When gifts are given our response should be – thank you – and then we should unwrap the gift, correct?
JOIN OUR LIFE GROUP AT 7 PM ON THURSDAY BY CLICKING THIS LINK
Is it okay to sing Happy Birthday to the Holy Spirit?…how about to the Church?
If you say no, sorry – I did it.
I declared a Happy Birthday to the Church and the Holy Spirit because this past weekend we celebrated Pentecost. It’s the day the Church was birthed as we read in the book of Acts.
It all happened just as God had planned.
Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of fire and power. The gift that had been promised was now being poured out upon ALL mankind.
We heard it in service this weekend that God offers us salvation and in doing so we receive the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then after the Trinity comes to dwell in us, another gift is offered where we are filled with power from on high and the Holy Spirit is poured upon us.
God was offering the ability to communicate beyond our natural voice and mind.
In I Corinthians 14:2-4, we hear an invitation to exclusively communicate with Him. “For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his Spirit he speaks mysteries.”
Have you ever left a wrapped gift untouched that someone has given you?
Can you imagine I give you this gift and you never open it?
Here is the question of questions:
Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?
Note, the Apostle Paul did not say:
Have you understood the Holy Spirit since you received – that was not the question.
Nor did he say: Did you earn or pay enough to receive the Holy Spirit? Of course not.
He didn’t say – did you believe –
NO he said
DID YOU RECEIVE?
The birth of the universal church of Christ happened in the book of Acts, and we see the Holy Spirit take center stage.
The church body as a whole is being called up to be empowered beyond human ability.
The devil doesn’t understand the language and can’t eavesdrop.
We didn’t have to study to speak it.
It’s a gift…a heavenly morse code
It’s beyond our comprehension – it’s Spirit to spirit talk. It’s so divine.
I know this topic can be a little controversial, but can I ask you to certainty revisit this topic in your heart, mind and spirit?
We can’t be content to leave this IMMENSE gift in a pretty box because we don’t understand it.
Our world desperately needs believers to be endued with power from above.
When we dare take another glance of preconceived ideas with an openness, we might see something more that God had planned for our lives.
As we look at scripture, we see a pattern – a subsequent work of the Holy Spirit pouring upon His people with power – it is called the baptism of the HS.
In Matthew 3:11, we hear John the Baptist speaking these words:
“I will baptize you with water but the one who comes after me will baptize you with fire and with power.”
Acts 1:8 tells us, “You shall receive power after the HS has come upon you.”
Acts 4:31 reads: “When we are filled with the HS we will speak the word of God with boldness.”
In Acts 2, we read that the Holy Spirit was poured out and people stood in wonder at what they heard. The people spoke in tongues of other lands. What do you think they sounded like – you know they all worshipped God but in different tongues.
These men said, we haven’t as much heard that there is a Holy Spirit – maybe that is you today. I remember the day all of this was news to me.
There are many in our world today that do not know of our best friend the Holy Spirit, and we must go and tell them about this gift of how they can communicate with God on a personal level beyond human ability, and they can leave their brokenness behind.
Let’s leave our resistance against the Spirit of God behind.
I pray and sense an urgency for purification – for consecration – for a divine setting apart from this world’s system.
Our world is a mess right now, and we need a fresh outpouring.
Let’s be drawn to the altar and be purified and dedicated to our God.
Let it be us being set ablaze like the disciples were, and then maybe the fire from heaven would fall down and our cities wouldn’t have to be burned over the confusion and pain the enemy is sending our way.
There is no discrimination in the courts of our God.
God created all races – we are beautiful together. We cannot let evil live in our hearts towards others.
God refine us – make it personal.
Is 51:4 says: “Attend unto me Oh my people and give ear to me Oh my nation – for a law shall go forth from me and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples.” This is God’s heart. He had a plan. We are the missing link to help change our world.
In John 20, we see Jesus breathing the breath of heaven on his disciples and saying Receive the Holy Spirit once He has been resurrected. Jesus, we ask you to breathe on us supernaturally in this hour of your church.
We want look like you Father and love like you as well.
