Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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The promise of the Holy Spirit: Empowering all people

Bible Reading:  Joel 2: 28-32

Key Verse: 
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2: 32)
 
DEVOTION

Most of us have verses from the Bible that are associated with something in our childhood. Verses that just remain with us because we either learnt in Sunday School or heard a good sermon around it that resonated with us. Growing up, I often heard the verse 28 here and 1st Timothy 4: 12 (Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity) commonly used as the theme for Youth Sunday. For some reason this verse always remained associated with young people. Though it is correct about how the Holy Spirit would enable young men to see visions, when we read from verse 28 through 32, we can see how the Holy Spirit is promised to all, not just young people. 
In the Old Testament we have seen how the Holy Spirit was poured out on individual people. Here in this passage though, the prophet Joel looks ahead to a time when the power of the Holy Spirit will be given out to everyone. This is the new covenant Jesus promised to all of us in the New Testament. It was fulfilled on the day of the Pentecost when people of different nations and languages were filled with the Holy Spirit and were able to praise God in tongues. Even then people mocked the disciples telling them that they were drunk. We see Peter however stood up and spoke about how these words from the prophet Joel were fulfilled. 
The Holy Spirit that the Lord gives is for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. It is a call to prayer. It is a great invitation that the Lord has given to each and everyone of us. Come and accept Him and call on to Him and you will be saved. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we come to you in prayer today asking for your Holy Spirit on us. Weak and sinful as we are, we thank you Lord for your promise of the Holy Spirit on each and everyone one of us. We ask in your precious name. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If the Holy Spirit guides us, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them. – George Muller


Gary Thomas George, Long Island Mar Thoma Church, New York

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