Times and reasons to celebrate

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 15-16; Psalm 58


TO CHEW ON: "You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide." Deuteronomy 16:11.

Moses reminded the Israelites of three yearly feasts in Deuteronomy 16:

• the Feast of Passover.

• the Feast of Pentecost (here called Feast of Weeks, i.e. seven weeks = 7 x 7 = 49 days + the next [feast] day = 50 days).

• the Feast of Tabernacles.

As described here, the Feast of Pentecost was an annual harvest festival. It was also called Feast of Harvest - Exodus 23:16, the Day of Firstfruits - Numbers 28:26, and Pentecost in Leviticus 23:16. (Pentecost is based on the Greek translation of fifty days.)

Viewed as a whole, God instituted these feasts to help the Israelites remember their history with Him. Through them they recalled their time of slavery in Egypt, God's miraculous deliverance, their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness in tents, and the fact that God was the source of their blessing.

It's a good thing for us too, to regularly remind ourselves of these things and rejoice, like people did in the Old Testament. Matthew Henry says:

"Never should a believer forget his low estate of guilt and misery, his deliverance, and the price it cost the Redeemer; that gratitude and joy in the Lord may be mingled with sorrow for sin, and patience under the tribulations in his way to the kingdom of heaven. They must rejoice in their receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to him; our duty must be our delight, as well as our enjoyment. If those who were under the law must rejoice before God, much more we that are under the grace of the gospel; which makes it our duty to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always" - Matthew Henry, Commentary on Deuteronomy 16.

We can celebrate:

• Our unique story of freedom from 'slavery' and our salvation, whether it occurred when we were youngsters or later.

• How God has blessed us in the meantime with family, a home, the family of God.

• How God has seen us through wilderness experiences (death of loved ones, times of sickness like cancer or depression, financial straits, unemployment...).

• How God continues to provide for us through the produce of our own gardens, or the salary from our workplace, or our pensions if we are retired.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the Israelite example of regular, repeating celebrations that helped them review their history with You. Help me to remember in a similar way, and weave an attitude of rejoicing and thanksgiving into the fabric of my life. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 58

The Bible Project VIDEO: NEPHESH: Soul (Shema word study series)



Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Power for ALL

Stained glass window from 
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Moorhead MN.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:4


When someone gives you a job, in order for you to be successful it is important that you have the capability to carry it out. Thus Jesus gave the large assignment -- to spread around the world the good news of what He had done -- with a proviso. The disciples were to refrain from doing anything about it until God gave them the enabling. His instructions: "And you are witnesses of these things….but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." Luke 24:49.

And so the disciples gathered in Jerusalem to wait -- for what? I'm sure they didn't know exactly. But when it came, they did know this was it. An interesting fact to note is that the Holy Spirit came, He came on all.

Holy Spirit was no stranger to the Jews. He had come upon and indwelt numerous people in the Old Testament.

The Holy Spirit came upon or lived in:

• Bezalel to give him wisdom and skill to design and create the Tabernacle and its furnishings - Exodus 31:1-5.

• Balaam, Ezekiel, and other Old Testament prophets to enable them to prophecy -- bless, curse, give the people messages from God, and predict future events - Numbers 24:2; Ezekiel 11:24,25; 2 Peter 1:21.

• Gideon, giving him courage and a plan by which to lead the people into battle - Judges 6:33-35.

• Samson  for exploits of physical strength needed to challenge and defeat the Philistines - Judges 14:6.

• King Saul giving him a new heart and a prophetic gift to prove it - 1 Samuel 10:6

• Simeon to enable him to wait with hope, and then recognize, announce and prophecy over Jesus - Luke 2:25-32.

Each of these indwellings was  given to accomplish a specific task. The people in general were not so empowered. But here, on the Day of Pentecost, all were filled. And the Holy Spirit's filling is still available to all.

That filling is not to give us spiritual thrills or make us feel good. It is empowerment for service just as it was in the Old Testament. And I would suggest that such infilling can enable in the same ways it did then, depending on the need of the task and of the moment. We can claim the Holy Spirit's infilling to give us a new heart. We can claim it for wisdom and skill in the arts. We can claim it for help in leading and governing, for words to say, for courage, even for exploits of physical strength. Let's claim the Holy Spirit's presence and empowering afresh for our life, work, and ministry today!


PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, thank You for Your availability to all. Help me to allow You to work in and through me today. Amen.

MORE: Pentecost Sunday - and  "Holy Spirit Rain Down" sung by Hillsong

Today is Pentecost Sunday. The liturgy for today begins with this collect:

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Pour it out, pour it out, pour it out!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Joel 2:18-32

TO CHEW ON: "And it shall come to pass afterward

That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your old men shall dream dreams

Your young men shall see visions

And also on My menservants and on My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days." Joel 2:28-29

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting,"  writes Luke in Acts 2."Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and one sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" Acts 2:2-4.

