June 30: The Gathering Spirit

“42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…44And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” –Acts 2.42, 44
Search the pages of Scripture and see how often you see people standing alone in their faith. Most likely, if you look closely enough, you’ll realize that even those who seemed to be completely alone had a brother or two around them. Are we called to trust Jesus regardless of whether we have anyone to support us? Certainly, yes. However, does God leave any one of us as the only person around to trust in Him? Almost never.
The work of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost first led people to personal hunger for salvation; those individuals trusted in Christ. But the work of the Spirit did not end there. The words directly following verse 41 (“those who received his word were baptized”) tell us that they began taking part in the life of the church. Not only did they believe, but they began sharing life together as believers! The Holy Spirit may begin His work by calling individuals, but His final goal is to collect the entire body of people who will live to glorify God together forever.
1. Why would God want us to live in community rather than by ourselves in our faith?
2. How does the Holy Spirit need to work in your life to build up community with other Christians? Ask God to open your eyes to the answer to this question.