Latest / The Daily Word / October 12 – Don't Miss What God Is Saying
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Hey everyone, Pastor Jenny here, and we are going back through the book of Acts as we round the end of the year. It's our second time through the book of the Acts, and so I'm excited to do that with you today on October twelfth. So, Acts chapter one, where shall we begin? Well, really, let's begin at really verse seven is what I'm gonna w look at. with us. the apostles are talking to Jesus, and Jesus has told them, Don't do anything, don't go anywhere, but wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, is what he's telling them kind of at the beginning of this passage. And so I'm gonna pick it up in verse six. It says Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel. because Jesus had just told them, You're gonna be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. He's trying to tell them one thing that's super exciting, but just like many of us do, we're like not paying attention to the thing he's actually saying. They're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's all good and well. But what about this other thing? Are you gonna do that other thing yet? And he's like, guys, okay. So he goes on to verse seven and he's and he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Now when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up. And a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. Man, what an awesome scene. Can you imagine being there as Jesus? First of all, he's returned from the dead, so you're hanging out with someone who's already come back from the dead. That in and of itself wild. Can't say that probably many of us, if not most of us listening, maybe all of us, have ever encountered that being in the presence of someone who after being not just dead for a few minutes, but dead for days. had come back from the grave, having a conversation with said person. This person's letting them know of further future events. Some things are good that are not just going to happen, but that were going to happen specifically to them. Jesus was promising them not just an event, but a thing. He was promising them a person. He was like, hey, I'm sending guys I'm sending you a helper. I'm sending you someone who's going to come and who's going to help you. Spread this message. Spread the gospel. Who's gonna empower you to do all that you're called to do? And who is gonna take this thing further than we could on our own, and definitely further than you could on your own. And I almost could see them standing there like with this glast over look, as if Jesus hadn't even just said a very profound thing. And they're like, uh-huh. But are you gonna like is Israel gonna like be the main world domination yet? Are we taking over the world yet? I mean, that's literally basically the question they were asking. And we could kind of read this and perhaps look and maybe you're like me and chuckle a little. But at the same time, we do this all the time. God is talking to us about something, and he's like giving us very profound. insights into maybe a specific situation, but maybe it's not even into the specific situation. Maybe we are wanting specific insight on a situation we're navigating, and he's trying to show us the bigger picture. He's trying to whisper something to us on a larger scale. Not even whisper. He's just being very straightforward. And we're like, uh-huh, uh-huh. That sounds good. But hey, could you actually just address this one thing I really want to know about? And I almost can just see him looking and going, you you you don't really get it, do you? You don't understand. You're so focused on one event, but what I'm talking about is gonna be the thing that changes everything. So when we pull back from this story and we look at our own lives, what is the thing in your life that God's been talking to you about that maybe you're so fixated on an outcome for a specific situation in your life? That you haven't been able to hear the one thing he's been speaking to you about. That really is what's going to change. It's going to impact everything else, I'll say. Because this promise of the Holy Spirit was huge for not just these guys, but for everyone. We all needed the Holy Spirit. We all needed this time to happen, which of course we all know it ends up happening. I want to I will close out with this because what really stood out to me in this passage was verse seven, when Jesus said it's not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has put in his own authority. And in verse eight he says, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. I think even today we can be so fixated, as even the apostles were, on wanting to know, well, is this the time? Is this the time? Is this it? Is this when you're gonna do it? Is this the time you're gonna restore the kingdom of Israel? Is this the end days? Is this the time? Is this is this when Jesus is coming back? Is this gonna be the thing? And Jesus just he straight he very straight and plainly answered the question. It's not for you to know the time or even the season. But what did he say? He said what you need to be focused on is to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and you shall be witnesses. Our focus and our attention doesn't need to be so distracted by the times and the seasons and the current world events, but we need to be focused on our daily infilling of the power of the Holy Spirit and being witnesses. of Jesus in our families and our neighborhoods in our work and our schools and our communities and in going into all the world. That's what that's the invitation of Jesus. But some of us are so consumed with signs and times and all of these things, we're not even doing the thing Jesus has asked us to do. To be filled with the Holy Spirit and to go and walk in who he's called us to be and and that's to be his witnesses, to be his ambassadors. So that's my prayer today, that we would not be distracted by trying to be so focused on the thing that we want, the event or the outcome we're looking for, but that we would be able to be focused on what God is saying. And on a large scale, we clearly see in his word that the very big picture is God has given us his Holy Spirit to empower us daily to go and be witnesses in all the world. So may we do that today. That's not just a hey, I'm I'm working up the energy to do that. I'm working up the strength, I'm working up the courage. No, like it's a promise and he's given and it's a Lord, I receive that. I receive The gift, I receive the help of the Holy Spirit. My husband asked me daily, anything I can do to bless you today? Anything I can do to help you today? And that's what we need to do with the Holy Spirit. He's our helper. Every day, every moment he's asking, Anything I can do to help you today? What can I do to help you today? And we have to be willing to partner with him and allow him to help us today. So Lord, that's our prayer. Would we open our hearts today and say, would we wait for you? Holy Spirit, would we respond to your help? Would we invite you into our everyday moments and allow you to help us so that we can be filled with your power, not by our power. It's not our might, not our strength, not our will, but Holy Spirit, it's your power. It is your will that we wish to be seen and done on all the earth. And Lord, we want to be witnesses, to be your witnesses in all of the earth, in our families, in our communities, in our schools, and throughout all the world. So Holy Spirit, I thank you that you're ministering to us and through us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.