We’re exploring this week how Jesus sent his followers on a difficult, impossible mission to share his good news with the entire world. He gave them some real, tangible help, by sending the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was evident through the sound of rushing wind, the appearance of flames over their heads, and the speaking of languages they had never spoken before.
Each of these are “things” – wind, fire, languages and that makes it tempting to refer to the Holy Spirit as “it”.
But Christians have long insisted the Holy Spirit is a someone – and refer to the Holy Spirit as “He”. Technically He is called a “person” of the Trinity, as in someone with a personality, someone we can know. The Trinity is the Christian belief that there is one God, who relates to us in three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
That means this was no mere magic trick. This was the arrival of a living and active presence in their lives.
They had just been introduced to their guide for life on Jesus’ mission.
At various times in my life I’ve come up with grand ideas about my future, but have always turned to the Holy Spirit for guidance first. I don’t want to be driven by ambition, or fear, or money or power or anything but the Holy Spirit of God. That means times of waiting, like the disciples did here. They could have plowed ahead with some great ideas on how to get their message to the people. But they waited for the Holy Spirit to guide him, and he did it in a far better way than they could have imagined. People saw what happened and were amazed, and of course a few were skeptical too.
You can be introduced to the Holy Spirit as well, and he can do amazing things through you too.
Talk to God the Father. Jesus made that possible. Ask him to come into your heart through his Holy Spirit, to be your life coach, to guide and direct every step of your life towards accomplishing the reason God put you on this earth – to know and love him, and help others do the same.
Ask him to give you the gifts you need to accomplish this mission – for those disciples it was language, but what is it for you?
Challenge: Take some time to pray that prayer – ask the Holy Spirit of God to enter your life and guide your next steps. Commit to do this every day for a few weeks – to wait on the Holy Spirit to give you the gifts and guidance you need to accomplish Jesus’ mission.
See you tomorrow, when we’ll spend some more time in prayer. See you then.
Meeting with a Group? Your discussion questions are in this week’s Group Study Guide
[permalink append=”#comments”]Discuss the Challenge[/permalink]