Read Acts 2:1-4
Key Verse: “Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4 CSB)
There have been some key days in recent history that certain people will never forget. For example, on August 6, 1945, America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On November 22, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall in Germany came down. On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked. Depending on how old you are, one of those days may hold particular significance.
But as important as each of these days were in changing the course of history, none compares to what occurred on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. Pentecost was one of the three major feasts that the Jewish people celebrated every year. It was a feast of harvest and occurred on the fiftieth day after the Passover. Following His resurrection and right before His ascension into heaven, Jesus had instructed His disciples to stay together in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:6).
As they gathered together that day to pray, an incredible thing suddenly occurred. “A sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven” (v.2) filling the place where they were meeting together. They also saw “tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them” (v.3). Each of these was a sign of God’s presence. Then the disciples were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” who enabled them all to speak in different languages. It’s sounds like it was quite the prayer meeting!
What makes the day of Pentecost so significant in the course of history is that it marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as promised by God in the Old Testament. For every true believer in Jesus, the promised Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us. At the moment of our salvation, the time when we believed in Jesus and put our faith in Him, we were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit, who is the third Person of the triune God and the down payment or guarantee of our future inheritance (Eph.1:13-14). The Holy Spirit works in our lives to comfort, empower, teach, lead, convict, and transform us into the image of Jesus Christ as we follow Him.
Incredibly, as believers in Christ, every day is now a day for us to experience the transforming presence and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As the temple or the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, we are called to walk by the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, to live by the Spirit, to keep in step with the Spirit, and to be filled by Him moment by moment.
So surrender yourself to the Spirit’s work in your life and invite Him to fill you again today.
Prayer: Thank you God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for fulfilling your promise. Fill me again today, Holy Spirit. Transform me. Help me live today in your power. Lead me into all that you have for me to do. I surrender to You. Amen.
Author:
Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
