Daily Devotional for Tuesday, January 17th

The Disciples in Samaria Empowered

Nothing happens in this universe that is not caused by or empowered by something else. Ultimately, only God is the original uncaused cause. Anything else that happens, happens in response to some other thing. From the compounds that provide energy in individual cells in humans,  to gasoline providing energy to run cars, everything needs something to empower it. Imagine a car with no fuel. What good is it? The answer is, no good at all. It is nothing but an inert collection of parts!

In our devotional passage, we see that provides spiritual empowerment to believers. We really should say, “who,” provides it, rather than what. The Holy Spirit is one of the persons of triune Godhead; the Holy Spirit is God. Also of note hear is that this was a transitional time for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. At this time, the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers was sometimes still an event that was separate from their salvation by Jesus Christ. As we know now, believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the moment of their salvation.

That is astounding, is it not? Given the nature of the Triune God, this means we are indwelt by God Himself! Can we truly understand this? No, we cannot; yet, that is what God’s Word teaches us. What does this mean to us in a practical sense? God spoke the universe into existence; that is the power we have dwelling in us. Does that mean we can just turn on the Holy Spirit and do what we want? No, it never means that, even though some teach that. What it does mean is that we are empowered to do whatever God has called us to do. The question is not whether we have the power, but whether we answer God’s call.

Just a Thought: At salvation, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit in His entirety; we do not receive Him in bits and pieces.

Wally Fry