Celebrate the Holy Spirit!

Sunday, June 7 is the 50^th day after Easter, which is the day the Holy Spirit came on the followers of Jesus in Acts 2.  Some call it Pentecost Sunday.  The Greek word for pentecost means fifty.  Acts 2 tells us that Jesus’ disciples were gathered in the upper room when they were filled with the Holy Spirit; they heard a great wind and spoke in different languages as tongues of fire settled upon them.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, which is essential for salvation.  The Spirit counsels and comforts us (John 14:16, 26).  The Spirit guides us.  In John 6:63, Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life.”  The Spirit renews us.

In the languages of the original Bible, Hebrew and Greek, the word for “Spirit” is the same as the word for “breath.”  Genesis 2:7 speaks of creation as God breathing the breath of life into Adam and Eve’s nostrils.  Sometimes we say that the Spirit is like the wind.  We can’t see it, but we can see what it does.

The Apostles’ Creed says, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”  Do we truly believe that the Spirit is working in us and through us?

When we pray and read the Bible, do we expect the Spirit to speak God’s Word to us?  Do you let the Spirit guide you and lead your conversations with others?  Are your relationships marked by the love, joy, and peace of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)?  When we meet together in a small group, class, committee or in worship, do we really expect the Spirit to work in us or through us?

I encourage you to keep your eyes and ears open.  It’s too easy to miss what the Spirit is doing.  The Spirit is working in our midst, but if we’re not alert, we miss the special things that God’s Spirit is doing.  God’s Spirit is alive and moving and making old things new!  Let us give thanks to the Lord and praise Him for the work of His Spirit!

To God be the Glory!

This is the “Come holy Spirit” prayer from Cursillio:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,

and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created.

And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,

Did instruct the hearts of the faithful,

Grant that by the same Holy Spirit,

We may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.aler

You Can Sit Down Now.

I’ve been thinking about those last words from the cross, “It is finished.”  There’s a sweet thought – the word of redemption is finished.  Charles Wesley wrote, ”Love’s redeeming work is done, fought the fight, the battle won.” 

But do we really believe that?  Vain people that we are, we like to think that there is something we need to do to make redemption complete, as though God needs our help.  But no help is needed.  The work of redemption is done.  It’s not up to us to settle accounts with God; the account has already been settled.  There’s nothing you have to do.  It is finished.

You and I are not as important as we think.  No matter what one has accomplished in this life, the attendance at one’s funeral will still be determined by the weather.  Hebrews 10:12 says, “When Christ had offered up for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”  He sat down because his work was done. 

The best thing we can do right now, is to sit down and be grateful that the work of salvation is done.  Stop striving.  God will have his way with this wayward world.  The war is won.  The debt is paid.  We can sit down now.  It is finished.