When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:1-4
Powered by the Spirit
Daily Devotion – May 23, 2024
Devotion based on Acts 2:1-4
See series: Devotions
You can’t miss them as you drive through the heartland of America. They’re the tallest structures in miles and miles of farmland. They’re windmills. Modern windmills can be as tall as a 32-story building when you count the turbine at its apex. And they’re built to do one thing: catch the power of the wind.
You can’t see the wind. You can’t hear it. You can see the things the wind blows. You can hear the leaves as the wind rushes through them, but the wind is invisible and silent. You don’t know where it comes from or where it goes.
In some ways, the wind is similar to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the force that powers God’s Church on earth. God’s Church acts like the turbines of a windmill. The Church is powered by the Holy Spirit.
This started on the Day of Pentecost. In a dramatic way, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. Peter, the same disciple who had denied knowing Jesus to a little servant girl, suddenly had the courage to preach to thousands of people.
The other disciples, who had fled from Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, went into all the world proclaiming the resurrection of the Savior Jesus. The Church of God continues this work by preaching the forgiveness of sins found in Jesus alone.
On Pentecost, the Spirit rested as a tongue of flame on each disciple. We don’t see the Holy Spirit work that way today, but the Spirit does work through the water of baptism and the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. The Spirit works through the preaching of the God’s Word. God continues to power his Church through the Spirit.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, continue to power your people through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
