And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
Thought: To God, words are very, very important. In the Bible (see John 1:1-4, Rev. 19:13), Jesus was called the word of God. In the beginning, God created the world by His spoken word. The Bible is full of verses that talk about the importance of our words. Given this context, it should not be a surprise to us that when the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost, the first thing that He touched were the tongues of the disciples, manifesting Himself through their words. If you notice in Acts 2:6-8, it was not the wind and the fire that caught the attention of the people outside; it was the words flowing out of the mouths of the disciples that “confounded” the people. The gift of speaking in unknown tongues: What on earth was this phenomenon? Even today, some 2000 years after the Holy Spirit was first poured out, when innumerable books and materials are available on this subject of speaking in tongues and many have experienced this wonderful gift from the Lord, this phenomenon of speaking in tongues is still being called into question. The truth remains that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues as an initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was something conceived in the mind of God and to the natural mind this will always sound foolish. I want all of you to think about this for a moment: healing, miracles, the gift of the word of knowledge, the gift of the word of wisdom, the gift of prophesy – every one of these supernatural gifts the Holy Spirit makes available to the New Testament church were also present in the Old Testament (we see all these gifts at different times working through men in the Old Testament); there was only one gift which the Lord in His glorious wisdom held back just for the last days: the gift of speaking in unknown tongues. I would like to conclude with this one important point: when we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in unknown tongues, we have not “arrived”; as a matter of fact, we are just starting. Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like turning on the ignition key in our car but the real joy and adventure is going to be in the journey. Just let the Lord know that you are ready and willing to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and once you have received this beautiful gift from the Lord you will begin your journey in getting to know the Holy Spirit, being used by Him to lift up the beautiful name of Jesus, and your life will be one that is “written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God”. I am so excited for all that the Lord has in store for all of us.
Prayer: Father, I cannot thank You enough for the gift of the Holy Spirit that You so graciously give to us as “a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” in Christ. Father, I ask You to remove any barrier that could be in my mind or my emotions that could stand in the way of my receiving this gift from You. I thank You that I am ready to start this new season and chapter in my life with the Holy Spirit resting upon me to be an effective witness for You. I love you. In Jesus’ name, amen.