And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. --Acts 2:2-4 (NKJV)
Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday, the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit sent to earth and Jesus' followers following His ascension to the side of His Father. It was as He promised and the Apostles had been waiting as instructed in Jerusalem for its arrival. Upon its delivery unto them it marked the real beginning of the Christian Church and the start of their intended mission to spread His word far and near in the world.
As I thought about it yesterday afternoon, I revisited the courage that they displayed through the pain and suffering that they withstood in order to meet God's requirements passed to them by Jesus during His time on earth. All of the Apostles suffered horrific deaths with the exception of John, who lived in exile on the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the Gospel of John and The Revelation. John's Gospel is the only one that portrayed things in a way for the understanding of both Greeks and Romans. The others were writtten in the Hebrew tradition.
Thinking back on what these great men did for us in capturing on paper the story and the basis for our belief in Him, I also looked at what we have done in recent times and I found myself somewhat ashamed. In many ways we Americans have become very soft and selfish. We have allowed our freedoms to be taken for granted and, as a result, in many cases we are letting them slip away. Much of this has to do with our taking God for granted. While we know He exists, we often forget to do those little things daily which make Him so much powerful in our life: things like regular prayer, Bible reading and, of course, worship.
He gives us the flexibility to do as we want through the gift of free will but this gift can also be a double edged sword, for even though the choice is ours to make, we know what choice we should be making and that is putting Him first in our lives always. And when we do this, we will find that the Holy Spirit comes forth with great strength and guides us in everything we do. But just like the fine tuned athlete or musician, if we don't practice what we need to do it can easily slip away. The repetitive requirement of our relationship with Him is what keeps us strong. That same strength is also important to us maintaining our freedom in this world.
Take a look at the scripture cited and think about its significance. For if we truly open our hearts to Him and listen to what He tells us, we cannot go wrong and we will stay on the true path. And just think about it: even if things go wrong in our day to day lives along the way we will be safe and secure knowing that He is waiting for us in all His Glory when our days on this earth are done.
Have a wonderful day and week and remember Him always. God bless you all.
Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday, the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit sent to earth and Jesus' followers following His ascension to the side of His Father. It was as He promised and the Apostles had been waiting as instructed in Jerusalem for its arrival. Upon its delivery unto them it marked the real beginning of the Christian Church and the start of their intended mission to spread His word far and near in the world.
As I thought about it yesterday afternoon, I revisited the courage that they displayed through the pain and suffering that they withstood in order to meet God's requirements passed to them by Jesus during His time on earth. All of the Apostles suffered horrific deaths with the exception of John, who lived in exile on the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the Gospel of John and The Revelation. John's Gospel is the only one that portrayed things in a way for the understanding of both Greeks and Romans. The others were writtten in the Hebrew tradition.
Thinking back on what these great men did for us in capturing on paper the story and the basis for our belief in Him, I also looked at what we have done in recent times and I found myself somewhat ashamed. In many ways we Americans have become very soft and selfish. We have allowed our freedoms to be taken for granted and, as a result, in many cases we are letting them slip away. Much of this has to do with our taking God for granted. While we know He exists, we often forget to do those little things daily which make Him so much powerful in our life: things like regular prayer, Bible reading and, of course, worship.
He gives us the flexibility to do as we want through the gift of free will but this gift can also be a double edged sword, for even though the choice is ours to make, we know what choice we should be making and that is putting Him first in our lives always. And when we do this, we will find that the Holy Spirit comes forth with great strength and guides us in everything we do. But just like the fine tuned athlete or musician, if we don't practice what we need to do it can easily slip away. The repetitive requirement of our relationship with Him is what keeps us strong. That same strength is also important to us maintaining our freedom in this world.
Take a look at the scripture cited and think about its significance. For if we truly open our hearts to Him and listen to what He tells us, we cannot go wrong and we will stay on the true path. And just think about it: even if things go wrong in our day to day lives along the way we will be safe and secure knowing that He is waiting for us in all His Glory when our days on this earth are done.
Have a wonderful day and week and remember Him always. God bless you all.
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