Today I was reading Acts chapter 1 and I want to share what I learned. Verse 8 says "But you will receive the 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." This is the first time that they have heard about being baptized in the Holy Spirit and at the same time Jesus is giving them THE calling of all callings. Immediately after he says this, they watch him float up to heaven and be hidden by a cloud. Just before he says this he tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the gift which is the Holy Spirit. I can only imagine that they were completely overwhelmed by his words and watching him fly away. I would have been. And yet they walked down the Mount of Olives, into Jerusalem and "joined together constantly in prayer." Basically they prayed together until they received the Holy Spirit and then they went out and preached the gospel. When I read this I was struck by their patience. They were given a calling and instead of jumping right into it, they took the time to wait on the Lord and pray together. I imagine they needed this time to pray for each other and encourage each other and really become unified. If they had gone straight into the work without praying first they may not have accomplished so much. This is a big lesson for me because I tend to be impatient. If I am told to do something, I just want to do it. But it is so important to stop and pray first and wait for the right timing. And if there is a team of people involved, it is so important to be unified before starting a project or calling. They "joined together constantly in prayer." Think about it.
There is so much more that I want to say on this but I have to sign off and I don't want to bore you! Read Acts, there is so much to learn in there!
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