Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

This was not the first time that Jesus told His disciples that He would be sending them the Holy Spirit. His whole life on earth was building up to this moment. He would be going back to the Father and sending the Holy Spirit. Because of what Jesus did for us we are all able to receive the Spirit of God upon us. 

Now the Spirit comes and connects us to God, but also helps us here on earth as well. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul tells us that the Spirit of God manifests itself each us as it wills, but we all have the same Spirit. He goes on to talk about some of the Spiritual Gifts that we have because of the Holy Spirit. As we begin to understand more of the Spirit we know that it comes upon each one of us, but not always in the same way.

One thing we know for sure though is what Jesus says. In this verse He tells us that the Spirit will bring power. This power comes from heaven and we all have access to it. What is this power for, you ask? Jesus tells us in the next part of this verse that we are witnesses, and not just any witness, we are His witnesses. We are to go into the world and tell others of what Christ has done in us and through us. In order to do this we must be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is one of its purposes; to lead and guide us, showing us when and where to act and giving us the words to say. So the Spirit is our helper, He will help us in our mission as witnesses.

Jesus tells us we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Now, He is not telling us that we have to move to Jerusalem and start our ministry there. Think about who He is talking to directly. He is speaking to His disciples, who were currently in Jerusalem. What Jesus is saying here is that we need to start where we are at. Start being a witness at home, in your workplace, school, city or town. Begin small and then build up. Jesus has called you to be a witness to the world around you and His Spirit is on you giving you all you need to fulfill that calling.