About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman

Home Page

Holy Spirit Empowered Productivity

Acts 1:4 reads: 

"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."

Jesus commanded His disciples to "not leave" Jerusalem but "wait" for the gift His Father promised, which is the Holy Spirit.  Our English verbs "do not leave" and "wait," infinitive Greek verbs, suggest in part that waiting is a purpose driven passive action.  Waiting was meant to accomplish a specific goal, which in this case was the Holy Spirit's entrance into the disciples' lives.

Now read 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."

Acts 1:8 tells us that the action of the Holy Spirit entering the disciples' lives was also a purpose driven action.  It would empower the disciples to be effective representatives of Jesus.  Such purpose driven actions performed by the Holy Spirit are meant to enable a Holy Spirit empowered productivity in the lives of Christians. 

In Acts 2:3 and 4 we note that the Holy Spirit entered the very being of the disciples when He came on them and filled them, after which they began "to speak" in tongues.  The verb "speak," another infinitive Greek verb, led to Peter being a verbal witness of Jesus resulting in the salvation of three thousand people.  The entrance of the Holy Spirit into the lives of the disciples was a purpose driven action that led to a Holy Spirit empowered productivity in the their lives.   

Such Holy Spirit empowered productivity didn't end with Acts 2.  When reading through the Book of Acts we note that despite the fact that the Holy Spirit lived within the disciples, He came on them, or filled them, numerous other times.  Each time this happened it ended up being another demonstration of Holy Spirit empowered productivity.    

From my vantage point, a lot of what we do as individual Christians and as the church is not always productive.  If that is so, we might want to rethink what we are doing.   Then often, when the Holy Spirit actually does come upon us, we can easily miss His purpose.  We simply enjoy the experience as if it is some kind of spiritual high, something the Lord doesn't tolerate forever.    

The Holy Spirit did not enter my life just so I could be a Christian.  He doesn't come upon me from time to time for the fun of the experience.  He came into my life and subsequently comes upon me to make me a Holy Spirit empowered productive Christian.  I'm not just meant to be a Christian.  I'm meant to do the work of a Christian, and so are you, and so is church.  It's about Holy Spirit empowered productivity. 

Post Script

In evaluating the productivity of your life as a Christian or the life of the church, a good place to start is to read what needed to be changed in the life of the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3.  People are still people and church is still church.  What Jesus told those churches, then, He could easily tell us.    

Home Page