In introducing Jesus, John the Baptizer pointed at Jesus and declared two foundational truths: first, that Jesus was the Son of God who would take away the sins of the world, and second, that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Stop and think about the impact of those two things. Jesus has taken away your sins—He has reconciled you the God the Father! You have received mercy instead of Judgment! You have been made a child of God through His sacrifice! You have eternal life! AMAZING!
But in addition to that, Jesus has promised you His Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for what the Father had promised: “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The result of that baptism would be power to be His witnesses “even to the remotest part of the earth.”
June 7th is Shavuot, the fourth Feast of the Lord. This is another feast that Jesus fulfilled by sending Holy Spirit in power on the early Church. I will give a fuller explanation of the Feast in another blog entry later this week. I just want to tweak your attention to this upcoming celebration next week and urge you to be in a seeking attitude. We all need fresh infilling of our precious Holy Spirit. If you have never been baptized with Holy Spirit, I urge you to set aside time to pray and seek for Him as the Church did in Acts 1 and 2. If you have been Holy Spirit baptized already, take time to place yourself before the Lord and receive a fresh infilling of His Spirit. We all need this to overcome the fear of man in order to be His witnesses. Remember Jesus’ promise in Luke 11:13: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
May this be the best Pentecost you have ever experienced! Shalom. Wes
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