Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Matthew 16:16-17
A Moment to Ponder
Someone posed this question; “What happens in the 29th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Before I realized it, I was searching in my mind and fumbling with my phone, trying to remember what happens in that chapter. Then I realized that it was a trick question! The book of Acts ends at chapter 28! As we know, the Book of Acts is just what the title tells us it is. It relates the acts (actions) of the Apostles. And describes the way the Holy Spirit worked through the first apostles. But, the stories of the Spirit don’t end with the last chapter of Acts. They have continued with/in us. So we are all the authors of Acts 29.
Jesus wants all of us to be “rocks” of his church, just as he called Peter (Matthew 16:18). Like Peter, we too have the Holy Spirit living in us, filling us with grace and directing our lives. We do not always see God at work in us. But just because we don’t see him, that does not mean he is not there. He is constantly at work in our hearts, drawing us toward Jesus. And if we are to look deeper, the truth may well be that we are bearing far more spiritual fruit than we think. And the truth could be that Acts 29 is really unfolding in our lives.
The acts that we do may not be recorded in the Scripture or in the annals of church history. But God sees everything that we do – every small act of kindness, every passing moment of generosity, every battle against temptation. Nothing goes unnoticed or unrecorded in his Book of Life.
We must regard as special and encouraging, the stories of how the Spirit transformed and empowered ordinary people and sent them into the world as ambassadors. We can learn from them how the Spirit worked – and how he can work in our hearts today.
St Luke tells us that on the day of Pentecost, the apostles experienced a powerful sense of God’s presence. They felt his love. They received a new understanding of God and a new desire to share his gospel. Jesus has sent this same Holy Spirit to fill us, so that we too can come to know God. Every one of us can do the work of the Lord because we have the Spirit
He may ask us to put away a longstanding prejudice we have against someone. He may propel/lead us into a new ministry in our church/parish – something we least expected to do. It may be to patch up a broken relationship. Whatever the situation we should always remember that Jesus came to save everyone. We should always put aside our own ideas of how God will work, and be open to the Spirit.
Saul of Tarsus, a devout Jew, and Pharisee followed the law blamelessly. While on his way to Damascus he realized he was actually persecuting Jesus. For the rest of his life, Paul learnt how to yield to the Spirit, so that he could accomplish the “work” God had in store for him.
The Story continues: The Spirit continues to work powerfully today. He is still transforming ordinary human beings into the likeness of Jesus. He is still bringing us together to build up the church. He is still empowering us the spread the gospel. The first believers, through their faith and intentional approach, bore marvellous fruit. You are next to find the Holy Spirit working wonders in your life.
Take Action
A simple method to approach prayer as well as to improve our spiritual vision. Let it be the step you take in this Easter season and see a change in your life:
How to pray: Sing to help you clear/settle your mind
Focus on Jesus – see him as the one who is delighted to have you in his presence
Read a passage from scripture and spend time meditating on it
Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to something new in the passage and how it affects your life
Write down a few thoughts and try to recall/live them throughout the day
A Moment in Prayer
Dear Lord, it is not hard to see your hand at work in our lives. Bless us in this special season of our discipleship journey. Come Holy Spirit and show us how we are continuing the book of Acts even today. Make us into shining witnesses of your love and power. Amen
Contributed by Melrose Wiggan