Confusion, amazement, perplexity, marvelling, cynicism. These were some of the reactions of the onlooking crowd when they saw that first general outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Peter, though, knew exactly what was happening. He explained: "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." And then he quoted the prophecy in our focus verse today (Acts 2:17-21).

Joel's prophecy takes an abrupt positive turn in Joel 2:18. After repentance "THEN..." God pities, returns the land to productivity, changes the nation's reputation, "restores the years that the locust has eaten" and promises to "afterward" pour out His spirit in a lavish way.

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came on only certain individuals to enable them to do the job God had for them to do. But Joel speaks of a new time when God says, "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh..."

My Bible's footnotes on Joel point us to some of the significances of this event:

"Pour out" signifies great abundance, like deluges of rain on a parched land.

"All flesh" means every human category: gender, age, class. "Whatever Spirit-anointed ministry is available to sons is equally available to daughters" - Jerry Cook, notes on Joel, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1166.

"Menservants and maidservants" are slaves. "This was absolutely unprecedented. In the Old Testament there is not even one instance of a slave functioning as a prophet" New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1166.

This lavish Holy Spirit outpouring wasn't a one-time Pentecost event. Peter tells his listeners, "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" Acts 2:39.

"I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten," prophesies Joel. "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh...whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved..." What welcome words to the beleaguered Hebrews in Joel's time.

And they still have relevance to us today. Whether our locust years are a time of actual physical desolation or prodigal wandering, God can restore those stolen years and then make every day fresh and abundant with the Holy Spirit's presence.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live in the extravagance of  Your Spirit's fullness. Amen.

MORE: "Holy Visitation" by Charlie Hall, sung by Rita Springer

Charlie Hall has put the words of Joel 2 to music in the powerful song "Holy Visitation." Sung here by Rita Springer, it invokes the Spirit's coming... "Pour it out, pour it out, pour it out / Over Your sons and Your daughters..."

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Wind, Fire, Words of the Spirit

Descent of the Holy Spirit - Dore

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them divided tongues of fire and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:2-4

Three elements jump out at me as I read this thrilling passage of the Holy Spirit's coming on the day of Pentecost:

Wind

Wind was the sound of the Spirit's coming. Wind is that invisible unpredictable force of nature we all know. It is associated with the Spirit in other places in the Bible.

• Think back of creation where "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). The writer of my Bible's notes on Genesis explains:  "Hovering connotes sweeping or moving rather than staying stationary. The Holy Spirit is the 'executive arm' of the Trinity so He was quite active as God spoke each word" - R. Russell Bixler,  New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 4.
• Jesus referred to the invisible, unpredictable wind when He spoke to Nicodemus about being born again: " 'The wind blows where it wishes and you can hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of he Spirit' " John 3:8.

Fire

Fire was the sight of the Spirit's coming. Controlled fire is a friend and powerful tool, but uncontrolled it's dangerous. God's presence is often linked with fire in the Bible.

• In the Old Testament God spoke to Moses from a fiery bush (Exodus 3:2).
•  He lingered over Israel in the wilderness in a nighttime cloud that looked like fire (Exodus 13:21,22).
• And God descended on Mt. Sinai in fire, shielding the Israelites from His presence in a thunderous cloud of smoke (Exodus 19:18). 
• John the Baptist predicted Jesus would baptize "... with the Holy Spirit and fire" - Matthew 3:11.

Words

Tongues were the shape of the Spirit's flames and the result was everyone present "began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." The Holy Spirit and words are linked in other places too.

• When the Spirit came on the seventy elders who were to be Moses' helpers, they prophesied (Numbers 11:25). 
• Joel predicted, "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughter shall prophesy…" (Joel 2:28). 
• Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit who would give them witnessing power (Acts 1:8). 
• And it is through the Holy Spirit that we have the Bible writings (2 Peter 1:21).

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit's coming. As we ponder our own lives relating to the Spirit's presence, let's keep in mind how His empowering and working through us is wind-like. We can't control Him. What He accomplishes through us is done according to His sovereignty.

His presence in our lives is fire-like in its cleansing, powerful, helpful, sometimes dangerous ways.

Its evidence in our lives is words—words of prayer, praise, song, witness, teaching, encouragement, verbally and through all kinds of media.

PRAYER: Dear God thank You for sending the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in me (1 Corinthians 3:16). May this be supported by the wind, fire, and words that emanate from my life. Amen.

MORE: Day of Pentecost.

