Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional "Seeing Clearly" Friday, 25 April 2014 - Read Acts 2:1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15 For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.[a] 16 But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘It will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams.
18 Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days,
I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the sky above,
and signs on the earth beneath;
blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood,
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[b]
Footnotes:
a. Acts 2:15 about 9:00 AM
b. Acts 2:21 Joel 2:28-32
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.--John 16:13 (NIV)
One of the unfortunate effects of aging is the inability to read without glasses. My husband and I have purchased several pairs of magnifying eyeglasses and placed them strategically throughout the house so that we can see the words in the phone book, in the newspaper, or on the computer. Without magnification, words on a page are a blur and we are unable to decipher the information we need. After Jesus’ death, his disciples’ vision was limited. They had relied on Jesus to lead them and to show them how the scriptures were fulfilled in him. While they knew their mission was to carry on his teachings, without Jesus to light their way their vision was clouded by doubt and confusion. When God sent the Holy Spirit, they were able to see with clarity the promises of scripture. God will do the same for us. Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit can magnify the solutions to our problems and show us the way.
The Author: Joni Melnick (Pennsylvania, USA)
Thought for the Day: Life becomes clearer when we see it through the lens of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to guide us. Give us patience as we seek your direction. Amen.
Prayer focus: Spiritual mentors
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment