CALLED BY THE SPIRIT 2

Acts 2:39 – For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.

The Holy Spirit is the Lord’s vehicle to call us to Himself, He is the one who makes Jesus real to us. His presence becomes so attractive that I have to say He is irresistible. This is what drew me to the Lord at the beginning of my Christian experience. Jesus became so real to me and and so attractive, looking back at this season in my life I can see the Holy Spirit was setting me apart by revealing Jesus and His love to me. This is how God chooses us, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Here is how Peter describes the electing work of the Spirit in his first letter.

1 Peter 1:1-3 – Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

One of the radical turn of events in the early church was the sudden surge of Gentile converts. The main tool in this venture was the Apostle Paul. Suddenly thousands of Gentiles were turning to the Lord. Paul attributed this to the work of the Holy Spirit.Here is how He described it in Rom.15:15,16 – “But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

Thinking again about Peter’s words in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he said that the promise of the Spirit was for you and for generations to come. This is one of the most precious promises in the scripture, my sons and daughters, and their children will experience this wonderful work of the Spirit. Here are Peter’s words from the Passion Translation. Acts 2:39 – “For God’s promise of the Holy Spirit is for you and your families, for those yet to be born and for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

So let’s embrace this promise and yield to the work of the Spirit, soon the glory of the Lord will fill the whole world.