Inviting God into your network
Read Acts 1:1-26, 2:1-4
(1:1-11) This provides the background to our study.
(1:12-13) The wonderful story of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit starts off with a group of Christians at a business meeting! A network of people, men and women, young and old, called together from all walks of life. They had a task in hand – to be witnesses to the whole world – the greatest commission ever given in all history.
(1:14-26) There was no conflict at that meeting – they were united in prayer and purpose (Acts 1:14). They knew what God wanted them to do – they were led by the Word of God (Acts 1:20) and were in communication with Him (Acts 1:24).
(2:1-4) But their network was not complete – in Acts 1:4 we see they were told to wait. To wait for the promise of the Father – the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So they waited until the day of Pentecost when the promise was fulfilled – the Holy Spirit came.
Today the Holy Spirit is here as our helper but we still need to invite Him into our lives (Revelation 3:20) to make the network whole. Without the Holy Spirit we may become divided, power powerless, and our goals become earthly and temporal. The Holy Spirit unites us in our decision-making and in our efforts so that our aims become heavenly and eternal.
(1:20) We often come to meetings with volumes of files and papers, even portable computers – but what about our Bibles?
(1:14) Communication with God is of the utmost importance; how can we ensure that prayer time at our meetings is a priority?
(1:4) In our enthusiasm we sometimes want to rush off and get the job done, but there are times when we are called to wait – are you facing a situation where perhaps you should wait on God for Him to act first?
To be effective, networks need to be well connected. What is connecting your network – something earthly and temporary or something heavenly and eternal? How can you encourage unity in your network?
Alan Robinson worked with MOPAWI in Honduras for four years as a Tearfund International Personnel Worker.