Who knows what special day today is?
Pentecost, one of the three great festivals of the Christian year, along with Christmas and Easter. It's celebrated in the mainline liturgical churches but is largely forgotten in the evangelical and even the Pentecostal churches. One blog that I read this week called it the "neglected middle child". It is customary to wear red on Pentecost and to decorate churches with red geraniums.
In the Old Testamant, Pentecost was the last of the spring festivals, 50 days after Passover. It was a harvest festival when the firstfruits were brought into the Temple, and it celebrated the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses. All Jews were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
It was under these circumstances, when Jews representing many nations and many languages, were gathered in Jerusalem, seven weeks after Jesus's resurrection, that the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles gathered in the Upper Room, and they were empowered to come out of hiding and waiting and to proclaim the Gospel to the nations. As God originally gave the Law on this day, He also poured out His Spirit on all who would believe.
The indwelling of God's Spirit within His people indicates a shift in the way God relates to us, not through our obedience to the Law, but through hearts that are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Today we live in the era of the indwelling Holy Spirit, but do we really understand the advantages of having His presence in our lives?
The New Testament lists 33 things that the Holy Spirit does in us. Here are just a few of them: He helps us. He guides us. He teaches us. He comforts us. He calls us. He leads us. He fills us. He strengthens us. He convicts us. He empowers us. He sanctifies us. He prays for us. He produces fruit in us. He transforms us. He brings joy. He brings freedom. He helps us to obey.
Eph. 5:18 tells us to be filled with the Spirit Greek tense of the verb indicates to keep on being filled.
It's a continual, ongoing action, not something that occureed one time in the past. The will of God for our lives is that we be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
He is not here for us to use; we are here for Him to use to bring glory to Jesus through our lives
Many believers never sense the Spirit's presence or access the insight and power available to them. Is God's Holy Spirit your intimate companion, guide, and helper, or is He merely some vague Christian concept? Don't neglect this treasure -- understand that almighty God lives within you!
Most of us missed out on the first tradition of wearing red. We missed out on the tradition of decorating the church with red geraniums. But there's still time to fulfill a third tradition: eating cheesecake to remember the sweetness of God's Word.
Our prayer this morning comes from the lyrics of two songs written by Bob Fitts in 1995, which I just discovered this week:
Let's pray:
My eyes are fixed on You, O Lord, your loving face I see.
I set my heart hard after You. I'll follow faithfully.
To see Your holiness
To be Your righteousness,
O how I need You, Lord.
To see Your majesty, to be You family,
O Lord, I praise Your Name.
Live in me, Holy Spirit, live in me. Let my heart become your habitation. Live in me.
Flow in me, Holy Spirit, flow in me. Let my heart become a healing fountain. Flow in me.
Let your springs of living water set my spirit free. Come redeem, healing stream, heal my need.
Heal through me, Holy Spirit, heal through me. Let my hands become the hands of Jesus. Heal through me.
Shine though me, Holy Spirit, let the glory of my loving Father shine through me.
Heal through me, Shine through me, Let the springs of living water set the people free. Come redeem, healing steam, heal our need, Spirit, breathe. Live in me.
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