eugene h peterson

[Paul wrote,] For by God's grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my...

And after [the Jewish leaders in Rome] had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet ..." —Acts 28:25 NLT Key Thought Jewish leaders in Rome come to visit Paul while he...

After several days of visiting [in Caesarea], a prophet from Judea by the name of Agabus came down to see [Paul and his traveling companions and hosts]. He went right up to Paul, took Paul's belt, and, in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet. He said, "This is what the Holy Spirit...

[Paul and his traveling companions] looked up the local disciples [in Tyre] and stayed with them seven days. Their message to Paul, from insight given by the Spirit, was "Don't go to Jerusalem." —Acts 21:4 MESSAGE Key Thought Okay, I admit this is confusing. Paul is convicted that he must go...

[Paul, to the Ephesian elders at Miletus:] "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." —Acts 20:28 NIV Key Thought Paul reminds the Ephesian elders of three heavenly...

[Paul, to the Ephesian elders at Miletus:] "But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I'm completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won't be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that...

When Paul placed his hands on [the people he had just baptized], the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. —Acts 19:6 NIV Key Thought The Holy Spirit is a vital part of our conversion and a crucial part of our daily walk with God and our transformation into the...

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." —Acts 19:1-2 NIV Key Thought...

[Paul and his companions on the second missionary journey] went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't...

[The apostles and elders in Jerusalem writing to Gentile Christians:] "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements ..." —Acts 15:28 NLT Key Thought Acts 15 is a remarkable reminder of the power of the Holy Spirit to work within a...

[Peter, addressing the apostles and elders at the Council in Jerusalem:] "God knows people's hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us." —Acts 15:8 NLT Key Thought These words come from Peter's defense for taking the good news of...

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. —Acts 13:52 NIV Key Thought The Holy Spirit's presence in God's people is accompanied by joy! Jesus was full of joy because of the Spirit (Luke 10:21), and the same is also true of his disciples (Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22)...

Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, "You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord?" —Acts 13:9-10 NLT Key Thought...

Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus. —Acts 13:4 MESSAGE Key Thought We can be run off. We can be sent out. But the real yearning on most of our hearts is to be propelled into the next phase of our lives by...

While [the Christians in Antioch] were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." —Acts 13:2 NIV Key Thought Worship, whether individually in our daily lives or assembled with other Christians, should...

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to...

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. —Acts 11:24 NLT Key Thought Earlier in the book of Acts, we met Stephen, who was described as being "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5). Now Barnabas is...

"As I began to speak," Peter continued, "the Holy Spirit fell on [Cornelius and his household], just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord's words when he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' And since God gave these Gentiles...

[Peter:] "The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with [Cornelius' messengers]. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house." —Acts 11:12 NIV Key Thought To Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, the apostle Peter had to justify why he went to the house of...

Then Peter asked, "Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that [Cornelius and his relatives and friends] have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?" So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days...