Written by Mark Driskill:
Tuesday November 23,2010
Read Acts 2:14-21
Whenever you ask someone who Simon Peter is, usually they answer something like this: “He’s the one that denied Christ three times.” Or “he tried to walk on water but got scared and fell in.” Maybe it’s our sin nature that causes us to remember the failures in this great apostles life. But in our scripture today we so much more than a man who failed his Lord. We see that same man, now filled with the Holy Spirit standing boldly and proclaiming the good news to those who had killed his savior. We may remember Peter for his failures and short comings but God doesn’t.
When the Holy Spirit came upon Peter and the others this once broken man was filled with life changing power. His past mistakes had been forgiven at the cross but now that the Holy Spirit was upon him he was truly a new man. That’s what the Holy Spirit can do when we place ourselves at his disposal. He does far more than grant forgiveness. He fills those empty places of failure and transforms them into portals of power. He turns the denier into an evangelist, the man with a hot head into a servant with a heart of fire.
Friend I don’t know what failures you have experienced or what painful experiences haunt your memory. But I know this. One moment with the Holy Spirit can turn a ghost town of a broken life into thriving city full of promise and power. Stop wandering around the ruins of regret and remorse. God wants to not only forgive but transform your failures into something glorious. He wants to baptize you in fire, burning away all that’s left of your past life and fill you with his immortal life. Will you allow him to do that today? Will you say to the Lord, “I want more than a ticket to heaven. Lord I want you to fill me with the Holy Spirit and use my life for greater things.” Surrender to the Spirit today.
Stop trying to make up for your past and step into your new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. In him you are not remembered for what you did wrong but for what he did right.
Mark Driskill and his wife Mary are homeschooling community ministers in Breathitt County Kentucky. They have four children. They co pastor Emmanuel fellowship Church, serve as Camp Pastors at Bethel Mennonite Camp, and Mark Teaches at Oakdale Christian Academy. Mark is web minister for Begotten by the Word , a ministry of Helping Hands Christian Resources. Once a month he preaches on the local radio station through the “Lion of Judah” program.
Mark also preaches in youth rallies and revivals upon request at no charge. Their vision is to see true spiritual awakening come to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and to the nation.
Contact information:
Email: driskill@hillbillymail.com
Facebook: Mark Driskill
Address: PO Box 1159 Jackson KY.
