Phil Munsey
Devotional Plan for: Week of May 24 - May 30
This past Sunday at TLCC we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, the Jewish festival that was occurring when the Holy Spirit came and filled the followers of Jesus. Our devotions this week focus on Luke's account of this day in the first 2 chapters in Acts.
Monday - Read Acts 2:1-4
Acts 2:1-4 NIV: "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
This week, we prepare for, and celebrate, the crucial and exhilarating day of Pentecost. When you think about the "Christian calendar", you mostly think of Christmas, Easter, maybe Good Friday. But when those are those are the only days of Christian history that we focus on, we miss other key moments in Christian history that shape our lives today.
The day of Pentecost, without a doubt, was one of the most essential events in all of history, particularly in the lives of those who believe in Jesus as the Christ. Often, when we think of what Jesus came to do, we think he came to this world and died and so we're all saved from our sins. This is true, but it's only part of the truth. The more full truth is that Jesus came, defeated the evil powers and sin and death through his crucifixion and resurrection, and he ascended into heaven and now sends his Spirit to us so that we can have the same power he had. Pentecost is the telling of the end of that story: Jesus has given us his Spirit, and the Scripture we read today is the first experience of people receiving his Spirit in this new, post-resurrection world.
Let's address some major questions about this, though. First, what does it mean to receive the Spirit of God? Though this can't all be explained fully in that we have limitations in our knowledge, somehow as spiritual beings we're able to be indwelt by that very Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. In the same way God was present spacio-temporally in the Temple in the Old Testament, so too, God is uniquely and fully present in us. But it appears there are also different ways in which this happens. A lot of people believe we receive the Spirit first when we accept Christ as Savior, but there are also special "fillings" of the Spirit subsequent to the initial indwelling of the Spirit within us. Sometimes, when we first receive the Spirit of God or when he uniquely moves within us after we've already received him, crazy spiritual things happen. In our text today, they spoke in a foreign tongue that they did not know. Sometimes, special miracles of healing, prediction of the future, or special knowledge can happen. God is doing something special that only his Holy Spirit can do.
Again, this all may sound pretty weird. But, if we believe there's more than just this physical material world, and that a God exists, then it makes sense that some weird-seeming things could occur in our world. Sometimes, we're just too afraid to ask for it or confront it. But what if God wanted to give you a special experience with the Holy Spirit? What if he just wants you to ask him for this special experience? If you believe in Christ as Savior, you already have his Spirit. Now maybe ask him to do something unique in your life.
Reflection Question(s):
Have you ever asked for the Holy Spirit to unusually work through you?
- Christian Smith – Director of Pastoral Ministries
Tuesday - Read Acts 2:5-13
Acts 2:5-13 NIV: "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Aren't all these who are
