God's Holy Fire: 'Receiving the Spirit'

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Merry Christmas!

We pray the Lord blesses you with the grace of Jesus' presence this Christmas!

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"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" [Paul] asked them. "No," they replied, "we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." ... Paul said, "John's baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus." As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
— Acts 19:2 NLT; Acts 19:4-6 NLT

Key Thought

Faith and baptism in the New Testament, and especially in the book of Acts, are tied to the gift of the Holy Spirit. As we saw yesterday (Romans 8:9), the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God's defining mark that we are adopted into his family. The promise of God's forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit are foundational blessings of our salvation and are received at our conversion (Acts 2:38-39) and continue to be ours. When we talk about the blessings of salvation and the grace of God, let's not forget to emphasize both the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38) and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptation and sin (Romans 8:13). Conversion to Jesus means being reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7).

Today's Prayer

Holy God, your grace toward me is amazing! That you forgave all of my sins when I came to Jesus is such a wonderful gift — to know that you forgave me and made me a new creation, pure and holy! Forgive me, dear Father, for the times I have remembered this grace and forgotten the additional gift of grace — the Holy Spirit — that Jesus sent to live in me. I look to the Spirit's holy presence to strengthen me and lead me in the way of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

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Illustration

Illustration of Acts 19:2 NLT; Acts 19:4-6 NLT — "John's baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus."

About This Devotional

God's Holy Fire is a daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Thoughts and Prayer for God's Holy Fire are written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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