Today Daily Devotional

“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

— Acts 10:47

As we can see in this story, in the new era of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, God was doing a new thing!

Through a vision, Peter had received a new way of thinking about the people of other nations, and he was called to speak to a Roman centurion (Acts 10:9-23). Later, at the centurion’s house, Peter also met the man’s “relatives and close friends,” and he was able to share with all of them the good news about Jesus. Peter explained that Jesus came to save all who will believe in him. Jesus came to take away all our sin by dying on a cross, and then he rose from the dead and is now Lord over all.

While Peter was still teaching, the Holy Spirit unexpectedly “came on all who heard the message.” This was surprising to the Jewish believers who had come with Peter that day. God was accepting even the Gentiles? Amazing! Well, “the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out” on them. So there was nothing to “stand in the way of their being baptized with water.”

Peter, who, like other Jewish believers, had previously preferred to keep away from Gentiles, now embraced these people from other nations, welcoming them into Christ’s renewed family, the church.

Heavenly Father, it is sometimes said that we Christians are merely beggars who show other beggars where to find bread. Help us to see all people through the eyes of your love. Amen.

Something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

— Acts 9:18-19

As we can imagine, Saul’s experience of meeting Jesus on the way to Damascus must have been terrifying. He said later that when Jesus appeared to him, he felt as if he were like a child taken from the womb too early (“one abnormally born”). Being stopped by a blinding light, falling to the ground, and learning that he had persecuted the church of God by chasing followers of the crucified Messiah—who was now ruling in heaven— was all too much!

Saul, blinded by glory, had to be led by hand along the rest of the way to Damascus. Then, a few days later, the Lord sent Ananias to visit Saul, and he received the Holy Spirit, was healed from blindness, and was baptized.

The book of Acts shows that people come to faith in Jesus in many different ways. The Spirit is free and does not follow a formula. Sometimes the Spirit uses words of Scripture to move a person’s heart. Sometimes a person hears the good news through someone else. Sometimes the Lord speaks through a dream or a vision. In some cases, as with Saul, the encounter may be dramatic and even terrifying, followed by a vision and the coming of the Spirit a few days later. In other cases, whole households are baptized, including children who will grow in faith throughout their life. But in all of these ways the Spirit is at work!

Lord, to some of us you come hovering gently. Others of us need to be knocked to our knees. You know best how to fill us, Lord. Amen.

“From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.”

— Zephaniah 3:10

The man who met Philip in our reading today was from Ethiopia, which was “beyond the rivers of Cush.” (Cush was another name for Egypt.)

People from many lands knew about and worshiped the God of Israel (Acts 2:5-11), and the Ethiopian man had traveled to Jerusalem to worship God at the temple there.

On his way home, the man was reading from the book of Isaiah, and he was puzzled. Isaiah had written about a man who “was led like a sheep to the slaughter” and was “deprived of justice” (see Isaiah 53:7-8).

Now, Philip had been led by the Spirit to meet the Ethiopian man, and he was able to explain that Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus, the innocent one who died on behalf of all sinners and was raised to new life. Here, as the Spirit worked, Philip was able to share the good news of Jesus with a man who was ready to receive the gospel in faith.

Then, when the Ethiopian man saw some water up ahead, he said, “What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he was right—the Spirit of God had arranged for him to hear the good news through Philip, and the man had come to faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. So they went into the water, “and Philip baptized him.”

From there, the Ethiopian man “went on his way rejoicing,” and he was likely one of the first people to share Jesus with others in East Africa.

Holy Spirit, thank you for bringing the good news to us, and help us to share it with others everywhere. Amen.

A sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and...they…were filled with the Holy Spirit. Those who accepted his message were baptized. . .

