Most of us long for miracles.  And Jesus’ perfect life, death on sinners’ behalf as the fulfillment of Passover, and His physical resurrection prove that He is willing and able to meet our greatest needs:  complete forgiveness and a new heart to follow Him as our living King.  But even in the Bible, most of the journey with Jesus is lived in the moments between miracles.  In this 50-day series, we’ll consider some of those moments leading up to the next great miracle in the New Testament:  the fulfillment of Pentecost and the incredible growth of the Church.

In Acts 1:2, we read that God works through His Word and His Spirit.  From the very beginning, we see these two working together.  The Spirit was hovering over the waters, and God spoke His Word to create, and breathed life into Man. (Genesis 1 and John 1:1-5)

In fact, God’s Word and Spirit never work separately, nor do they ever oppose each other.  (Isaiah 59:21, John 14:16-18, 16:13-15, Acts 4:31, Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 10:15-16, 1 John 4:1-6, etc.)  That makes complete sense, since Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh. (John 1:1-18)  And, in every case, we can see that the Lord transform the hearts and actions of His people by His Word and Spirit.

Sadly, many professing believers and even entire churches often speak and act as if God’s focus is solely His Word, so they speak very little about His Spirit.  Others only emphasize His Spirit and under-emphasize His Word.  Still others only emphasize human behavior and relationships, not seeming to see the need for either His Word or His Spirit.

Yet when Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman about their version of denominational differences, He was clear.  “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)

The truth of God’s Word is absolutely essential.  Scripture is the owner’s manual of Life, telling us God’s purpose, character, commands, promises, and more.  But without His Spirit, we would have no Scriptures, no desire to love God, and no spiritual growth or security of our salvation. (Isaiah 59:21, John 16:13-14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-12, 1 Timothy 3:15, 1 John 2:20, 27, etc.)  And, again, God gave His Word and His Spirit for miraculous relationships:  so that His people would turn from primarily loving themselves to a selfless love Him and others. (Matthew 22:36-40)

In the opening of Acts, we read that Jesus gave instructions by the Spirit to the Apostles.  And, yes, they had some specific missions that others in the Body of Christ do not have.  But we do still have the mission of trusting and flowing Jesus to love God and each other as He commands and testifying about that message in His Word by the power of His Spirit.  We still have the mission of being living testimonies by the work of both changing us.

Jesus has His Word and His Spirit to each of His people so we will honor Him where we are.  How is He working in you lately?  Who are some of the people He’s put in your life who seem to be thirsty for the truth and change that His Word and Spirit bring?

May He prepare us and them for His work through the gospel, lived and spoken for His glory.

I hope today’s thought and others in this series will be helpful to you as you journey with Jesus in the moments between miracles.

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