God's Holy Fire: 'A Spirit-Powered Message'

Friday, January 26, 2024

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.
— 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV

Key Thought

When the good news of Jesus is preached, the Holy Spirit is at work making the message powerful. The "demonstration of the Spirit's power" may refer to miracles that accompanied the preaching of the message of Jesus (Hebrews 2:1-4). However, in the context of today's Scripture, Paul is primarily focusing on a greater truth: The message of a crucified Savior doesn't appear to be wise and persuasive by human standards of wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 2:1-3), yet the Holy Spirit is active in the telling of the story of Jesus. The Spirit's work in the message of the cross gives it seemingly inexplicable power to reach into people's hearts and call them to Jesus. Nevertheless, for those of us who know the Holy Spirit's work, this power really is not inexplicable; it is a reminder of God's grace to give us not only the gift of Jesus but also the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us understand the gift of Jesus!

Today's Prayer

Words cannot express, dear Father, how precious your love is to me. I realize that everything that I am and have in Jesus is the result of your grace. I believe that my future is secure because of that grace and because of the blessed Holy Spirit who is in me and who helps convict, correct, and console me. I thank you for such grace, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Comments

Archived Facebook Comments

Other Devotionals from Heartlight for Friday, January 26, 2024

Unstoppable!
A one-year devotional guide through the book of Acts.
'In the Last Days' (Acts 2:17)
"[Quoting the prophet Joel, Peter said to the crowd on Pentecost,] 'In the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your..."
Morning & Evening
The classic twice-daily devotional from Charles H. Spurgeon.
Evening Thought: Luke 2:18
"We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when...."
What Jesus Did!
A daily guide from the gospels that challenges readers to live for Jesus.
'Faith Finds Its Hope' (Mk. 1:40)
"A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean," he said."
A Year with Jesus
A devotional to help reclaim Jesus as the daily Lord of our lives.
'The One?'
"Dear Disciple, Doubt! Even the best people have periods of doubt. My cousin John the Baptist was in prison awaiting certain death at the hands of..."

Illustration

Illustration of 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV — My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.

About This Devotional

God's Holy Fire is a daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Thoughts and Prayer for God's Holy Fire are written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

More God's Holy Fire

Translations