Month: October 2023

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV) 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

As the effects of what took place began to be realized, there came a great spiritual awakening among both Jews and Gentiles.

Peter spoke to the crowds who had gathered, and his words were tremendously received, as three thousand were added to the church (body of Christ) that day.

It also became clear that the Holy Spirit was not just for the Jews who believed, but also for the uncircumcised (Gentiles), as we see later in Acts 10:44-46, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles, and they spoke in tongues and magnified God.

One other point that needs to be made is the fact that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not just for the Apostles, as some might say.

He was poured out onto many who were not Apostles, as is confirmed in several places in the word of God, including Acts 10:47.

Acts 10:47 (NKJV) 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

The people who experienced this outpouring of the Holy Spirit were everyday people who were not Apostles, nor were they previously disciples. This shows us that there is no prejudice about who can receive the Spirit.

As these events played out, it become obvious that the Holy Spirit was becoming a major part of what God was doing as part of His new covenant with believers.

It was also clear that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit was empowering all who received Him, as the hearts of thousands upon thousands of people were changed and many miracles were taking place.

It is important for us to understand that what happened in the early church was not intended to stop.

The Holy Spirit is just as alive today as He was then. And His ability to breathe fire into the lives of believers is still valid.

Why, then, do we see such a lack of Holy Spirit-inspired activity today? Why are we not experiencing an abundance of miracles such as what we witnessed in the book of Acts?

That’s a good question to dig into tomorrow. Please be sure to join us then.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV) 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

As Jesus met with the disciples and other believers after His resurrection, He clearly directed them to go to Jerusalem and wait there.

What were they to wait for?

The promise of the Father which you have heard from me; the Holy Spirit with whom you shall be baptized “not many days from now”.

Jesus had mentioned this promise to His disciples previously in other verses as well.

It is important to note that Jesus didn’t spend His time after being raised from the dead rehashing many of the things He had taught to make sure they understood them.

Instead, He showed Himself to them to prove He was alive. And as He prepared to leave to be with the Father, He commanded them to go and wait for the promise He had previously spoken about.

His followers obeyed Him. And several days later the Holy Spirit fell upon them, changing the course of humanity forever.

The 120 people who were there together were never the same after that day.

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV) 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Suffice it to say that this was likely something none of them expected.

It was not that they doubted what Jesus told them would happen.

But the way the Holy Spirit fell upon them was something they could not possibly have been prepared for.

Fall upon them He did, though. And the impact of this event spilled over into the surrounding area.

More to come on Monday…

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Luke 24:49 (NKJV) 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Power.

Let’s discuss this important word in a little more depth than it would appear to warrant.

As we left off yesterday, we had just begun to talk about the fact that the Holy Spirit empowers us.

Today, we will dig in and uncover what that means.

In the Bible there were four different words used for power.

Dunamis: energy, power, might, great force, great ability.

Exousia: delegated authority.

Ischuros: great strength, (especially physical).

Kraits: dominion authority.

Dunamis is the word used for power in the verse above (Luke 24:49).

When Jesus made the promise of being endued with power (dunamis) from on high, He was referring to the greatest of the 4 different power words.

Dunamis is used 117 times in the New Testament. It is distinctly different than the other three power words.

Dunamis is an indwelling, inherent force. As it flows out of a person, it gives them the ability to do supernatural things that are otherwise impossible. Miracles flow out of dunamis power.

It could be described as divine power that overcomes all resistance. Nothing can withstand it.

A related word would be dynamite.

Jesus gave us a walking, real-life illustration of dunamis power in action.

The (dunamis) power in Jesus resulted in irrefutable, incredibly dramatic transformations in anyone He encountered who allowed Him to touch their lives.

This should be the norm for the Spirit-filled and Spirit-led believer.

This is the power that the Holy Spirit brings to the lives of every believer who receives Him.

By now, we should be seeing much more clearly why we need to better understand who the Holy Spirit is and why we desperately need Him to be active in our lives.

More about this tomorrow!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Matthew 10:7-8 (NKJV) 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

As Jesus prepared the disciples for His departure, He began to teach them about what would transpire.

While He did not give them specific details as to how it would all play out, He assured them that that God would equip them by giving them the Holy Spirit; their Helper.

We need to take a closer look at what Jesus meant when He referred to the Holy Spirit as the Helper.

The most obvious reason for calling Him such was that He would in fact help them, in more ways than they could even comprehend at that moment.

Just as importantly, He would bring them comfort.

The Greek word used for Helper in John 14:26, which we quoted at the opening of yesterday’s devotional, was Parakletos.

Parakletos literally means comforter. So, not only is the Holy Spirit our Helper, but He is also our Comforter.

He empowers, He reminds, He guides, He comforts.

This is no small matter.

As believers, it is vital that we understand the Holy Spirit’s importance in our lives.

