Acts 2:1-4
It was near the end of the week and with a full day of teaching at Southern Bible on Thursday, a Friday night dinner at our house for my Old Testament Survey students and our Truth Encounter Board, and then Saturday, needing to prepare for a Sunday morning message on John 6:60-71, “The Disciples Desert Jesus,” for Agape Fellowship in Fort Worth, I found myself running on empty. Ever feel like you just don’t have the energy to get done what needs to get done?
Jesus knew all about our empty tank. He knew that our human power couldn’t even begin to take the Gospel from home to the farthest corners of the world (Acts 1:8). So he told His original disciples, in a crowd about 120 strong, to wait until they received a special gift He was sending from His Father. And His gift arrived on Pentecost.
"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, out of the heaven came a sound. It was like the sound of a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire home where they were sitting, and distributed on each one of them what looked like tongues—tongues of fire that rested upon each individual. All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues just as the Spirit gave to them the ability to speak.” Acts 2:1-4
Some other time, we will wrestle with the tongues they were speaking and why, but today I’m letting the power of the truth that “all were filled with the Holy Spirit” pour His divine strength into my life. He’s got energy like a mighty rushing wind.
When I didn’t think I had the fuel to understand John 6 and preach it on Sunday, I could simply admit it and let Him teach me and teach them. And at 12:30, when we left church, one of the leaders thanked us, “My heart was burning while we studied the Word of God together.”
LORD, thanks that the Holy Spirit makes Your gift of eternal life present in our lives right now. We don’t have to trust in our human effort and strength. The mighty wind and fire dwells within and if we will only ask and then depend, He can get the job done.
