Acts 2 records an incredible “first day” for the New Testament Church. Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended back to heaven. 120 of his most devoted followers have gathered in an upper room to pray and suddenly they are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to praise God in languages they had not learned. As a result, perhaps thousands in Jerusalem, from various parts of Asia-Minor, gathered there for a major celebration, hear their native tongues being spoken by these unlearned people, and are drawn to this miraculous situation. Peter seizes the moment and uses this occasion to preach Christ to them, and as a result, 3000 people are saved! Again, how’s that for a first day of ministry?

The point here is not so much that Peter preached a sermon with great results, but that this would never have happened without God first displaying his power in such an amazing way, and people being attracted to it! We often think that we have to do something, to minister, to initiate a program to go after and reach people. This may be true, at times, but it’s not necessarily the most productive approach. Instead we should endeavor to be people filled with the Holy Spirit’s power that produces the miraculous in, and through our lives, which then seems to intrigue and draw people. That’s when, like Peter, we seize the moment to share Christ with them. Of course, the “miraculous” is not always speaking known languages you didn’t learn to speak! Most often it is the representation of our Christ-transformed lives and renewed minds that flies in the face of the conventional, the logical, and the expected. Yet at the same time this is not to mean we are extremists. Rather, we’re simply living lives that are not dictated by external circumstances and cultural pressures, but by an inner peace and power that is the true Spirit of Christ.

As you focus in prayer today, ask God to fill you with more of his t so your life can be something people are drawen to and want to know more about!