Friday, May 26 – Acts 13:52

And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

When have you engaged in a type of work, service, or ministry that energized you? Sometimes we get bogged down in meetings or tasks at work and that steals our joy. But when we are set loose to engage with the work that excited us to take that job in the first place, we have an entirely different attitude.

It’s the same when we are filled with the Holy Spirit to do the work of spreading the gospel. Paul and Barnabas’s work was certainly difficult and draining. They faced resistance, ridicule, and flat-out rejection. Yet Acts 13:52 tells us that they were continually filled with joy. Why and how?

The verses leading to this one describe the persecution and rejection these missionaries faced as they were forced to leave one city and travel to another. Their joy was not based on circumstance. No, they were filled with joy because they were doing the work God had gifted and called them to. They were filled with joy because they were filled with the Holy Spirit—and that is one demonstration of His indwelling in us (Galatians 5:22).

When we join God in His mission of spreading the gospel, and when we pray and fast and are sent out by other believers to do the work He has called us to, God’s Spirit will continually energize us and we will be filled with joy.

• How does this verse speak to you about your calling to go and spread the gospel?
• Does this mean that you’ll always be happy and your circumstances will work out every time you join God in His mission? What does it mean?
• Thank God for the gift of His Spirit and for the joy He brings, even when the work He calls us to is difficult. Ask Him to fill you with joy as you step into that work.