What the latest reading of the book of Acts taught me about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit

• Receiving the Holy Spirit is marked by the receiving of power. (Acts 1:8)
• God promised to pour forth his Spirit upon all mankind in the last days marked by sons and daughters and male and female bondslaves that would prophesy; young men that would see visions; and old men would dream dreams. This time would be marked by wonders in the sky, signs on the earth—blood and fire and vapor of smoke; the sun turned to darkness and the moon into blood. These things would happen prior to the Lord’s coming and every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:17–21; Joel 2:28–32)
• The promise of the Holy Spirit is for all the Lord calls to Himself. (Acts 2:39)
• The Holy Spirit grants us the power to heal and restore perfect health through faith in the name  of Jesus. With this power of healing, he also grants us the power to proclaim Christ with authority and confidence. He also grants the ability to take life. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our life can lead to angels rescuing us from captivity. This has nothing to do with our own power or piety. (Acts 3, 4, 5)
• The Holy Spirit worked through the disciples as well as the apostles. Stephen performed signs and wonders and also spoke in wisdom and in the Spirit. Being full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen, at the time of his death, was able to see the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 6:8,10; 7:55)
• We can want the Holy Spirit for the wrong reasons. (Acts 8:8-24)
• In some conversions, Jesus goes directly to the individual. (Acts 9:1-31)
• The church increases and is built up during times of peace, in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 9:31)
• The Holy Spirit grants the power to cure the bed ridden and raise the dead. (Acts 9:32–43)
• Our giving and our prayer go up as a memorial to God. (Acts 10:4)
• There should be no hierarchy or racism in the church of God. In every nation, the man who fears God and does what is right, is welcome to Him. (Acts 10:25–48)
• The laying on of hands is not the only way we receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:44)
• Because of belief in Jesus, I am baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 11:16–17)
• The Holy Spirit can and will set us aside for a specific task, or calling. (Acts 13:2)
• The Holy Spirit can empower us to know men’s hearts. The Holy Spirit can empower us to strike men blind. (Acts 13:4–12)
• We can have the heart of God and do all of his will. (Acts 13:22)
• We serve the purpose of God in our own generation. (Acts 13:36)
• Jesus is my Savior and the source for forgiveness of sins. (Acts 13:16–43)
• We can be continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:52)
• God can empower those who speak boldly, with reliance upon him and bear witness to the word of his grace, the ability to perform signs and wonders with their hands. (Acts 14:3)
• Faith is required for healing. (Acts 14:8–9)
• If God does move powerfully through an individual, there is a great danger to those servants that man will worship them instead of worshipping God. (Acts 14:8–28)
• Fasting and prayer were a key ingredient to the early church. (Acts 13:2–3; 14:23)
• “It seemed good…” This phrase occurs twice in Acts 15 (NASB). Oftentimes I think of the early church leaders going about serving God with great conviction about everything. That simply wasn’t the case. In this chapter, for something as serious as instructing Gentiles on how to live the life of Christ, the best the apostles and elders could come up with was, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” before laying out the new, abbreviated way to follow God. Sometimes, the only thing we can rely on is, “it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”
• Sometimes we have to do cultural things that are not relevant spiritually to be accepted and heard regarding our belief in God. (Acts 16:3)
• Sometimes the Holy Spirit will forbid us to speak the word of God in certain areas. (Acts 16:6,7)
• Sometimes God will lead us to where we need to be through dreams. (Acts 16:9,10)
• Sometimes “church” occurs in places other than church. (Acts 16:13)
• The Spirit of God will use whoever he chooses—even those not necessarily called to ministry—to proclaim the truths of God. Men will seize these opportunities to make a profit rather than to save the lost. (Acts 16:16–21)
• Paul used the law of the land to help him further the message of Jesus Christ. How can we do that? (Acts 16:35–40)
• It is a good idea to examine the Scriptures daily to determine if what others are teaching us is true. (Acts 17:11)
• God is not served by human hands. He does not need anything we have to offer. He is the giver of life and breath to all things. He made fron one man, every nation of mankind to live on all the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their rule, and that they should seek God, groping for him and finding him, though he is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and exist—even those who don’t follow him know this, saying, “we are his offspring.” Since we’re the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. God has overlooked our time of ignorance, and now declares to me that all everywhere should repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through Jesus whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:22–31)
• There are times when we work at our trade and teach the word of God; other times we are to focus on only teaching the word of God, according to God’s grace and provision. (Acts 18:1–5)
• It is true that there will be preachers who don’t know the entire truth. We could be those preachers. They (we) will speak powerfully of God, but their (our) teaching will not be complete. We should “take them aside (we should be taken aside) and explain(ed) the way of God more accurately.” (Acts 18:2–28)
• Speaking with tongues and prophesying are indicators that we have received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:1–7)
• When the Spirit is present in the life of a messenger from God, the ability to heal resides within them—even to bring back the dead. (Acts 20:7–12)
• The good news of Christ can be summarized as “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” and the “solemn testifying of the grace of God.”(Acts 20:21–24)
• Paul said that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)
• Sometimes, to keep peace within believers, we have to do things that are not necessary in the eyes of God. For Paul, it meant keeping the law in front of Jews in Jerusalem. What are some instances where we should do the same thing? (Acts 20:15–26)
• Sometimes, God will tell us exactly what he wants us to do—even when we’re not asking the question. These special people are appointed by God to know His will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. These people are witnesses to others of what they have seen and heard. The Lord will come and stand by these people at times and speak directly to them. (Acts 22:10,14,15; 23:11)
• There shall be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. In view of this, I must do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men. (Acts 24:15,16)