Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

 

The Holy Spirit Who Renews Everything Acts 2:1-13 Vs.4 "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Each one of us is created for a unique mission.  The process of renewal requires when someone loses the usefulness for which he/she was originally created.  The Bible teaches us of God’s desire to reinstate the relationship with His people that was broken by Adam and Eve’s sin.  So, the loving and compassionate Lord, in His grace and mercy, renews and restores us again for His created purpose. The key to really understand the book of Acts is the realization that this book is not a record of the Apostles as the title would lead us to believe, but it is actually acts of the Lord and  Savior Jesus Christ.  Luke, in the second chapter of Acts, gives an account of the events that took place on the day of Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension.  Pentecost means the fiftieth.  This is one of the most significant events described in Acts, not only because of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise given in Acts 1:4-5 which would enable and strengthen the Apostles to carry out His command to be His witnesses to the end of the earth, but it also marks the birth of the Church as the Body of Christ.  This is the transition from the Old Covenant in which the law was external, and the Holy Spirit would come and go to the New Covenant in which the law becomes internal as the Holy Spirit continually abides in the believer. When the day of the Pentecost came, they were all together in one place (2:1).  Many scholars suggest that it was the place where Jesus and His disciples had the last supper.  In John chapters 13-17, commonly known as the Upper Room Discourse, because Jesus spoke these words in the Upper Room where the last supper was held (Mark 14:12-15).  Christ, just before His crucifixion, gave us His final and most profound teachings.  Then He assured His disciples that when He returned to the Father (John 13:3, 33; 16:28), He would not abandon them (14:18).  He also promised them of His peace (14:27) and continued presence, and also assured them that He will ask the Father to give them “another advocate” - the "Spirit of truth: “ - the “Holy Spirit.” The biblical teaching of the Holy Spirit is known as pneumatology, translated from the Greek word ‘pneuma’ which means wind, breath, air, and indicates an invisible but active entity or force.   It is a word used for the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity.  The Holy Spirit, through whom God acts, reveals His will, renews, and empowers believers, and discloses His personal presence.  Johannine theology is rich in its doctrine of the Spirit.  In the Gospel of John, the Spirit possesses Christ 1:32-33); is indicative of the new birth (3:1-16); will come upon Jesus’ departure (16:7-11), and will endow the believer after the resurrection (20:22).  The Christian community is anointed by the Spirit (1 John 2:20), and the Spirit assures the believer of the indwelling presence of Jesus (3:24). All of us need God’s peace (Phil. 4:7), and it is only found in Christ and in His Spirit.  This is why the Apostle Paul advised the Galatians to the Spirit’s transformational work.  When the Holy Spirit operates in our lives, He generates the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  As the Spirit enables us to live in God’s ’shalom’, we learn to bring our problems, concerns, and needs to our heavenly Father.   This, in turn, brings us “the peace of God.”

PRAYER Loving Father, renew and strengthen us with your Holy Spirit.  Let Your Spirit lead us through the right path and indwell in our hearts. Amen   Thought for the day Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind - Romans 12:2

Daniel Thomas Orlando MTC, Florida