Today is the Day of Pentecost or Whitsunday. Here is the Collect that begins the day's liturgy:

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spirit of change

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 3:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "Then Peter said, 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' And he took him by the hand and lifted him up." Acts 3:6,7

When we read about Peter in the New Testament, it's almost as if we're reading about two different people.
The early Peter is:

• Naturally impulsive - Matthew 14:28.

• Slow to comprehend spiritual truth - Matthew 15:15,16.

• Full of contradictions - Matthew 16:16-23.

• Self-seeking - Matthew 19:27.

• Cowardly - Matthew 26:69-72.

But what a change after Pentecost. Now he has

• Wisdom to teach and preach - Acts 2:14; 3:12.

• Boldness and courage - Acts 4:13,20.

• Power and anointing for miracles - Acts 3:6,7… and tons of faith. Here he extends his hand to lift up that lame man before there's a whisper of evidence he'll be able to walk. We read in Acts 5:15 how his very presence has healing power. And when Tabitha dies, he raises her from the dead - Acts 9:40.

• Insight to break down the spiritual barriers between Jews and Gentiles - Acts 10:44.

The change in Peter's life comes about when the Holy Spirit takes over.

A sobering question to ask ourselves is, which list of Peter's characteristics describes us?

The encouraging thing is that the Spirit who changed Peter is available to indwell, possess, and change us too. Another boldly Spirit-filled apostle—Paul—reminds the Christians in Thessalonica:

"For our gospel did not come to you in words only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit…" 1 Thessalonians 1:5.

He reassures Timothy:

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" - 2 Timothy 1:7.

He prays for the Ephesians—a prayer that we can pray over ourselves and others:

"…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man" - Ephesians 3:16.

As I am in prayer about this just now, I sense the Lord reminding me—and us— that the Spirit's empowering in our lives is not to accomplish what the apostles did, but for the work and assignments He gives us: to raise that family, make those boots, manage that strata, work in that bank, pastor that church, write that book…


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to yield myself to Your Spirit that changes, empowers, and makes me more like Jesus n my everyday 21st century life. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Holy Spirit's coming — "Whatever could this mean?"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?'" Acts 2:12


"Whatever could this mean?" asked the onlookers as they heard the wind sound, saw the flames, understood the message of the "wonderful works of God" in their mother tongues.

One thing it meant was that the church would continue to grow despite persecution. It happened in Acts following the threats and mistreatment that scattered the believers. As a result they spread the gospel to the places they fled. And it continues to today. Consider the Shouwang (Lighthouse) Church in Beijing China.

Begun in 1993 as ten people who met in an apartment, the church quickly outgrew the space, splitting numerous times. When government controls were loosened the pastor brought his congregation into the open, renting an office building as a meeting place. In 2006, lawyers in the congregation applied with the State Administration for Religious Affairs Office to be granted official recognition. And they raised $4 million to buy a meeting place of their own.

Throughout this time the church continued to grow, holding multiple Sunday services, running a welfare program, and helping out during the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province.

The church's application for state recognition was denied, however, and shortly after that big problems began. One Sunday government officers burst into the Sunday service, declaring it illegal and writing down particulars of each person present. Calls were made to the congregants' workplaces and schools and they were threatened with dismissal. The government also contacted the seller of the property and he now refuses to hand over the key. A State-owned paper, Global Times, which at one point spoke favourably about house churches declared more recently: "All Christians as well as those of other faiths, are Chinese citizens first and foremost. It is their obligation to observe discipline and abide by the law."

Despite all this according to a New York Times article:* "Shouwang's ranks continued to grow."

What makes this church so attractive? "Beyond the appeal of spirituality and the promise of redemption, many converts say they are drawn by the intimacy and sense of community fostered by unofficial churches." Sounds a lot like the church in Acts, doesn't it?

What accounts for this growth despite persecution? It is one of the effects of the Holy Spirit's coming — that same Spirit that brought about a 2500% increase (from 120 to 3000) on the day of Pentecost, is still going about His work of adding to the church, government laws against it or not.

Let's pray for the Shouwang congregation. They are now meeting outdoors, refusing to again go underground even though, according to the article cited, "Most of the church's leadership is now in custody or under house arrest. Its Web site has been blocked."

And let's pray for ourselves, that Holy Spirit fire would infuse our meetings and cause similar multiplication in our churches.

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, how mysterious are Your ways as you bring vigor and growth out of persecution. Please fill me with the boldness and passion that filled the disciples on the day of Pentecost and which grows the church around the world. Amen.

MORE: The Day of Pentecost

Liturgy for the Day of Pentecost begins with the Collect:

"Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

*Source of information for the article above: April 17, 2011 article by Andrew Jacobs - "Illegal Church, Evicted, Tries to Buck Beijing"