Devotional Acts 2: Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit Reflection on Acts 2: the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter's sermon, and the birth of the first Christian communities. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Acts 2: Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

My devotional today was on chapter 2 of the Book of Acts, and this was what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, the Holy Spirit falls upon the apostles when they are all gathered together as Jesus promised them. Still in Jerusalem, Peter preaches to the citizens of Judea about the resurrection of Jesus, declaring that Jesus is the Christ prophesied by David who would come from his house, and exhorting the people to be converted to Christ through baptism. Three thousand people are converted right after his preaching. Finally, the converts began to live according to the word of Jesus taught by the apostles.

Observations

These were my observations.

1. God’s promise, through Jesus Christ, of the arrival of the Holy Spirit is for us (Christians). As we saw in some past devotionals, when Jesus prayed His high priestly prayer, He shared the promise God made to Him: to send the Holy Spirit to comfort us, teach us, convict us of sin, and reveal God’s righteousness and judgment. And Peter, in his sermon to the people of Judea, also mentioned that the promise of the Holy Spirit is for us, using David’s words to illustrate to the people that Jesus is God’s Christ and that we must all repent of our sins in Him so that we may obtain salvation. In this chapter, we can also see the powers that the Holy Spirit gives us. For all the apostles, on the day of Pentecost, received the Holy Spirit and various spiritual gifts (e.g., speaking in tongues, wisdom of the Word, the fruits of the Spirit, working miracles, wonders, and signs). Furthermore, we realize that God’s plan is for all of us to receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior through baptism. Only with the Holy Spirit in us can we live our lives as true Christians. That is also why blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin. For when we completely reject the Holy Spirit and His work in us, we consequently also reject Jesus Christ and God. That is to say, we reject the Holy Trinity.
2. A Christian should lead their life with joy, gratitude, love, and humility. For we saw that the newly converted in Christ began living their lives according to the word of Jesus Christ. All who believed in Jesus persevered in the faith, sold their possessions to help those in need, shared bread from house to house, gathered with other believers, and led their lives with joy and gratitude praising God. These are examples of conduct that we should follow as Christians. If all Christians truly lived this way, we would spread the Gospel much more rapidly and attract more souls for the Holy Spirit to convert.