2nd Acts chapter 2 and 3.

Hi there.
How's things going for you?
Are you feeling a bit stressed and a bit worn out by the things you've got to do?
Well my friend, as much as it sounds cliche, you're not alone.
Because Christ is with you, in your body, and heart.
So what am I going to talk to you today on?
Well this amazing piece of scripture, found in the second book of Acts, chapter 2.

My thoughts are with those who are going through a hard time.

Today I want to talk to you, about the holy spirit.

What is  the holy spirit?

Peter, is the disciple of Christ, in fact he was the one who denied Christ, but then all of sudden out of that, he was made stronger.

Have a look at this passage.

Verse 1
"When the day of Pentecost came they were altogether,  in one place. Suddenly a found like a blowing of a violent wind came, from heaven and filled the whole house, where they were sitting, they saw tongues of fire, and they spoke in other languages  as the Spirit enabled them''

Can you believe it?
We read in Genesis, that the spirit of God hovered over the earth, and we read through Exodus that the Spirit lead the Israelites through the desert, and now in modern day Israel, here was the Spirit of God, giving the gift to them, speaking in different languages.
That everyone knew.

When you have communion with God, you are never the same, and Peter knew this, in fact he addressed the crowd.

After people joked that they were drunk.

He gives this amazing speech, that everyone listens to.

My question is,

Is the holy spirit with you?
Impacting on your life?
Are you changed like Peter, addressing the crowd?

Are we bold enough to step out of the boat, like Peter and follow Christ?

Jesus, saw his faith, he saw how enthusiastic he was for Christ,  and Christ sees that.
He sees how authentic Peter was no matter how foolish his  thoughts might have been.

Peter didn't stop there, because he had the fire of the spirit of God with him, and in him, and the Holy Spirit is in us.
Peter didn't stop there, he spoke to the Jewish people, he  was just the same and out of the Holy Spirit, in Peter, others believed in Christ.

They sold all that they had, and gave the money to the people who needed it.

They lived in faith, knowing God, and he supplied them with all that they needed, and God added to their number daily, those who believed in Christ.

Something in me, feels so excited about this passage, because God meets us right where we are, if we're praying for a good thing to happen, he will answer, if we're praying for strength we will find it.
See, God doesn't need a big bright new church building, he doesn't need our coffee machines to stay away during prayer, he doesn't need our good intentions.

What I'm trying to say, is, God is with you wherever you are.

He is in that exam, in that assignment, in that struggle, in that constantly getting told that you're not good enough, or fast enough, or bossy enough.

And yes we need to stick to our guns, and fight, but if it's just  useless words, just hang in there.
 because while it might seem like you're loosing, your quietly winning the battle.

What the enemy wants us to do, is to get really angry, and then act of out of that anger,  I was angry, silently for along time,  you know that anger that melts away, and you can't be joyful, because the enemy has that grip on you.

Anger also runs in our family, so I had to come up with ways to just vent, it, and I found that in the garden, and in my cat who died recently.

The Holy spirit also drives out anger and fear, because  the spirit of God is Jesus.

And we are blessed in our life because we still believe even though we can't see him.

Peter also knew this, because living in Israel at the time, people were pretty angry, and sometime to the point of being stoned, and put in prison, much like it is, now for the churches around the world getting persecuted.

They can't get in their cars and go to church, people can't pray, in their houses, people can't even pray with friends in public spaces.
And here we are in our new church buildings, and forgetting that Christ is in us, and I wonder how long it will take for a new church building to become dull and boring.
We have a drug problem in our city, we have domestic violence, sometimes in our own churches.

This isn't the time to hide behind closed doors.

Peter, spoke the truth, and out of that truth, people, came to know Christ, he wasn't pushy, he was patient, he only had told them and the holy spirit did the rest.

My friend if you're wondering if the spirit is still around today, it is.

Christ is in you, and he is igniting you, in your dreams, in what you want to do with your life.

My encouragement is keep dreaming don't give up.

The holy spirit, didn't die down, Peter went from strength to strength, and then died, but in that time he healed others, and God lived in others, and they shared what the knew.

Even if it's just a word of encouragement, to  someone who needs to know that they are doing a good job, or help that enemy, or understand something that others are going through.

Whatever your hand finds to do, be it writing, or your job, no matter how mundane it seems, or that care work, that seems just never seems to let up, know that Jesus cares for you.

God is good all the time, and all the time we serve a good God.

May the same Holy Spirit that was with Peter be with you.

Chloe