The Gift!

The Gift!

Acts 2:38 AMP

[38] And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We read of the promise of a special gift that was promised by Jesus just before He left the earth. We read of the account of the Holy Spirit coming on the apostles, in fulfilment of that promise. We then see men who had been afraid in the recent past, due to events of the cross, the pain of losing the Master that they had known, the general hostility of the Jewish leaders of that time, and the non-challance of the crowd which did not even know what it had been given. Whilst God was at work in the lives of the people gathered in the upper room, there were people who were focused on power, position, possession and performance. What a mess life would have been without Jesus. 

The gift came, and timid men became bold. Men who once denied knowing Jesus stood up in front of people and spoke so boldly of the Master they had all abandoned at His hour of need. Men who had been witnesses to His power, the miracles that He performed, the amazing lessons that He taught, and the lives that He touched, were all glad to speak to other people about Him. It takes someone with personal experience to be able to speak so boldly about what he has seen, felt, heard or personally encountered. You cannot fake the experience. Someone else cannot tell you about it. The question then is: 'Do I know Him on a personal level?

The verse above is from the first Sermon of Peter after the Holy Spirit had come. He spoke about Jesus; a simple message, but backed up by the power of God. This is the impact of the Holy Spirit. He takes the very ordinary and turns it into the amazingly extraordinary. He takes simple words, and after breathing on them, He uses the vessel and the words to change the lives of men. He convicts the hearts of men, and turns their hearts back to Himself. That is the clear message in the verse above. God cannot work with a heart that He has not first worked on. For it to be a vessel in His hand, the heart has to repent, and turn to Him. 

It is the sign of total surrender; repentance means I recognize the folly of my old ways, and know that only God can keep me focused on what He wants me to do for Him. The Holy Spirit is the gift from God for the times we are living in now. The Holy Spirit will not compete for attention with sin in my life. He wants my all, so He can also give me His all. The clear message for us all is: 'do not let the free gift of God go to waste in your life'. God will not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill, but He will definitely demand an account from me for what I do with this gift. I surrender now, so I can reign with Him. I reject Him now; it is eternal loss. God's time of favour is here.