Pentecost-A birthday for the church?!

Acts 2:17, 21 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,… Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

One of my first visits to Sheridan was on a Pentecost Sunday. What a celebration! A birthday party for the church! In all my years of faithfully attending church, I had never been in a place that celebrated Pentecost. I had no idea it was a birthday party. All I knew was that God put flames on people heads and they started speaking different languages.

As worship unfolded that day, I understood for the first time, that all those little flames on tops of heads that I had seen in pictures and paintings, and all those languages being spoken from people who didn’t even know they were fluent, weren’t meant to be frightening. They were there as an encouragement to what God could do through his Spirit!

Many times since that birthday celebration, I have prayed prayers that asked God to pour out his Spirit on me, my family, and my church. Many times I have told my friends who have needed a little extra encouragement that I was just going to “pour out the Spirit” on them while they battled through. That phrase “pour out my Spirit” has come to have a special meaning for me. It is a gentle reminder to come to my Father in prayer, because he is a fountain of love, courage, strength, power and whatever else I may need. He doesn’t dry up. I can ask for his Spirit to be poured out on me, and what better reason is there to celebrate?

Devotion written by Julie Anderson.