Day 235: If Your Pentecost Can Be Summed Up In One Word ...
Read: Acts 2:1 - 11
I believe it’s generally true that people are always looking to
improve, to change their lives for the better. That’s why there are so
many commercials for diet and exercise products – lots of people out
there trying to change their appearance for the better. I guess it comes down to an exercise in our vanity to be more concerned with outward appearance than inner self, before and after pictures. People are
always looking to improve, to change for the better. Isn’t that why
people go to school? Isn’t that why people go to conferences and
seminars? Professionally, or personally, we desire to be seen as changed, as better than who we really are. If just one word could sum it up for you today, what would it be ....?
What is it about yourself that you would like to change? If you could
change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Is it the way you
look? Something to do with your health? Something to do with your level
of expertise on a certain subject? If you could sum up in one word the one change, that one thing about yourself, what would it be? My beloved friends, this is where you need to be prayerful, careful, and oh so spiritual when you look in the mirror. Who is looking back at you? I know the obvious answer. I would see me looking back at me too. Ask yourselves, who else is looking back at you? Who else might be staring back at you wondering "If just one Word could sum it up for Me today, what would it be ....?"
God is interested in change. He’s interested in changing you. Today is
your Pentecost Sunday, and as we take a look at what happened on
Pentecost many years ago, we see that God changed many people’s lives.
And as we learn about these things, we will see that God is also
interested in changing you - there are certain things about you that God
wants to change. What are those things? And how does God plan to do
that? We will find the answers as we study God’s Word. Change # one was
what happened to the disciples. We know the disciples believed in Jesus
as Savior, yet they were still confused. They did not fully understand Jesus’ mission or even their own.
But then Pentecost came. The disciples were together, when the sound of
a blowing wind came down from heaven. What seemed to be tongues of fire
settled on their heads. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and
began to speak in several foreign languages they had never learned
before. A crowd gathered, people from all over the world, and that crowd
listened as the disciples preached the Gospel. The Apostle Peter stood
up and addressed the crowd – he gave a beautiful sermon that God the
Holy Spirit inspired him to preach, a sermon that converted 3000 people
in one day. As you begin praying for your changes this Pentecost, If just one Word could sum up your Pentecost this day, what Word would it be ....?
Let Us Pray the Prayer of St. Bonaventure to the Holy Spirit:
Lord Jesus, as God's Spirit came down and rested upon you,
May the same Spirit rest on us,
Bestowing his sevenfold gifts.
First, grant us the gift of understanding,
By which your precepts may enlighten our minds.
Second, grant us counsel, by which we may follow
in your footsteps on the path of righteousness.
Third, grant us courage,
by which we may ward off the enemy's attacks.
Fourth, grant us knowledge,
by which we can distinguish good from evil.
Fifth, grant us piety,
by which we may acquire compassionate hearts.
Sixth, grant us fear,
by which we may draw back from evil
and submit to what is good.
Seventh, grant us wisdom,
that we may taste fully the life-giving sweetness of your love.
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Read: Acts 2:1 - 11
I believe it’s generally true that people are always looking to improve, to change their lives for the better. That’s why there are so many commercials for diet and exercise products – lots of people out there trying to change their appearance for the better. I guess it comes down to an exercise in our vanity to be more concerned with outward appearance than inner self, before and after pictures. People are always looking to improve, to change for the better. Isn’t that why people go to school? Isn’t that why people go to conferences and seminars? Professionally, or personally, we desire to be seen as changed, as better than who we really are. If just one word could sum it up for you today, what would it be ....?
What is it about yourself that you would like to change? If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Is it the way you look? Something to do with your health? Something to do with your level of expertise on a certain subject? If you could sum up in one word the one change, that one thing about yourself, what would it be? My beloved friends, this is where you need to be prayerful, careful, and oh so spiritual when you look in the mirror. Who is looking back at you? I know the obvious answer. I would see me looking back at me too. Ask yourselves, who else is looking back at you? Who else might be staring back at you wondering "If just one Word could sum it up for Me today, what would it be ....?"
God is interested in change. He’s interested in changing you. Today is your Pentecost Sunday, and as we take a look at what happened on Pentecost many years ago, we see that God changed many people’s lives. And as we learn about these things, we will see that God is also interested in changing you - there are certain things about you that God wants to change. What are those things? And how does God plan to do that? We will find the answers as we study God’s Word. Change # one was what happened to the disciples. We know the disciples believed in Jesus as Savior, yet they were still confused. They did not fully understand Jesus’ mission or even their own.
But then Pentecost came. The disciples were together, when the sound of a blowing wind came down from heaven. What seemed to be tongues of fire settled on their heads. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in several foreign languages they had never learned before. A crowd gathered, people from all over the world, and that crowd listened as the disciples preached the Gospel. The Apostle Peter stood up and addressed the crowd – he gave a beautiful sermon that God the Holy Spirit inspired him to preach, a sermon that converted 3000 people in one day. As you begin praying for your changes this Pentecost, If just one Word could sum up your Pentecost this day, what Word would it be ....?
Let Us Pray the Prayer of St. Bonaventure to the Holy Spirit:
Lord Jesus, as God's Spirit came down and rested upon you,
May the same Spirit rest on us,
Bestowing his sevenfold gifts.
First, grant us the gift of understanding,
By which your precepts may enlighten our minds.
Second, grant us counsel, by which we may follow
in your footsteps on the path of righteousness.
Third, grant us courage,
by which we may ward off the enemy's attacks.
Fourth, grant us knowledge,
by which we can distinguish good from evil.
Fifth, grant us piety,
by which we may acquire compassionate hearts.
Sixth, grant us fear,
by which we may draw back from evil
and submit to what is good.
Seventh, grant us wisdom,
that we may taste fully the life-giving sweetness of your love.
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Phillips, Craig & Dean - From the Inside Out
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CCLI
Song # 4705176 Joel Houston © 2005 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by
EMI Christian Music Publishing) A thousand times I've failed Still
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