Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

19 June 2025

Reading From Acts 4:23-37

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”—Acts 4:31

After the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the victorious resurrection from the tomb, the indwelling of the Spirit was made available to the followers of the Lord. In John 20:22 the Scripture says, “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

This intimate scene depicted at the end of the book of John was not the end of the disciples’ spiritual journey and so it is with us. God isn’t finished with us when we are born again. He wants to grow and progress to become more like Him from glory to glory. He desires to bless us with more power, passion and depth of insight to accomplish His marvelous with upon the Earth. God blesses us for His glory and for our good.

After the original followers of the Savior were in-dwelt by the Spirit, He had further instruction for them. This is recorded in Acts 1:4-5, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” From this we learn that while the Spirit had washed them spiritually in the blood of Jesus after the atonement, there was more. More love, more power, more glory. They already had the Spirit, but they were told to wait for more.

This waiting was not passive, it was active. Christ’s followers were faithful to meet together in earnest prayer. Acts 1:14 reveals, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” Their prayer meetings were not half hearted or sporadic, they were intently seeking God and His will for their lives.

Hebrews 11:6 is helpful on our journey as it gives this wisdom, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” We must believe and trust that as we diligently seek more from the Lord, He will be faithful in His time to reward our efforts as He works through us. We are enlightened by Philippians 2:13, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Their earnest prayers were answered on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:4 says, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The purpose of this empowerment was not simply for them to exercise flashy gifts for their own betterment, but to function in the power and passion and insight of the Spirit as they obeyed the Great Commandment and fulfilled the Great Commission. As Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “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.”

Peter and John were among those Jesus breathed the Spirit into, they were among those present on the day of Pentecost, and they were also there in Acts 4 meeting together with other believers and they were filled with Spirit once again! I have noticed as I interact with other Christians, some have an apathetic attitude regarding their spiritual progression. “I received the Spirit when I was born again, so I’m good. I don’t need anything else.”

But from what we learn from John in his account of the gospel and Luke in his record of the acts of the Spirit through the apostles, we now understand that we become temples of the Spirit when we are born again, we receive power, passion and insight through the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but we need to keep seeking the Lord for more of Him and all that He desires for us to experience. Our cups overflow again and again if we seriously seek Him with sincere and intense conviction. May we let go of all pretense and preconceived notions as surrender to Him in humble worship. Don’t be afraid or uncomfortable; God is trustworthy. Let go and let God.

“Heavenly Father, we seek You, the Giver of good gifts. We want what You want for us. Guide us into all truth by Your Spirit. Fill us once again to overflowing with more of Your love, more power, more of You in our lives. As we seek You, help us to put away distractions and focus on You. Soften and open our minds and hearts to You. Flow through us, Holy Spirit as mighty, rushing waters! Flow through us and into the lives of people around us that they would see Jesus glorified in us and be inspired to know and glorify Him in turn. We exalt Your Name on high for only You are worthy of all the praise and all the glory! In Your strong and mighty Name I pray these things, Amen.”

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”—John 16:12-15