That morning, we had come together
to celebrate Shavu’ot, or Pentecost, the 50th day of Passover. I was reclined on some floor cushions deep in
thought. As the others discussed the
teachings of our dearly departed Lord and Friend, Jesus, I pondered the topic
which we had much discussed. “When would the Holy Spirit, this new friend, the
Comforter and Strengthener come?” Before Jesus returned to heaven, He told us
to stay here in Jerusalem until after He and the Father had sent this gift to
us. Then we would be filled with
power. We wondered what power, exactly,
the Holy Spirit would give us. Would we
be strengthened to defeat the Roman Empire?
Or would the power be for the “not of this world” Kingdom Jesus so often referred
to? I wondered how we would know when
this Holy Spirit arrived. Would we
be different? How? It was time to give the directions
for our meal, and I began to rise. But I
sank back into my seated position. What
was this sound? This rushing sound
coming from the heavens and pouring throughout the house? The other followers of Christ and I looked at
each other in amazement. It was like a
mighty gale blew amongst us! We could
not feel a wind, though, but an excitement and sense of boldness stirred and
grew inside us. Peter jumped up and
opened his mouth and spoke, “The Lord!” but suddenly fell silent and
stared. Something secured the gaze of us
all. An object, looking like a smaller
version of the pillar of fire of old, had come into the room. It divided into a number of smaller, equal-sized
flames, and one of them came and alit upon each of us.
Upon this moment, we felt like a part of
us had changed. We leapt to our feet and began to speak to each other about
this and many other wonderful works of God, but in different languages than the
ones we knew. Others around us stared,
but we continued speaking, praising, worshiping. It seems as though they did not hear the wind
or see the tongues of fire, because they instead began accusing us of being drunk! Peter spoke readily to them, and somehow all
of them understood. He recalled a
prophesy of the prophet Joel and proved to them that it was being fulfilled
right in front of their eyes! He went on
to boldly proclaim the truth about our Lord Jesus, and the crowds were
convicted in their hearts. They wanted
to repent and take part of this fulfillment in Judaism. They believed in this Jesus as the Son of God
and the ultimate sacrifice for the remission of their sins. They, too, would eventually receive and be
filled by this Holy Spirit that now dwelt in us—in me!
I began to recall the teachings of
Jesus, and had new revelations and deeper understandings about many of
them. I praised the Lord for His
gift. I now had His voice working in
me. The Holy Spirit would speak through
me to fulfill Christ’s great commission given to us. I was now filled with an eternal boldness to
defend and spread the Kingdom of Christ—an eternal Kingdom far more powerful
and significant than any earthly realm, including the Romans.
Happy Pentecost!
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