— Acts 2:2, 41

The Holy Spirit is the main character in the book of Acts—and in the growth of the church. And through the Spirit-powered witness of his followers, Jesus said, the gospel will spread from Jerusalem (the city), to Judea and Samaria (the region), “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

In Acts 2 we see how that work of the Holy Spirit began. “A sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven,” and Jesus’ apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. As we have noted earlier, the Spirit of God and his mighty acts are often associated with wind. And the “sound . . . of a violent wind” echoes the power of the “strong wind” God used to make a pathway for his people through the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21). What’s more, as John the Baptist had prophesied, the work of Jesus would result in people being baptized “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11)—and in Acts 2, as the Holy Spirit filled Jesus’ apostles, “what seemed to be tongues of fire . . . came to rest on each of them.” So on Pentecost, the people of God, followers of Jesus, were renewed through a wind (Spirit), fire, and water. The wind of the Holy Spirit rushed on the apostles, and fire alighted on them—and later that day 3,000 people came to faith in Jesus and were baptized (Acts 2:41).

Lord and Savior, fill us with your Holy Spirit, and help us as we try to stay “in step” with the Spirit’s work in the world today. Amen.

“Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

— Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus came to live among us as the promised Messiah of God’s people. Many of the people thought the Messiah would be a political king who would free them from the grip of the Roman Empire. But Jesus’ mission was not political. He came to free sinners from the tyranny of sin and to give them new life with God forever.

In his teaching ministry Jesus clashed with the religious authorities. He challenged them because they were more concerned with power and position than with leading people to live God’s way—by loving God and loving their neighbor. The religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus, so they plotted to kill him. And they managed to get him executed by the Roman government. So Jesus laid down his life for us by dying on a cross, and he was buried. But then he rose to life again, victorious over sin and death for our sake!

Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his disciples (and us!) that against all appearances, in a world of tyrants and power politics, all authority had been given to him. Then he said that as we are moving about in the world, we are to make disciples. How? By baptizing them into the family of God, and by teaching them to be obedient to his teachings. And if we ever grow afraid of this task (for we will meet opposition), he promised that he will always be with us through his Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus, you have all authority. Help us to serve you faithfully in making disciples. Amen.

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

— Mark 4:41

Have you ever been in a boat that seemed to be at the mercy of the wind or the waves, such that you found yourself praying to God for rescue?

In our reading for today, Jesus’ disciples were doing all they could to keep their boat from capsizing as they were crossing a lake in the midst of a storm. And, at the same time, Jesus was taking a nap!

When the disciples woke Jesus, they were alarmed that he did not seem to care about the storm and its danger. But then Jesus simply got up and spoke to the wind and the waves, saying, “Quiet! Be still!” Jesus’ words were not a plaintive request or even a prayer, but a command. And the wind and waves obeyed!

The disciples had just a moment of relief before another terrifying thought crept over them: “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” The disciples knew their Scriptures and were very much aware that, in the beginning, it was God who told the waters what their boundaries were. In the time of the great flood, it was God who commanded the waters to cover the earth. It was also God who had made a way for his people through the Red Sea. So the disciples clearly knew the answer to their question “Who is this?” And they were trying to come to grips with the reality that their friend, who had just been napping in the boat, was also the Lord of all creation!

Lord Jesus, touch us with appropriate awe and peace, knowing that you, the Lord of creation, have come to live with us, even (and especially) in the midst of life’s chaos. Amen.

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

— John 7:38

When Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well, he talks with her about “living water” that he can give for eternal life (John 4:10-14; see Oct. 13).

In John 7, Jesus teaches again about “living water,” and this time he speaks of “rivers of living water” flowing from people who believe in him.

Some other Bible passages help us to understand more about the “living water” Jesus introduces here. This imagery draws from some Old Testament prophets and points ahead to eternal life with God in the new heaven and earth.

The prophet Isaiah, for example, talks about recognizing the Lord as your salvation and says, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:1-3). Isaiah 58:11 adds that with the Lord as your guide, you will be “like a spring whose waters never fail.” In addition, the prophet Ezekiel describes a vision of a river flowing from God’s temple in Jerusalem. The water begins as a trickle, but it grows wider and deeper as it flows. And when it reaches the Dead Sea far away, it “makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live” (Ezekiel 47:9). This vision also points to a New Testament vision of “the river of the water of life” (Revelation 22:1-2).

