Fan the Flame - A Journey Through ActsSample

Day 1 - Jesus' Last Words & Ascension

After spending 3 years teaching His disciples about the Kingdom of God, Jesus tells them in Acts 1 to wait. Don’t start doing what I have been doing. Don’t copy what you have seen me do. Don’t share what I have done for you. JUST WAIT.

For 3 years, they had heard Jesus teach. They had seen Jesus heal. They had watched Jesus die, and they were witnesses to His empty tomb. Now they were eating with the resurrected Jesus and listening to his final instructions. If anyone was qualified to share the good news that the Son of God had come to earth and died on a cross as a sacrifice for sin to reconcile humankind to God and had conquered the grave to make a way for all people to receive everlasting life, it was these guys.

But Jesus said, "Wait, until you… 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.”

I want to remind us today that we no longer wait to be Jesus' witnesses. If you have put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. You have received the power to be Jesus’ witness to the people in your world.

Two of my greatest fears growing up were public speaking and telling friends and strangers that I believed in Jesus. I don’t think I am on my own there. Many of us hold some fear of speaking in front of crowds and many of us worry about our ability to share the gospel or how people will respond if we do. The good news for most of you is that you don’t have to become proficient at public speaking, but if you do know the love and forgiveness of Jesus in your life, you are called to be Jesus’ witness to the world around you.

I remember one night as a 19-year-old, surrendering all of my fears and failures to Jesus and asking Him to fill me afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit. I began to receive a new joy and confidence to share the good news of Jesus with others. I remember standing in line for the toilet at an event, and I just had to tell the bloke in front of me how good Jesus is. It certainly wasn’t eloquent, and it was a little bit awkward, given the venue, but I couldn’t help it. I was just so excited about what Jesus had done for me that I had to tell someone. I don’t know what impact that had on his life, but one of the greatest fears in my life began to dwindle a bit that night.

We are not all called to be preachers, but we are all called to be witnesses of Jesus' love and forgiveness. It is not substantial knowledge or superior eloquence that qualifies you to be His witness in the world, but simply the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit living within you.

Don’t wait any longer to be His witness. There is a world out there that is waiting to hear the Good News about Jesus before it is too late. As we begin our Fan the Flame devotional series today, why don’t you take a moment to surrender your fears and failures to Jesus and ask Him to fill you afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witness in the world today.

Written by Jason Elsemore