The Holy Spirit - A Gift for All of Us

Dear reader,

I was reading this morning about how amazing God's promise of the Holy Spirit is. It struck me how different things were in the Old Testament - only a few special people like priests or prophets would receive the Spirit's power. Sometimes there might be just one person in all of Israel with this gift, showing up maybe once in a generation.

But what fills me with joy is how different it is now! After Jesus rose and before He went to heaven, He promised something incredible - that ALL of us could receive the Holy Spirit's power. He even told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for it. Even though they already had the Spirit living in them and were praying faithfully, God had something even more special planned.

Ten days later, on Pentecost (the fiftieth day), it happened! They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Reading Acts 2 today, I can clearly see this was the Spirit working on them from the outside, different from His work inside us. It's fascinating to see in John, Luke, and Acts how the Spirit works in these two ways - both within us and upon us.

What an incredible blessing that I don't have to be a special prophet or priest to experience the Holy Spirit's power. This promise is for me too! It makes me appreciate even more what Jesus has done for us.

Reflecting gratefully, Chaplain Mark