Acts_19
Scripture Acts 19:2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
Observation-What does it say? While Paul is in Ephesus, he is introduced to Apollos. Apollos was well educated in the scriptures (the old testament), but only knew of Jesus from the teachings of John the Baptist. He had apparently missed the part of the story where Jesus was crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended up to heaven. During his time in Ephesus, Paul not only teaches Apollos of the miracle of Jesus, but he also converts many of the worshiper of Artemis to follow Jesus. Paul catches Apollos up to speed on Jesus just in time to see major opposition from the silversmiths in the city, who made a considerable amount of money from the Temple of Artemis.
Understanding-What does it mean? I’m not very good at video games, my brother was great at them. He beat me so many times that eventually I just gave up the pursuit. That is until I met my wife, she was really into a certain game, so I tried to like them again. She too beat me so many times that I almost ruined the whole relationship at it’s infancy by being a poor sport. There is something about the lack of actual physical space in video games that I struggled with. But one thing I learned, in video games they only give you what you need to succeed in the moments before you have to use it. You don’t even get time to figure out how to aim the snipper rifle before someone comes up behind you, then it’s like “Game Over.”
Before his death, Jesus tells the apostles how important it is for him to go, because he was going to send the Holy Spirit. John 16:7 says, But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. When we are saved through Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit, which is our new frame of reference on how to live and breath and move. Paul writes in Romans 8:9-10 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Paul goes on to write in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. When we believe, we are equipped with the resources we need to overcome our trials and temptations in this world. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, we just have to ask for His help.