Yesterday’s sermon directly connects with today’s devotion. If you missed it, I included the link to it at the bottom of this devotion, and for those of you who are reading directly from the website, you can find it under the Past Sermons.
So, Pastor Mary gave us this reminder: “if your heart is not right, and you are not saturated with God’s Holy Spirit then you have missed the best part of salvation”! Baptism alone does not save us; baptism is merely an invitation for you and me to live in the salvation that Jesus offers. But how you and I walk out our salvation is up to our own free will. If we are going to live a true Christian life, one that is sold out for Jesus, that requires that you and I willingly submit and allow the Holy Spirit to do a continuous work to transform our hearts each and every day. We need the baptismal water of the Holy Spirit flowing through us at all times, and as Pastor Mary said, “you need to be so saturated with the Holy Spirit that no matter where you go God is just leaking out of you in every direction, and that’s what you need to focus on.”
In today’s passage we find the Holy Spirit being poured out onto the Gentiles. Just prior to this moment, in the previous parts of the chapter, we see the Holy Spirit working on Cornelius and Peter separately and how it then brings them together and continues to work. It seems that the Holy Spirit was steadily working on each of their hearts, and with Peter it appears that it was cutting away the hardness of his heart towards those he had been taught to avoid. I believe God used and blessed both Cornelius and Peter, so that earthly barriers could be torn down and His Word could be heard through them by the ministering of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:44-48 (NLT)
The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
44 Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.
Then Peter asked, 47 “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. Help us, Lord, to not get in the way of what You want to do in and through us with Your Spirit. Forgive us when we quiet Your Spirit. We want Your Spirit to be alive and active in our daily lives. We call for the saturation of Your Holy Spirit within us. We ask for all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.