In John 7, Jesus is saying that his followers have the water of life in them through the gift of the Holy Spirit. And they can go out into the world—even to all its dead places—to share the gift of new life with others.

Spirit of God, lead us to bring new life into the dead and dying places of your world, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

“The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

— John 4:14

In this story about a meeting at a well, we find some unusual imagery about water.

Jesus reaches out to a Samaritan woman—and that is surprising because Jews did not usually associate with Samaritans. But Jesus’ purpose here, even though he was tired and thirsty, was to share the good news of eternal life so that more people could learn the truth about God, who loves them.

Jesus asks the woman for a drink of water, and her first reaction is to say, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” And Jesus, the master teacher, gives a response that can sound in some ways like a riddle. He talks about “the gift of God” and something called “living water,” and he invites the woman to wonder “who it is that asks [her] for a drink.” He now certainly has her attention, and she is curious about this “living water,” where it comes from, and if it has anything to do with the water at the well.

So Jesus explains that the water he is talking about is spiritual. He also says that it comes from him and that it will give people eternal life. The woman soon also learns that Jesus is the Messiah her people have been waiting for. And in amazement she rushes away to tell her townspeople, and many of them become believers (John 4:28-30, 39-41)!

Have you shared Jesus’ message about living water with the people near you?

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to give us the “living water” we need for eternal life. Teach us to share it freely! Amen.

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

— John 3:5

What does Jesus mean when he says a person must be “born of water and the Spirit” to enter the kingdom of God? Is he saying that you have to be baptized with water to be counted among God’s people? I think the short answer has to be “Not necessarily, but usually.” God can certainly save someone apart from water baptism. But God uses baptism to engage with us and to communicate his grace, so that is the usual practice in the church today.

We do well to keep in mind, though, the example of the criminal who was crucified along with Jesus. This man saw who Jesus was, and he asked to be remembered when Jesus came into his kingdom. And Jesus told him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

In John 3, I think Jesus is echoing prophets like Ezekiel, who spoke about water as a symbol of cleansing from sin, and about the Spirit of God, who comes to fill us and renew our hearts (Ezekiel 36:24-27). That symbolism is picked up by John and Jesus in their practice of baptism. Now this leads to another question: If a person is baptized as a baby or adult, does that mean they are saved? Not necessarily. Some people who are baptized might reject God. But, as some teachers have noted, baptism places us in the community of faith, the church, where we can grow to know and live by God’s covenant love and grace.

Lord, thank you for baptism and for guiding us by your Spirit to grow in grace. Amen.

As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. . . .

— Mark 1:10

John had baptized many people in the Jordan River before Jesus came to be baptized there. Jesus, who had no sin, had no need to repent. But John baptized him because Jesus said, “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Here, as Jesus set out to begin his teaching ministry and his mission to save us from sin and death, he was being anointed as the Messiah. In this role he would be the king and representative of a renewed people of God. He would be anointed by the Holy Spirit, and then, through Jesus, God’s people would receive the Spirit as well.

When Jesus came up out of the water in the Jordan, he saw heaven “torn open” and the Holy Spirit coming down in the form of a dove to anoint him. This showed that God was returning to live among his people, as he had done in the tabernacle (see Oct. 8). Where else have we seen water and the Spirit of God described as a bird? We saw it in Genesis 1:2, with the Spirit hovering over the waters. And here, in Jesus the Son, who came to live among us as a human being, God was working to renew our relationship with himself.

After his anointing, Jesus was sent by the Spirit into the wilderness. There, like Adam and Eve, he was tempted by Satan. But Jesus succeeded where they had not (Luke 4:1-13).

Lord, fill us with your Spirit too, that we may work with you at renewing your world. Amen.