Experience - Day 10

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,
 ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.
19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.“

Have you ever been caught in a rain storm?  

There is a difference in how it rains depending on what part of the country you live in.  I am from the Pacific Northwest, and the reason most of us don’t carry umbrella’s has to do with the fact that the rain is often more misty than it is hard.  Unlike my times spent in the midwest and south, for example, when I would sit in my parked car, just 10 feet from the entrance I needed to go in, asking myself if it’s worth getting out of the car or if I should wait for the storm to pass.  I knew that in the 10 feet from my open car door to the entrance, I would be soaked to the bone.

This moment of Pentecost was definitely one of those soaked to the bone outpouring moments of the Holy Spirit.  I often wonder if people standing near them didn’t get some Spirit power splattering on them because of proximity alone.  It was a deluge for sure, but it was a deluge that had been promised 100’s of years before through the prophet Joel.

Peter picks up on this prophecy and recognizes that it’s fulfillment is now.  And, he recognizes that where God/Yahweh is the acting agent in the visions and the salvation they lead to, they know have a picture of that God in Jesus.  It’s another “Aha” moment for Peter, and certainly for the crowd listening to him.

The prophecy in Joel was predicting the coming age of the Messiah.  When the Spirit is poured out, when signs are seen, when dreams and visions come, the Messianic age has arrived.  We are in that Messianic age.  The Spirit is still here, still working, still creating, still giving life.  Let us not think that the Spirit was something the early church enjoyed, or those Saints in the Protestant Reformation got to enjoy, or those alive in the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century benefited from.  No.  The Spirit is alive and well and continue to move and work, but the Spirit doesn’t go where the Spirit isn’t welcomed.  God is love and love doesn’t force itself on anyone.  But love also doesn’t give up.  So we’re told, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

Do you want to experience the Holy Spirit?  Do you want Jesus to be Lord of your life?  Do you want transformation?  Would you love to produce more love, joy, grace, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control?

Then answer the door.  Surrender to the Way of Jesus.  Let Him into your life to take up residence in your heart, your home, and your church.  Then watch as He uses you to bless others in ways you could have never imagined.

1. Do you think you’ve every felt, heard from, or witnessed the work and presence of the Holy Spirit? 
2. Take a moment, today, to surrender yourselves to Jesus, and invite the Holy Spirit into your heart, your home, and your church.  Clothes your eyes, and breathe in God’s Holy Spirit, and breathe out your sins, fears, and concerns.  Do this for several minutes before going about your day.