It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything He has promised us (2 Cor. 1:21-22).
The Christians of our time celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. It was also one of the main annual Jewish celebrations. Many Christians, however, only have a vague idea of who the Holy Spirit is and how He works.
The Holy Spirit was given by God. He was a gift of God, just like Jesus was when He was born in Bethlehem. Like Jesus lived among them as someone in whom God lives, the Holy Spirit came as a gift from God to live in His disciples. Jesus was the God they could see and talk to. The Holy Spirit was the God they couldn’t see, but who spoke inside them because He lived in their hearts. By living in them, the Holy Spirit brought Christ into being in their lives.
This is still the Holy Spirit’s work. He lives in you and He is the power of God working inside you so that you are conformed to Jesus more and more. A Spirit-filled believer is a Christ-filled believer. Thus the essential feature of the Holy Spirit’s work is the extent to which you demonstrate the love of Christ, the joy of Christ, the peace of Christ and the goodness of Christ. The very best way to celebrate the gift of God on Pentecost is to allow the Holy Spirit to fill you anew with Christ. Do it today!
Come, O Holy Spirit, come today with renewal and live in me anew. AMEN.
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