HEADING TOWARDS PENTECOST SUNDAY
It is now 31 days since we completed our Lenten Journey (how time seems to fly) which culminated on Resurrection Sunday with Jesus rising from the dead, so it is only now 19 DAYS TO PENTECOST SUNDAY.
In this blog I would like to highlight THE PERSON & MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
He is the THIRD PERSON OF THE ETERNAL GODHEAD. He never highlights or speaks of Himself, even though He always was and always will be. He is mentioned in the first verses of Genesis 1:2 NKJV The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Throughout the O.T. we read He often would come upon Prophets, Priests & Kings and anoint them in their ministry, but His ministry was going to change and seem to enlarge when God instituted the New Covenant.
Ezekiel prophesied in Ez. 11:19 NKJV Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a NEW SPIRIT within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh
Joel prophesied in Joel 2:28-29 NKJV nd it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My SPIRIT on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out MY SPIRIT in those days.
This had its fulfilment on the Day of Pentecost and continues in the life of Believers unto this day. Jesus regularly referred to the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels, not only as to the future but right there and then. The Holy Spirit was always and always will be happy for the spotlight to be on Jesus.
May I remind you today if you are born again, whether you have had A PERSONAL PENTECOST experience (or not) as described in Acts 2:4 NKJV And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. You can and should be seeking to be living in RESURRECTION LIFE AND POWER.
Why, because the moment we were born again The Holy Spirit THE THIRD MEMBER OF THE ETERNAL GODHEAD came into our life, and His ministry within us is to enable us to live and walk in victory and purity and to help us become more and more like Jesus.
I don’t know specifically why there is 50 days between Resurrection Sunday and the Day of Pentecost, but I am sure the Disciples DID NOT LIVE IN DEFEAT between these two events.
Before the Ezekiel & Joel prophecies began to be fulfilled the Holy Spirit was very involved for we read in Rom. 8:11 these words.
NKJV But if the SPIRIT of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His SPIRIT who dwells in you.
AMP. N.T.And if the SPIRIT of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
NLT The SPIRIT of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same SPIRIT living within you.
PASSION Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s SPIRIT OF RESURRECTION lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same SPIRIT that breathes life into you!
MESSAGE It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and He does, as surely as He did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his SPIRIT living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
So, the challenge to us today is as Paul declares is that we must let the same Holy Spirit who raised (resurrected) Christ from the dead, let HIS RESURRECTION LIFE AND POWER WORK IN US AND THROUGH US.
I personally believe that in the 50 days following Resurrection Sunday and especially the 10 days in the Upper Room brought the 120 to a place of complete surrender to the Lord, and this let the Holy Spirit (who went from being resident to PRESIDENT to completely FILL THE HOUSE (their bodies) all 120 had their personal Pentecost that surely changed their lives and ministries so that in one generation they turned the whole known world upside down Acts 17:6 NKJV.
Can I challenge and encourage you that during these next 19 days you spend some quality extra time in God’s presence and let the Holy Spirit draw you to a fresh and deeper place of surrender, and expect in faith God the Holy Spirit will FILL THE HOUSE.
Remember this great song.
Over all the earth, You reign on high
Every mountain stream, every sunset sky
But my one request, Lord, my only aim
Is that You’d reign in me again
[Chorus]
Lord, reign in me, reign in Your power
Over all my dreams, in my darkest hour
‘Cause You are the Lord of all I am
So won’t You reign in me again
[Verse 2]
And over every thought, over every word
May my life reflect the beauty of my Lord
‘Cause You mean more to me than any earthly thing
So won’t You reign in me again
[Chorus]
Lord, reign in me, reign in Your power
Over all my dreams, in my darkest hour
‘Cause You are the Lord of all I am
So won’t You reign in me again
LET THIS BE OUR 2020 DAY OF PENTECOST EXPERIENCE
