In 1738, an Englishman named John Wesley entered a church service where someone was preaching from the book of Romans. As he listened to the message of the gospel that night, Wesley wrote that he felt his heart “strangely warmed,” and he knew deep within that Jesus had died to save him from his sins. John Wesley would go on to found Methodism, an approach to living out Christian faith that continues today.
What’s interesting is that Wesley’s experience in that church service is not unique. A similar account is found in the book of Acts. Here Peter proclaimed the gospel message before a large crowd (Acts 2:14). We read in verse 37 that his words “pierced their hearts,” and they asked what they should do in response. Peter told them, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). In a way similar to John Wesley’s experience, this heart-changing moment helped launch the early church.
In today’s world, the message of the gospel can sound strange to some who don’t yet know God. The idea of receiving salvation can seem like a foreign concept.
We can be encouraged, however, for a person’s heart being transformed by the gospel takes place through the work of the Holy Spirit—a work we trace back to that first day of the early church (Acts 2:3-4). It’s something that began and sustains the church—a heart-changing thing that continues to this very day.
As the apostle Paul declared, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God”(1 Corinthians 1:18). Power that can change our hearts!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Samuel 13:1-19
More:
Read Acts 16:11-15 and consider what God did within Lydia’s heart.
Next:
If you’re a believer in Jesus, how did you receive Him as your Savior? How does the gospel change the hearts of those who hear and believe?
Gary Shultz on April 7, 2016 at 6:23 am
Peter, I must steal some space and thank the people of ODJ for responding and allowing me to listen to their heart felt comments…..On to today. Could it be a holy thing to observe God’s Spirit moving in a person’s life. It is great, yes one of the greatest miracles we will see on a regular basis. It used to seem like a slam dunk thing; however, I now observe more people who don’t know much about the bible make a pilgrimage to know God to even understand Him, whatever the connection, God is still moving. And yes they can be friendly to all godly input they hear, but the surrender and commitment must still be made, like the little button on the bottom of our page “Submit” to the work of Christ by the step of faith. A friend is not being born again, but moved by spiritual birth into God’s family is. And yes, being born again we will be a friend of God and so much more, His child. All still a miracle of God grace. Thanks for allowing me to nail in a few comments Peter.
gagirllive on April 7, 2016 at 8:17 am
Peter, Wesley’s testimony of his heart being “strangely warmed” upon hearing the gospel and the account in Acts puts me in mind of what the disciples on the road to Emmaus said when their eyes were opened to who Jesus was–“Didn’t our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”” (Luke 24:32) Apparently, there is a good kind of “heartburn” that precedes conversion. 🙂 The Holy Spirit leads us to repentance–a change of heart and mind–and this first inward work produces a changed life and lifestyle. To me, this is one of the things that sets Christianity apart from other religions…the fact that it is an inside-out job. All other religions attempt to adjust their behaviour to reach a standard of righteousness, outside-in, in other words. I’m so grateful that our God changes our hearts–gives us a new heart with new desires to want to follow Him in obedience. He gives us Himself in the presence of the Holy Spirit–the very power of God living in us–so that He can live through us. But it all starts with that little heartburn–the gospel pricking our hearts, drawing us in, opening our eyes. So beautiful. Thanks for this sweet word today, Peter!
samgaskill on April 7, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Amen and amen! Praise God for His life giving, life changing “heartburn”.
Tom Felten on April 7, 2016 at 8:54 am
Peter, not only do I recall the Spirit touching my heart many years ago when I received Jesus as my Savior, but so many times since then I’ve experienced the Spirit working in and through me in a wide variety of situations. What an amazing God who not along draws us to Himself, but also lives within us and provides the presence and power we need to do His will!
gagirllive on April 7, 2016 at 10:44 am
Amen, Tom! The Spirit’s ongoing work in our lives is amazing!
godlove on April 7, 2016 at 10:00 am
I was blessed to be born to a Christian family and got to know about Jesus from the earliest stages of my life, so I tend to think I am unable to relate properly to that first time heart-warming feeling when you hear the gospel and are convicted or convinced by the Holy Spirit that Christ is your Saviour. HOWEVER, I have fallen and failed in my commitments to the Lord so many times on my journey that I get to experience my own different type of feeling when my heart is “pierced” by the Holy Spirit calling me to repentance and calling me to return to God. Praise and thanks be to GOD for the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts, continuously working in transforming us daily. Thanks Peter.
gagirllive on April 7, 2016 at 10:40 am
I know what you mean, godlove. I think a Christian who is out of fellowship with the Lord is the most miserable creature. The Holy Spirit is so grieved in us, and until we repent, we can have no peace. I’m so thankful for His ministry!
sandy229 on April 7, 2016 at 10:04 am
I think of the song, “Change my heart oh God, make it ever new, change my heart oh God, let me be like you. There were so many things growing up that I did not know, even though my parents took me to church and I learned all the Bible verses in” Christian Release Time Education”, when I was in the 5th grade. Everything I was taught then, I never knew the meaning of. Even though I was baptized when I was 14, I didn’t apply any of it to my life. Then when I rededicated my life to God in 2013, and I was baptized again on Sept 28, 2015, it was like everything I should have known before became so real to me, and I suddenly knew things I didn’t know before with the power of the Holy Spirit. Now I just want to know as much as possible to know God better and have an intimate relationship with Him which is what He desires most of me. I want to share Jesus with everyone so they too can have eternal life, and have all the blessings I am receiving today because God changed my heart.
