Wind and Fire: Spirit's Eternal Presence Displayed
Daily Scripture
Acts 2:1-6, 13-18, 32-33, 37-38
1 When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
5 There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages.
13 Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!”
14 Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! 15 These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! 16 Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young will see visions.
Your elders will dream dreams.
18 Even upon my servants, men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy. (Joel 2:28-32)
32 This Jesus God raised up. We are all witnesses to that fact. 33 He was exalted to God’s right side and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit, and you are seeing and hearing the results of his having done so.
37 When the crowd heard this, they were deeply troubled. They said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Change your hearts and lives. Each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
On the Pentecost day in Acts 2 (seven weeks after the Passover when Jesus died on the cross), God the Holy Spirit came to the disciples in a highly visible way. * Some Jerusalem skeptics claimed the Spirit-filled Christians had just started drinking early. Peter forcefully told them this was God pouring out the Spirit, as promised in Joel 2:28. The Spirit led Peter and others to boldly preach the saving news of Jesus’ victory over death just 50 days earlier, in the same city where Jesus had died.
- In John 15:26, Jesus said the Holy Spirit “will testify about me.” That’s exactly what the Spirit did at Pentecost. Peter’s Spirit-filled sermon said, “This Jesus God raised up. We are all witnesses to that fact. He was exalted to God’s right side and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit.” How has the Spirit testified about Jesus to your heart? How can you rely on the Spirit to make your sharing about Jesus as effective as possible?
- In Acts 1:4, 8, Luke wrote that Jesus told his followers to stay in Jerusalem “to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, ‘… in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses.’” Acts 2 recorded how that promise initially came true. When have you needed to wait for God? What did you learn through the experience? When have you been able to be a witness to what God has done in your life through the Spirit?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you kept your prophetic promise on Pentecost, as in the end you keep all your promises. I claim your promise today and call on the name of the Lord for my salvation. Amen.
GPS Insights
Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill, who serves as the Director of Operations at Resurrection's West location, wrote today’s Insight. She is a Navy mom and mom of three teen daughters, a wife of 24 years, and an avid fan of nachos.
I’ll admit it. I don’t like to wait. I’m not a patient person.
My guess is that might describe many of us, especially in our fast-paced culture filled with instant gratification. Theme parks seem to have discovered this about all of us and even invented new ways to skip the line. Contempt for any delay has been normalized—even encouraged.
While this may seem normal for most people, I think it is hardwired into my personality. Just ask my co-workers and family. I love to get things done. Nothing makes me happier than a completed check list.
So, when I was in college and found myself amid a difficult decision and my pastor advised that I “wait on the Lord” I was less than thrilled. I wanted God to give me an answer now. Action is in my DNA. But, after a short-lived pout, I asked him the next question. How do I do that? After all, the idea of just sitting around and waiting for an answer seemed like torment to me. I imagine it did for the apostles too.
My pastor explained that waiting on God isn’t a passive sport. My ears perked up at that. No, indeed as we wait on the Spirit we are meant to practice active waiting. So much more my speed!
So, what does that look like?
It starts by embracing the tension that naturally occurs when we wait. Waiting is uncomfortable. The biggest culprit that causes that discomfort is our lack of control while we wait in the gap and wrestle with uncertainty, powerlessness and even pain. Instead of wasting time lamenting the lack of control we can normalize the tension and lean into it, recognizing it as a normal part of waiting.
The active part of waiting comes in how we choose to fill our time while we wait. Instead of becoming angry or frustrated we can spend our time in prayer, in Scripture, and in fellowship with others. These practices help us focus our heart toward God enabling us to be ready to hear Him when He speaks. We can use this time to grow closer to God and renew our strength and build perseverance.
After all, if there is one thing this impatient girl has learned over the years it’s that no amount of my fretting, will make God do something before He is ready to do it. It’s a liberating truth—our anxieties don’t accelerate divine timing. So why waste the energy?
It sounds simple. I know it’s not. Did I mention that I’m not patient? It can be hard to wait on God when we have big questions or even bigger anxieties. I have learned over the years, though, that the bigger my question the more important it is to lean into these practices. I love that God is faithful even in the waiting, to be moving me closer to Him so that no matter what the answer is, I am ready and equipped to hear it. And there’s just no rushing that.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* “fierce wind: a symbol of God’s powerful presence, like that involved in creating the world (Genesis 1:1-2) and parting the Red Sea to free Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 13:18; 14:21-22)…. flames of fire: another symbol of God’s powerful presence, like that shown to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3:1-3; 19:16-18).” F. Scott Spencer, study notes on Acts 1:2, 3 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 219 NT.
