After his
suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he
was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about
the kingdom of God. 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. For John
baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they
gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to
restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said
to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set
by his own authority. But you will receive 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.”
Acts 1:3-8 NIV
Acts 1:3-8 NIV
I
remember the day when I accepted Jesus into my heart. My family and I
were attending a little store front church in Wrightstown, New Jersey. It
was a small congregation and the people loved the Lord. I was in third
grade at the time, a young girl sucking her thumb.
One
Sunday evening I heard the pastor give the invitation to accept Jesus as Lord
and Savior. Notice I said, “I heard the Pastor”, because up to this point I
had not really payed attention. I'm not sure why this time was so
different from any other time, but I responded to the invitation. I
walked to the front of the church and prayed to receive Jesus as my Lord and
Savior, a totally new experience for me. As I prayed I felt something
happening to me. My body felt limp as if I was going to fall. I remember my legs feeling weak as if they had no strength and I was thinking," I am going to fall over" - but I did not fall. Something powerful was
holding me up. That evening I experienced the power of God and it
literally changed my life.
It
has been over 40 years and the power of God is still impacting my life. I
can say with certainty that God is real and the Holy Spirit is real. There
are many voices today who say that God is not real and outright reject Him, but
I say to you BELIEVE-do not abandon your faith.
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