Email from Abiding Place Daily Bread – May 27, 2025 (The Third Day – Genesis 1:9-13) Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the farthest reaches of the Earth. The Holy Spirit Given to the Church – Divine Empowerment God designed and provided for the Church to walk in the heavenly and divine power of the Holy Spirit. The Church is supposed to be the fullness of God, the body of Christ revealed on Earth, and the Holy Spirit is the One to give the heavenly ability to do just that (Ephesians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 12:27). The Holy Spirit has come to empower the individuals in the Church to reveal the ministry of Jesus on Earth. These are the gifts which reveal He was indeed raised from the dead and is the One Who is doing the work through our lives. Once again, the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers is to be so abundant it is like rivers flowing out of us (John 7:38-39, 1:16, 14:12; Luke 24:49). The divine empowerment for those that believe were categorically named as: words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discerning of spirits, miracles, gifts of healings, faith, prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues, signs and wonders, and demonstrations of the Holy Spirit. Jesus summarized the miraculous ability given to those who would believe as the works that He did and greater works (John 14:12; Titus 2:14; Ephesians 2:10). He also summarized the miracles of the believers as: casting out devils, speaking with new tongues, power over poisons, and the empowerment to lay hands on the sick for healing (Mark 16:17-18). All of these miracles were observed in the life of those who followed Jesus in the book of Acts. From the raising of the dead, to power over the most poisonous viper, all were witnessed in the lives of those in the Church (Romans 15:19; Acts 28:5-6). All of these are the divine gifts and abilities resident in the Church and given to us by the Holy Spirit according to His will. Additionally, there is no reason to believe there was a special and unique working of the Holy Spirit for the church at Corinth different from all the other churches. God made all one body, one faith, one Church. What He did for one church He did for all. Every scripture written to the Church was for everyone for all time. We are all baptized into one body by one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one expectation of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4–6). The Church is the body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is the life of that body, and we have all been graced with the honor of being part of it (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27; Colossians 1:24; James 2:26). Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 5/27/2025
