Fueled By the Fire
June 4, 2017
Fueled By the Fire
These are the lyrics to a song Holy Spirit by a young woman named Francesca Battistelli:
There's nothing worth more
That could ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence, Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord
There's nothing worth more
That could ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence, Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord
Today we observe Pentecost, when the disciples were dramatically blessed by the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the presence of spirit of Jesus Christ, within their souls. They had truly come to know Jesus as the Christ, the Lamb of God, and He had been glorified by His Father and ascended into Heaven. Until this time, the Spirit had been in existence, but not among humans. Now that Jesus had ascended; it was and still is available to all who call on His name as Savior and Lord. This Heavenly, rich resource could now be tapped into by believers everywhere. Once the disciples had received the Spirit, they were miraculously able to speak to people in the languages that they understood. Jesus had commissioned them to go and make disciples among all the nations, not just the ones that were from Galilee. This original group of disciples needed to be equipped with the ability to speak to people everywhere to share the good news. Being given the Holy Spirit, it was now their responsibility to start the church. They were blessed with the ability to speak in all languages so they could make disciples across the globe.
In the book of John, Jesus says, “As the scriptures said concerning me, Rivers of flowing water will flow out from within Him. Jesus said this concerning the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit was within Jesus. It was like rivers of flowing, refreshing water. After He had returned to His father, He was then able to pour it into the souls of the disciples, living vessels, who would now be able to travel the world, share the Good News of God’s love and pour it into others who would come to Jesus. Like the waters of a river, it is never ending. When it is poured out, more will take its place. The amazing thing is that often, when we share it, we are blessed with even more than we had originally.
The following quotation is from Mark Roberts of Patheos, Hosting the Conversation on Faith:
“What happened on the first Pentecost continues to happen to Christians throughout the world today, though usually not in such a dramatic fashion. We rarely get a heavenly wind and tongues of fire anymore. Nevertheless, God pours out the Spirit upon all who put their faith in Jesus Christ and become his disciples (see Romans 8:1-11).
Christians are meant to live in the presence and power of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit helps us to confess Jesus as Lord (1 Cor 12:3), empowers us to serve God with supernatural power (1 Cor 12:4-11), binds us together as the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-13), helps us to pray (Rom 8:26), and even intercedes for us with God the Father (Rom 8:27). The Spirit guides us (Gal 5:25), helping us to live like Jesus (Gal 5:22-23).
Most Christians I know, including me, live in the presence and power of the Spirit, but only to an extent. We are limited by our fear, our sin, our low expectations, not to mention our tendency to be distracted from God’s work in us. Pentecost offers a chance to confess our failure to live by the Spirit and to ask the Lord to fill us afresh with his power.”
We can look at Pentecost as a chance to confess our failure, yes. But we know God will forgive us, he knows that we are frail humans, often subject to our weakness and our fears. I would choose, rather, to look at Pentecost as the blessed opportunity to remember that we have come to Jesus so we have the gift of His Holy Spirit, the living waters flowing from within us, flowing waters that can save and renew others, flowing waters that when shared with the hopeless, the downtrodden, the lost, will bring new life in Christ. It will energize and inspire us for Jesus’ sake.
Author and evangelical Christian pastor Ray Stedman said,
“Remember that grace and truth cannot finally be crucified. Remember that all the high things that make humanity beautiful cannot be forever laid in the dust, spattered with blood. And most of all, remember that He who rose from the dead, rose to pour out His Holy Spirit into human lives, and, by that Spirit, to make available to any individual all the fullness of Himself, twenty-four hours a day.”
Pentecost presents us with an opportunity to consider how we are living each day. Are we relying on the power of God’s Spirit? Are we an open channel for the Spirit’s gifts? Are we attentive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Being children of God, let us pray daily for the guidance, inspiration and fire of the Holy Spirit to move us through our relationships, our actions, the sharing of our faith. Let us know that the fire of the Holy Spirit is burns within us so we can share the living hope, the very Spirit of Jesus Christ.