Having The Power

(This was written as a research paper to help a friend with her homework for class. Some is written by her and some by myself.)

ACTS 1:8 (AMP)
“But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.”

 It is safe to say that people like to have power. We want power. However, according to the scripture, we need power. Not just any power, but we need the power of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s desire for his children to be powerful and nothing less. I don’t think that I’ve heard anyone pray for weakness in their life. The Holy Spirit is an enabler; you can define Him as the power of God. The only way that we can become powerful is when we finally accept Him in our lives. Another way that the Holy Spirit enables his children is to help us to be what He wants us to be.



The scripture refers to say that we are to be witnesses. Although going out and doing is all good, being that witness is so much more. How can we be more of a witness rather than do, we use by authority the power of the Holy Spirit.



According to Darrell L. Bock, in Acts, “The disciples calling concern and mission are not to focus on the timing of the end. Rather they are to receive the enablement that God will give in the Spirit. They will be Jesus’ witnesses from Jerusalem to the end of the earth. The Spirit is tied to power which refers here to being empowered to speak boldly by testifying to the message of God’s work through Jesus.”



What he is saying here is for the disciples and us not to worry about when the end is but to receive the Holy Spirit and with that, empowerment. Acts 1:8 sets out clearly what the church is to be doing until Jesus returns. (Bible Gateway Commentary)



“Through a command-promise, Jesus tells his disciples of the resources, content and scope of their primary task. The essential resource is God the Holy Spirit, who will come on them at Pentecost as he did on Mary at the incarnation.” (Bible Gateway Commentary)



Jesus is telling us exactly what to do. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to be our comforter, our guide, and our power giver. We cannot just sit back and expect the Holy Spirit to do only His part; we have our part as well.