He was not just sent to empower and help the original disciples, nor just the twelve apostles. He was sent for all believers, to help us, comfort us, empower us, and guide us.

That means you and me. He was sent for every true believer.

As believers, it is utterly impossible for us to live fruitful lives without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Anything less is merely human intellect (head knowledge), trying to walk out what the Bible teaches based on our own finite understanding and feeble human strength, which falls far short of what God desires for us.

We have been commissioned to live lives of power and significance. Doing so based on our own capabilities is impossible. It cannot be done.

But with the Holy Spirit, we can do everything that God has called us to do. And we can do it to the fullest.

Why?

Because the Holy Spirit empowers us. He gives us the power needed to glorify God in ways that human flesh cannot do.

Tomorrow let’s talk about that power.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

John 14:26 (NKJV) 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Now that we have firmly established (in yesterday’s devotional) the Holy Spirit’s presence in the Old Testament, let’s move ahead and dig into His presence and His work in the New Testament.

One of the first undeniable appearances of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament was at the baptism of Jesus.

Luke 3:22 (NKJV) 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

This verse is also a perfect example of the Trinity, where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all present.

Looking back to the verse at the beginning of this devotional, we see that Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you”.

This was critical for them.

It not only assured them that He (the Holy Spirit) would empower them for the difficult journey ahead, but that He would also give them everything they needed to write the various epistles that God had placed within them to write.

Those epistles would be collected and canonized into the New Testament that you and I rely so heavily on today. The revelation and understanding that can be gleaned from them is nothing short of miraculous.

They are truly God-breathed.

Jesus told the disciples of great feats that they and other believers would accomplish after His ascension to heaven. These were all made possible solely by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here is what he said:

Mark 16:17 (NKJV) 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

He was clearly preparing them for a work that would be unlike anything they had ever seen or ever believed could be accomplished through them.

And it would all be carried out by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Helper whom Jesus had promised would come.

This is starting to get interesting!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for more.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Genesis 1:2 (NKJV) 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Welcome back. Let’s forge ahead and learn more about the Holy Spirit!

While the word, “hovering”, usually implies something holding a fixed position in mid-air, without any horizontal or vertical movement, the connotation in the verse immediately above is that He was sweeping or moving rather than staying stationary.

Some might describe the Holy Spirit as like the “executive arm” of the Trinity. The Father speaks and the Holy Spirit is the Agent by Whom things happen to fulfill what the Father has spoken.

So, during the creation process, the Holy Spirit was busy, to say the least.

Think of the Holy Spirit as the conduit through which creation took place!

Jesus (the Son) was also present and active in the creation process, as noted in several scriptures throughout the Bible. This creates a beautiful picture of the Trinity working in perfect unity.

John 1:1-3 (NKJV) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

That scripture alone proves the presence of Jesus at the beginning, playing an equal role in the creation of all that we see, because Jesus is referred to as “the Word” in several places in the word of God.

Again, we see the unity of the Trinity in full operation.

In the Old Testament, there are three instances of the phrase, “Holy Spirit”.

The prophet Joel specifically mentioned God’s Spirit in a well-known Old Testament prophecy.

Joel 2:28 (NKJV) 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

In the book of Numbers (11:17), God spoke with Moses and told him that He would “take of the Spirit that is upon you” and “put the same upon” the seventy elders who were chosen to help Moses lead the people of Israel.

And look at what happened when the Holy Spirit was placed upon those seventy elders. They prophesied!

Numbers 11:25 (NKJV) 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.

We are beginning to see a common thread when it comes to the presence of the Holy Spirit; good and powerful things happen.

We will continue with more tomorrow. See you then.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

John 14:16-17 (NKJV) 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

The Holy Spirit.

Who is He?

What is His purpose?

What does He mean to us, and what is His role in our relationship with God?

First, we need to clarify the critically important, often overlooked fact that the Holy Spirit is He, not it. We should always refer to the Holy Spirit as He, not as a thing or an object.

He is the third person in the Trinity (triune God, the Godhead); the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

With that said, let us move on!

The Holy Spirit has always been present as part of the Godhead.

Despite not being as frequently mentioned in the Old Testament as in the New Testament, His presence was still critically important. And His activity was seen in more ways than most people realize even though He was not specifically mentioned by name.

In Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created”, in the the original Hebrew texts, the word used for God was “Elohim” (אֱלֹהִים).

Elohim is a uni-plural noun, indicating plural persons functioning as one. This is another clear indication of the presence of all three members of the Godhead in the beginning, including the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

He was there in the beginning, and He was a major part of the creation process.

Everything in this message so far has been written to give proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit since the beginning.

It is critical for us to understand this if we are to fully understand and appreciate His function and His operation as a whole and in our lives as individuals.

His power is more than we can comprehend or understand with our finite minds.

With this foundation laid, we will discuss this more tomorrow.

We hope you will join us.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!