Discipleship Training by Heather ComptonWeek 15

Turn your Bibles to Acts 1

Jesus spent forty days alive before He ascended into heaven. He took some time to give them instructions on how to be successful in the years to come. He explained to them the Holy Spirit (His spirit) was going to be given to them. We see in verse eight that Jesus details that when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they would receive POWER! 

The Holy Spirit has many jobs, but the first thing is to be your power supply!  You can have as many lamps as will fit in your house, but without power, you will still live in darkness. The Holy Spirit gives us the POWER we need to make it through this world victoriously. This is exactly why the devil fights so many people when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit.  He wants you weak!  Our pastor has been teaching a dynamic, easy-to-understand series on the Holy Spirit.  Check out our YouTube channel (Resurrection Life Church-Clarksville, Indiana) and watch them all (3/8/23, 3/15/23, 3/29/23, 4/26/23, 5/3/23, 5/10/23, 5/31/23, 6/7/23)

Internal Reflection:  Take a quick look at your life. What areas are missing His power?  How can you allow the Holy Spirit to help you in those areas? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We will be looking more into the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the weeks to come. 

Let’s touch on one more thing mentioned in this chapter, suicide.  We see Judas had to be replaced as he walked away from the ministry and then killed himself.  This wasn't Jesus’ will for his life.  During the death of Jesus, we see two disciples betray Jesus.  Judas gave Him up to be killed, but then Peter denied he even knew Jesus three times.  Both people were wrong, and we see both were deeply saddened by the events. Both had reason to lose hope. Both had reason to end their lives, but only one did.  We see Peter found his way back to Jesus, repented, and their relationship was restored. Judas never came back to Him. Jesus isn’t a respecter of persons, and not one mistake is greater than another. You are never too far gone for HIS love to save you and turn your life around. 

The lies are always loud, and the truth is found in your quiet moments with HIM. Don't allow a lie to take you off course, to torment your mind, or have you contemplate ending your life.  You matter!  Jesus died for you and loves you as much as anyone else.  His desire is for you to walk free from this! If you need help, please feel free to reach out to me. We see toward the end of the passage, a replacement disciple was named.  Who was it? _________________

Jesus doesn't want to replace you. He wants to use you!  Someone needs your testimony!

Memory Verse: (take time to memorize) Acts 1:8a

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.