What visual image would you choose to depict the Holy Spirit?
The Day of Pentecost is an event that changed the church forever; some would say this was the day when the New Testament church was born. Have another look at the picture above, and then read the Bible narrative below.
On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Suddenly they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. The roar of the wind was so overpowering it was all anyone could bear! Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them. They were all filled and equipped with the Holy Spirit and were inspired to speak in tongues – empowered by the Spirit to speak in languages they had never learned!
Acts 2:1-4 The Passion Translation
Dove, wind or fire?
If you were an artist, how would you draw the Holy Spirit?
And if you were a poet, how would you describe your experience of Him today?
Consider these writings:
No zephyr soft but cyclone strong bore thoughts aloft in windy song. No flicker mild but flames of red danced hot and wild upon each head. And so fierce was our thundering word in languages of all who heard, all knew what it meant the Spirit’s power. This was our Pentecostal hour.
‘Pentecostal Hour’ by Mark DeBolt
Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we invoke? It is madness to wear ladies straw hats to church; we should all wear crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preserves and signal flares. They should lash us to our pews
Annie Dillard ‘Teaching a stone to Talk’
What does the Holy Spirit look like?
Scripture includes many word pictures such as water, wind, fire, and yes: a dove. All are true, and none are truly adequate to describe the Holy Ghost.
One thing we can be clear about from Jesus teaching is that the Holy Spirit’s work is usually un-announced and often highly unpredictable.
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
John 3:8 NKJV
The problem is, we can’t control the wind. We can feel it, and see it’s effects.
However we can’t control it’s intensity. Nor can we command it’s direction.
Letting go of Control
Surrender is a quality of heart that is consistently described as a pre-requisite for following Jesus. From the Psalms of the Old Testament to the Epistles of the New, trust in God’s unlimited power/knowledge/ability cannot happen unless there is a letting go of our own limited power/knowledge/ability.
The surrender of our will (Romans 12:1,2) is forever ongoing in the Christian walk. From the moment we are born again, and in each future moment of decision and test, we yield (or not) to the sanctifying impact of the living WORD upon our lives and hearts.
We let go and let God.
This is not just a cute saying.
This is GRACE through faith lest any man should boast.
Control is a barrier to fullness. Surrender is an open door.
The Holy Spirit is a person
Growing up as a young man in an evangelical conservative church, I was raised by well intentioned elders to believe that the Holy Spirit of the book of Acts no longer existed in quite the same way.
To be clear, we believed in a tri-une God, yet worship songs that mentioned the Holy Spirit were excluded, and the so called ‘supernatural gifts’ were rejected.
At best the Holy Spirit existed, but He was more of an ‘it’ than a person.
Some barriers to fullness of the Spirit.
John chapters 14 – 16 are well worth a read in this context.
I’ve been on a big journey since those early days in Adelaide when I used to argue black and blue that speaking in tongues must be of the devil, and that charismatic worship is all emotion & hype.
But one thing I know now that I didn’t know then, is that the Holy Spirit is a person, and my intimate friend.
After all, according to John 14:16-17, during this current Church age, the Holy Spirit and Jesus have swapped places: Jesus is now absent (in heaven) and the Holy Spirit is here with us – all the time – on earth.
Fruit, intimacy & hunger
To be honest, I’m not attempting in this blog to persuade or to make a case Biblically on subjects such as baptism in the spirit, or speaking in tongues.
I believe there is a scriptural basis for these things, however I’ve learnt from experience that the things of the Spirit are not rationally or academically received.
2 Corinthians 2:9,10
I’ve seen too much heart ache and division happen when it comes down to a debate based on opinion and reason.
Rather I’m beginning with the end in mind: what some would describe as ‘reverse engineering’.
In other words: what results/fruit might you expect if the Holy Spirit of the Day of Pentecost was active in your life today? And if there’s room for more, then perhaps there IS more!
Are you ready for wind and fire? Or do you only expect dove?
Is there more?
Here’s some questions to reflect on:
- what would it look like in your life to be filled with the Spirit?
- do you really know what intimacy with God feels like?
- do you feel like there is the fruit of the Spirit getting reproduced in your life? (someone close to you is going to be more objective than you if you’re bold enough to ask)
- do you know what the anointing of the Spirit feels like? (or the absence of it)
- are you active in your Spiritual gifts?
You can lead a horse to water; but you can’t make it drink.
but … you can put salt in the water!
Smith Wigglesworth said that the only thing that he was satisfied with was that he was dis-satisfied
Rodney Howard-Brown
Are you satisfied?
If not, let hungering and thirsting after righteousness be your quest.
Surrender.
Ask. Seek. Knock.
And remember: Grace can still flip history.
