Did you know Jews were celebrating the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) on the day God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers? The Feast of Weeks was an agricultural festival at the end of grain harvest, 7 weeks after Passover, celebrating the first fruits of the harvest. In God’s perfect timing, He sent the first fruits of the permanent and powerful presence of the Holy Spirit to live in Jesus’s followers. This enabled them to powerfully witness and work for Jesus all over the world, as seen throughout the book of Acts.
Acts 2:1-9 When the day
of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly
a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the
whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw
what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of
them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled
them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from
every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this
sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own
language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they
asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then
how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter then gave a powerful message about what God did through Jesus’s death, resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Holy Spirit. He called for repentance of sins, receiving Jesus’s forgiveness and baptism. Then, those who believed would also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand believed Peter’s message that day! Peter made it clear the Holy Spirit’s presence was for all those who believed (Acts 2:38-39), which includes you and me!
The day of Pentecost reminds me that Jesus’s spiritual presence is always with me through the Holy Spirit that lives inside me to guide, comfort, convict, instruct, empower and bring peace. I am never alone and never without the Holy Spirit’s help!
What encouragement
does Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s presence bring to you?
