Wednesday Nights are BACK for Spring 2021 & Welcome to Week 2 of Teaching & Discussion. Join your D-Group Zoom on February 3rd at 6:30PM and every week following for virtual discussion. Next week, we will be welcoming students BACK to on campus D-Groups.
Student Devotional – Edie Hansen
Hey everyone, I hope you all are having a wonderful week! This week we will be focusing on Acts 1:1-26, so I would recommend you to get out your Bible, or your phone, and read that section so that you have some context. In this devotional I will be focusing on verses 4-5:
“4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)
Jesus says this after He has been crucified, and He has come back down to Earth to talk to His disciples. The first thing that I want to point out about this verse is that Jesus commanded His disciples to be patient because He had great things in store for them. They were unsure about what was going to happen next in their lives because Jesus was going away, but He assured them that He had a plan for them. I think that this is a great reminder that Jesus has a plan for us, even when it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.
In verse 5 I wanted to point out is that Jesus references getting ‘baptized with the Holy Spirit’. To understand why He references John the Baptist, I turned to Mathew 3:13-17. This section is about when John baptizes Jesus and:
“16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (NIV)
This shows how God loves Jesus and is pleased with Him when He is baptized and claims Him as His Son. We also get the opportunity to accept God into our lives. When we do this, God claims us as His children, just like when Jesus was baptized. This made me think: What does it mean to be “baptized by the Holy Spirit”? It means that God is equipping us to become a witness to Him, and spread His love and ministry. I hope that everyone has a great week and I would encourage you to show God’s love to everyone that you see!