Clothesline 254 "Spirit within us"

Christmas, Easter and Pentecost…three special feast days in the Christian Church. And did you ever notice the progression from one feast to the next, that there is more and more that we don’t understand? It’s true. We go from the birth of a baby, to a resurrection from the dead, to the concept of the Spirit of God living within us. It certainly is difficult to understand, but we don’t have to. We only have to believe!

Jesus promised that when he returned to His Father in heaven, he would not leave his followers alone. “I will send you my Holy Spirit,” Jesus said. The apostles didn’t know what that meant, but they followed Jesus’ instructions: Remain here in this upper room until the promise of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled. And on that first Pentecost, the Spirit of God came to those apostles in a mighty way… a rushing wind that filled the room where they were sitting, and tongues of fire rested on the head of each one of them. They saw…they heard…and they felt the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. But what exactly did that mean?

They were given a language, foreign to them but understood by the multitudes in the outside courtyard. And what were they saying? Scripture says they were speaking God’s words of power. And that was the birthday of the Christian Church…the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those who would believe in order that they might bring others to know God.

That same Spirit is within us today. That same Spirit gives us the power to profess our faith, to believe in the power of God to forgive sins, and to help us to move closer and closer to our heavenly home. Hold tight to that Spirit. It is the power of God within us. Pray for an infilling of that Spirit every day. And God will honor your prayer with an abundance of blessings.