could truly see. The same is true of our faith: it is impossible without the Holy Spirit.

Jesus gives believers countless assurances in the Scriptures—guarantees of protection, hope, eternal security, counsel, and guidance, to name a few. Do you trust Him?

As you Read Scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to point out applicable promises for your life. Study, memorize, and meditate upon them. Our Father wants you to claim these truths. Then, when trials arise, you’ll have a rock-solid foundation on which to stand. You can trust that God will do all He says

Made Perfect in Weakness – ‘For my power is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9

A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When God’s warrior marches out to battle, strong in his own might, when he boasts, “I know that I will overcome-my own ability and my self-confidence will be enough for victory,” defeat is staring him in the face.

God will not enable the man who marches in his own strength. He who reckons on victory by such means has reckoned wrongly, for “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”1

Those who go out to fight, boasting of their ability, will return with their banners trailing in the dust and their armor stained with disgrace. Those who serve God must serve Him in His own way and in His strength, or He will never accept their service.

Whatever a man does, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere fruits of the earth He casts away; He will only reap corn the seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love.

God will empty out all that you have before He will put His own into you; He will first clean out your granaries before He will fill them with the finest of wheat.

The river of God is full of water; but not one drop of it flows from earthly springs. God will have no strength used in His battles but the strength that He Himself imparts.

Are you mourning over your own weakness? Take courage, for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give you victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and you are being humbled to prepare you for being lifted up.

When I am weak then am I strong,

Grace is my shield and Christ my song.

1Zechariah 4:6

The family reading plan for November 4, 2011

2 Kings 17 | Titus 3