READING: Luke 24
“Stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”
Luke 24:49
Jesus was preparing to return to His Father, but not before He challenged His disciples to proclaim the gospel “to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). What most captures my attention today, though, is the next command from Jesus: “As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high”(Luke 24:49). Jesus gave His followers an incredible task (an impossible one, actually) – but He did not leave them alone in the work. Instead, He told them not to take a step from Jerusalem until God’s power overwhelmed them and empowered them through His Spirit.
God gives us what we need to do His work, but I wonder how many of us still operate in our own power. I’m most susceptible to that temptation because I don’t like to wait – I want to get at the work now, and I sometimes go ahead of God’s plan. You would think that I would know better by this point of my Christian journey, but I’m still seeking to grow in this area. I want to follow Him with great joy (Luke 24:52), always following His timing and operating in His power.
ACTION STEPS:
- Evaluate whether you at times operate in your own power. If you do, confess your tendency to God.
- Determine that this day, you will intentionally and continually seek God’s power through His Spirit who lives in you.
PRAYER: “Jesus, thank You that You are the center of the story, including in the Old Testament. I commit myself to follow You fully today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Review and catch up day