Acts 9:31

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in number, living in the fear of the Lord. Acts 9:31

There is great wisdom in this verse and important lessons for the church today. The formula for having a successful church and a successful ministry is in these few words, 'It was encouraged by the Holy Spirit'. If your ministry is not being encouraged by the Holy Spirit is is dead, it has no life. The Holy Spirit is the Presence of God in all our endeavors. Jesus said as he was getting ready to leave this earth that he would send another Comforter, the Spirit of truth who would guide us into all truth. When the Holy Spirit encourages us we are no longer depressed, no longer lost, no longer wondering where we should go or what we should do. When the Holy Spirit encourages us he bears witness with our spirits that we belong to God. When the Holy Spirit encourages us we have a time of peace. We live defeated lives because we refuse to let the Holy Spirit encourage us.

Something else happens when the Holy Spirit encourages us - the church grows in numbers and also in obedience to God. Ministries flourish when the Holy Spirit encourages us. Nothing can hold back a ministry that is encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Nothing can hold back a business, a career, a friendship, a marriage, an education, a man, a woman or a child when the Holy Spirit encourages.

Let's not forget the last phrase - living in the fear of the Lord. Nothing will work the way it is supposed to work if we forget this important principle, 'living in the fear of the Lord'. We are told to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength'. When we let this principle rule our lives we live in the fear of the Lord. A healthy fear, respect, worship, reverence. Modern society feels that since we have the answer to many scientific mysteries that God is smaller than he used to be. The more we discover in the study of biology, physics and astronomy the less we feel that we need God. When we think we have found the answer and we can predict hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters we really don't think we need to fear the ONE who made all things and we stop living in the fear of God. Is it any wonder that there are so much violence, misery, hardships, diseases, famines and economic downturns in our world today?

When we make God small we make ourselves big and we live in the awe of what we create instead of the awesomeness of God. History shows us what happened to every society, kingdom and empire who forgot to live in the fear of God. They got a one-way ticket to destruction. We are still trying to figure out what happened to the Mayas of Central America; we are fascinated by ancient Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. They all had one thing in common - they forgot to live in the fear of God.

Let our hearts be encouraged by the Holy Spirit, let us grow in numbers and be prosperous, let us live in the fear of God and let us have a time of peace.