Last Sunday, Elim was blessed with Pastor Gary Jasmund from the USA, who gave us a marvelous insight into the fire of the Holy Spirit in us. His main Scriptures were taken from the Book of Acts which contains the evidence of the working of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of God is eternal life of Christ in us. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), whose most powerful representation is that He is burning away our “flesh”. Church is eternal family, we are siblings. We must honor God with our body and life (Romans12:1) Faith proves itself by obedience, because God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32)
In Acts 2, the people were all together, although of different descent (languages). After the Holy Spirit convicted the people, which each of them heard in their own language, they asked, “What must we do?”(vs.37). The answer was to repent (vs.38). To have a right standing with God (Rev.2:3-5) we must love one another (John 13:34) and serve (John 13:1-8, James 2:20)
Revelation 3:19-20 Repentance restores our relationship with God. Without repentance, that is, if we don’t surrender our own thinking/understanding, we quench the fire of the Holy Spirit. God will remove it.
Acts 6:1-6 talks about the first disappointment and misunderstanding that entered the church, and how it was solved. The apostles summoned the disciples together; then, responsible leaders were chosen who were full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. These men had the fire of the Holy Spirit and served the needy. The followers of Christ collaborated with each other, because they loved one another. This resulted in a rapid growth of the number of disciples and spread of the Gospel (vs.7).
🌍❤