Photo Courtesy of Edith Lampman
New Life in Nature
Psalm 84:2, 3 “My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.”
New Life in Writing
This week, I likened writing to a creation of ideas, having the page come to life. Then I wondered about my completed manuscript, the steps needed to see it birthed to publication. The process can be tiring, even discouraging. But this is a burden of love. I’ll press on to finish whatever story God has put upon my heart.
New Life and the Birth of the Church
This led me to consider Pentecost. And, because we’ve been under another lockdown, I’ve reflected about today’s condition of the church. Is there still hope?
I used scripture to help unwrap some of this. Then I grounded myself in God’s word about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. Including His forty some odd days later that he spent speaking with the disciples about the Kingdom of God. I gleaned more about how Jesus commissioned them to reach the world with the good news, then He told them he would go away. That must have been terribly hard for them. But Jesus met their sadness with a promise to send the Holy Spirit, which would be much better. Watching Jesus ascend to heaven, they didn’t understand. What were they thinking in their grief as they watched Him go?
Then Came Pentecost
Then came Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord’s ascension. I turned to the book of Acts to read about that day. None of them could do the works of God without this Helper’s teaching, guidance, or His power. The disciples gathered together in one place and were filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter’s boldness resulted in about 3000 souls to be saved. Those who believed had all things in common. And this I thought was interesting. Their bond with one another feels like a living organism, one body under the headship of Jesus Christ. Not blocks, or bricks, or mortar. Amazingly, the early church grew under dire conditions. That’s encouraging and gives me hope for today, some two thousand plus years later.
A Song of Hope
Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus explained that knowledge hadn’t come from Peter, but had come from the Father. And this was the testimony upon which Jesus built His church, one that the gates of hell would not prevail against. Matthew 16:18b Not then. And not now. It makes my heart sing.
My Takeaway
I hope this was as encouraging to you as it was to me. This week, leading up to Pentecost Sunday, I’ll delve into what it means to have the Lord’s quickening Spirit to guide me, to help me know Him, to continue to follow him, to love him, and to never stop.
Blessings,
Johanna