gagirllive on April 7, 2016 at 10:41 am
Sweet testimony, Sandy! Thanks for sharing.
samgaskill on April 7, 2016 at 7:07 pm
Thank you for sharing this Sandy. Makes my heart smile. While raised with a basic Christian knowledge; my parents knowledge of God and His word was limited and I never saw first hand the joy of the Lord in them. I’m grateful to them for they loved us and shared what they had to give and it provided a basic foundation of faith. Well into adulthood my husband and I and our 5 year old son began attending a small bible based church that God used to draw us deeper and closer to Him. My life has never been the same and I am so very grateful to share in the joy of the Lord now. My son grew up with veggie tales, a lot of church activity and a warm caring church family. He has always been obedient, kind and thoughtful but I tell you my heart sings as I see all that God is doing in his young heart this final year away at school. What he learned in Sunday school and from those who took interest in him then has begun to take root in his heart. To hear him speak of his “own” faith and how God is revealing Himself “uniquely” to him just overwhelms me with gratitude. Living on campus several hours away, he serves in a college youth ministry at an inner city church with a wonderful pastor I believe God handpicked for my son. This pastor could not be more different than the pastor of the church he grew up; but I believe both were chosen at different times that God’s will be done. God gives to all what is needed for every season in our lives. So in a nutshell, some of us will grow up deeply rooted in a church, others will come to the well hungry and thirsty well into adulthood. How blessed we are to fit into God’s grand plan we cannot yet fathom. It’s more than I can wrap my mind around but wow. Appreciate so much the stories of how each one of us came to hunger and thirst for God’s love and forgiveness. Blessings to you and to all in forum today.
jim spillane on April 7, 2016 at 12:07 pm
I enjoyed Peter’s devotional and all the wonderful comments, but I need to ask this question. I was told by another believer or two that I needed to ask for “the baptism of the Holy Spirit” before I would receive Him. Is this true? I have found many scripture verses that seem to refute this statement, but my two believer-friends are adamant on this point (they are members of the Full Gospel church). And just what is “the baptism of the Holy Spirit” anyway? I can’t seem to find a clear description of this phrase the way my friends see it. Thanx.
peter chin on April 7, 2016 at 12:19 pm
I’m sure others can clarify this far better than myself, but my understanding of that statement is that many Pentecostal churches and denominations believe/believed that the gift of tongues was the sign of one’s salvation. In other words, salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit (manifested through speaking in tongues) went hand in hand. It is a uniquely Pentecostal understanding of salvation, derived primarily from the book of Acts, and is not even shared by all Pentecostal believers. In fact, from what I understand, many Pentecostal denominations have been moving away from that belief, and have been for some time. I hope this helps!
gagirllive on April 7, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Peter and Jim…that, too, is my understanding of what many from that particular denomination believe and teach. Sadly, there is a lot of controversy and division regarding the person of the Holy Spirit. Even if we disagree on this issue, we need to be careful to not let it bring division between us and other Christians who believe that way. I am of the opinion that it IS NOT one of the non-negotiables. My pastor is preaching a series out of the book of Acts right now, and he just spoke last Sunday on this topic. From what he said, we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion, not subsequent to salvation. The new birth baptizes us into the Body of Christ, and we receive the fullness of the Spirit at that point. In other words, we have ALL of God when we are saved. In Ephesians Paul testifies of this when he says that “in Christ” we are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. He said that what happened in Acts on the day of Pentecost with the tongue-speaking (which was the miracle of them speaking in KNOWN LANGUAGES that they had not learned) was a supernatural sign used to induct the first church, not a pattern to be repeated. Remember how many people/nations were there? They all heard the gospel in their own language. (Acts 2) I think we need to focus on being spirit-filled. The “evidence” of a spirit-filled believer is not tongues, but the character of Christ as described in Galatians 5. This is God’s command to us–“be filled with the Spirit”–completely surrendered and yielded to Him. At salvation we get all (the fullness–baptism) of Him…does He have all (the filling) of us? Hope this helps in some way. Sorry it’s lengthy!!
samgaskill on April 7, 2016 at 7:27 pm
This is a wonderful explanation my friend. I appreciate your lengthy commentary. “We have all of God when we are saved.” That sums it up for me. As a young Christian I can remember so earnestly seeking hard after what some had taught me a spirit-filled believer looked like. I did this with the faith of a child at the time; earnest and steadfast in my seeking. I once even bought a CD from a well known evangelist on obtaining the gift of “speaking in tongues”. Boy, how I tried everything she told me to do. As my faith matured I came to understand that God does the changing by His power and through His love. I could simply be myself, and walk with His hand in mine. He would teach me everything I needed to know. Eventually I learned to seek the fruit of the spirit, the very real character of God. Sadly, we go down some bunny trails as we walk the narrow road; but I do count it all good. A lot to learn on those trails and God is faithful to always get us back on the right road. I learned so much as I sought to know the will of God through His word, being in His presence. He continues to be my personal guide as I seek Him with all my heart. Now many years later, I smile when I realize as you said that the evidence of a spirit-filled life is indeed a changed heart, growing in the character of Christ. Thank you!
gagirllive on April 7, 2016 at 4:29 pm
Jim, here are some verses you might want to explore. 1 Corinthians 12: 12–13, Romans 6: 1–4, Ephesians 4: 5.