‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (v8) Acts 1:1–8
I consistently need to remind myself that I live to love and serve God. I’m too easily consumed by the moment, my aspirations and desires. Yet, I’ll never find fulfilment and self-realisation outside of Jesus, and God’s purpose for my life. My primary point of encounter with God is in prayer, reflecting on all God says through His Word.
Tomorrow is Ascension Day, marking Jesus’ return to His Father. Here He stands and intercedes for us. Too often I become engrossed in life’s inessentials. But my one sure and certain hope, common to all the Church, is that Christ is risen.
However, we too require the power of God that those first disciples who turned the world upside down (or right side up) experienced. The Holy Spirit was poured out on those frightened disciples nine days after the Ascension.
No longer were they left alone to imagine their next steps. They were anointed to live lives devoted to Christ and the social, economic and psychological benefits available to society once Christ is exalted at its heart.
This is a message we all too easily compromise, seeking peace with our world. But instead, we are invited to make our peace with God and reveal the way to fullness of life.
As we join the disciples waiting for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit, let’s once more pray we become witnesses to God’s power and presence in all society.
Related Scripture to Consider: Psa. 2; Rom. 8:18–39; Heb. 6:1–12; Acts 2:42–47.
An Action to Take: Can we conceive the Church leading the world? Yet, without the Church living the gospel, society unravels and engages in perpetual civil war. Choose to live as Jesus commands, and so turn our world right-side up!
A Prayer to Make: ‘Lord, I choose to stand together with others and pray for Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven over the nine days from Ascension to Pentecost. Amen.’
Photo by Diana Simumpande on Unsplash
