A while ago, I followed the long, eucalyptus-scented stretch of Highway 1 to the ocean and laid a picnic blanket down at an overlook. The view offered a panorama of the rhythmic tide and seagulls sailing over the waves like paragliders. As is always the case, it was windy. Really windy. But after three hours in the car, I didn\u2019t mind it. The constant gusts lifted my spirit along with my hair, ruining the work of a good curling iron by tossing it in every direction. I felt electrified, filled, and breathed into. Fully alive. Grabbing my journal and a pen, I tried to capture the joy of this experience with a few words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPneuma<\/em> is the Greek word for \u2018Spirit\u2019 or \u2018breath.\u2019 It\u2019s here in these open, windy places where I feel this breath on my skin and in my hair that I\u2019m most able to sense and inhabit the presence of my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish people staying in Jerusalem also experienced the presence of God through the movement of wind. And not just any wind\u2014not a gust or a light breeze, but a \u201cviolent rushing wind\u201d (Acts 2:2). Can you imagine what that must have sounded like? Or felt like? Or how it must have knocked about their belongings in that house? Of course, all this was promised in the words of the prophet Joel: \u201cAnd it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people\u201d (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28). Yet certainly not even this prophecy could have prepared them for the power and terror of that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s also interesting is how this heaven-charged wind didn\u2019t just rush through the windows where God\u2019s people were staying and then rush back out. It filled the people themselves. Along with tongues of fire resting on each person, it filled the house with the electrifying presence of God through the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3\u20134).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do you think God used such a dramatic method for confirming that the promised Holy Spirit had arrived?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I read this story, I see power. Besides being a God who keeps His promises (v.33), He is more powerful than a violent wind, displaying His \u201dwonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below (v.19). Our all-powerful God pours out His own Spirit on us, so we can walk in it with the same kind of power and authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure the Jewish men and women gathering to observe Pentecost\u2014a feast to celebrate the first fruits of harvest\u2014didn\u2019t expect to witness such a moment. But the Holy Spirit moves within those who believe as \u201cstreams of living water\u201d (John 7:38), and it is often surprising. Today, may we remember the power and authority of God within us and walk in it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A while ago, I followed the long, eucalyptus-scented stretch of Highway 1 to the ocean and laid a picnic blanket down at an overlook. The view offered a panorama of the rhythmic tide and seagulls sailing over the waves like paragliders. As is always the case, it was windy. Really windy. But after three hours […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":72915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acts26"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[73104],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"THE DAY OF PENTECOST<\/b> A while ago, I followed the long, eucalyptus-scented stretch of Highway 1 to the ocean and laid a picnic blanket down at an overlook. The view offered a panorama of the rhythmic tide and seagulls sailing over the waves like paragliders. As is always the case, it was windy. Really windy. But after three hours in the car, I didn\u2019t mind it. The constant gusts lifted my spirit along with my hair, ruining the work of a good curling iron by tossing it in every direction. I felt electrified, filled, and breathed into. Fully alive. Grabbing my journal and a pen, I tried to capture the joy of this experience with a few words:<\/p> \u201cPneuma<\/em> is the Greek word for \u2018Spirit\u2019 or \u2018breath.\u2019 It\u2019s here in these open, windy places where I feel this breath on my skin and in my hair that I\u2019m most able to sense and inhabit the presence of my God.\u201d<\/p> On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish people staying in Jerusalem also experienced the presence of God through the movement of wind. And not just any wind\u2014not a gust or a light breeze, but a \u201cviolent rushing wind\u201d (Acts 2:2). Can you imagine what that must have sounded like? Or felt like? Or how it must have knocked about their belongings in that house? Of course, all this was promised in the words of the prophet Joel: \u201cAnd it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people\u201d (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28). Yet certainly not even this prophecy could have prepared them for the power and terror of that moment.<\/p> What\u2019s also interesting is how this heaven-charged wind didn\u2019t just rush through the windows where God\u2019s people were staying and then rush back out. It filled the people themselves. Along with tongues of fire resting on each person, it filled the house with the electrifying presence of God through the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3\u20134).<\/p> Why do you think God used such a dramatic method for confirming that the promised Holy Spirit had arrived?<\/p> When I read this story, I see power. Besides being a God who keeps His promises (v.33), He is more powerful than a violent wind, displaying His \u201dwonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below (v.19). Our all-powerful God pours out His own Spirit on us, so we can walk in it with the same kind of power and authority.<\/p> I\u2019m sure the Jewish men and women gathering to observe Pentecost\u2014a feast to celebrate the first fruits of harvest\u2014didn\u2019t expect to witness such a moment. But the Holy Spirit moves within those who believe as \u201cstreams of living water\u201d (John 7:38), and it is often surprising. Today, may we remember the power and authority of God within us and walk in it.<\/p>","share_image_height":"643","day_number":"2","scripture":"Acts 2:1-47, Joel 2:28-32, John 7:37-39","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\r\nby Bailey Gillespie<\/i>
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