Acts 1:8-14 You Will Receive Power

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.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.  When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.  They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

It is important for us to remember that Jesus commissioned the disciples and us to be His witnesses in the concluding imperative in the Gospel of Matthew.  Now Jesus is equipping the saints to carry out His command.  He is doing this by the sending of the Spirit of God.  It is by the work of the Spirit that men can overcome the power of the world and live out their lives, even now, in the Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus brought to us by making God to live and dwell among us. Our response is to believe in the Son of God and our duty is to proclaim Him until He comes again, so that on That Day He may declare to You "Well done, good and faithful servant," instead of Him saying to many, "Depart from Me, I never knew you."

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, lift up my spirit to be a spirit of faith and pride in You and all that You have done and are capable of doing.  Empower the saints to acknowledge You before men so that You will acknowledge us before Your Father who is in Heaven.  Though Heaven is His home, the Kingdom of Heaven is with us even now.  I thank You Jesus, for the eternal life You have given me.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.