How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
(Acts 10:38 NIV)
This is one of my favourite Scriptures. For years I read it and missed the point. See, Jesus of Nazareth “went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil” because 1) He was anointed and 2) God was with Him. We can try to go around and do good all we can, but unless we’re anointed by His Holy Spirit, unless God is with us, what we do won’t have much power. In fact, Jesus went around doing good even to those who weren’t good to Him. Listen to the verses that follow: “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God RAISED him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen” (Acts 10:39-40, emphasis added). Rising above retaliation and hate isn’t easy, I know. But Jesus can help us rise again after we’ve been hurt by those who haven’t been so good to us. So keep doing good because what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. But just remember, you can’t do good to all apart from God because only He is good, good all the time and good to all.
Rising with the Son 