The early church is so inspiring. Oh, to live with such fervour and expectancy!
There is a vast difference between being sealed by and being filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit. The former happens upon salvation and marks us as belonging to Christ. The later is an ongoing process as we decrease; as we continually yield our lives over to God in increasing measure.
The early church was filled.
They were imbued or clothed with the Holy Spirit, filled to their capacity, which was evident in the way they lived.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
Acts 2:42-44
They were bold for Jesus
They performed miracles as the Spirit led. They spoke what they saw and heard – the mighty works of God – as the Spirit led. And, they did this despite persecution.
I’m reading this book – Being Fully Known – alongside the book of Acts and devotionals. It’s written by the same author of Sacred Rest which is a transformative and inspiring book I’ve read several times.
I’m glad for the encouragement to remove the barriers that diminish the flow of the Holy Spirit’s power in my life. To pray for boldness to go where He leads and speak what I see and hear. And so, I pray – may I be fearlessly set apart for Your glory, Lord!
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25
They were united in purpose
They joyfully partnered with one another to seek the kingdom of God first. Of course, there were some in their midst who were filled not with the Holy Spirit but with selfish desires. This is still the case in our churches today. Let us pray for and encourage one another to daily surrender and decrease so that He increases.
Products used
I’m using the devotional kits by Illustrated Faith for June and July 2025 based on the book of Acts. The study is written by Taylor Rauschkolb who is @bravelittletaylor on Instagram. It looks at the lives of the early church to see what life surrendered to and empowered by the Holy Spirit looks like.
The kits are sold out (at the time of this post) but the digital version as well as related items can be found on the Illustrated Faith website. Check out the #IF_CampActs hashtag and @illustratedfaith feed on Instagram for more details.
In addition to the kit elements, I used a printable by @kristina.proffitt for Illustrated Faith’s digital shop which can be found here: Bold for Jesus.
As for the disc-bound journal pictured, I go over my approach to this study of Acts in this post: The promised Gift.
** Find all Camps Acts posts here: Acts.
Be encouraged
🎶 Holy In My Heart ~ LO Worship
There are so many distractions, so many pointless things leading us from walking fully by the Spirit. We have opinions and preferences, desires and wills, yet none of that matters more than His. Set apart for His glory – we should all pray for this to be true of us.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:16-17
