"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy... And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles.. which God did among you through him.. This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him... Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.... Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Ac 2.17&18,22-24,33&38)
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory.
(Eph 1.13&14)
I have never personally experienced any of the more dramatic gifts of the Holy Spirit, no prophetic words, or dreams, nothing out of the ordinary. I do nonetheless believe that as a follower of Jesus, I am indwelt by the Spirit; I believe that God himself is the source of my life and is transforming me into the image of his Son. I believe that as I walk by faith down the years that God gives me, I am learning to think, to love and to live more and more according to God's will - because He is making me new by the work of his Spirit.
God works through each of his children, their gifts and strengths just as much as their weakness and failures - which is a great comfort. It means that I can rely on the Spirit to direct me in serving and living for God in the place to which I have been called. At the moment, that service primarily looks like making a home, and getting to know a large congregation of people. But I am praying that over time, through daily duties and apparently random encounters, God will be directing me and leading me into the particular tasks which are already prepared.
I don't have an agenda; I don't know what is right yet and many things are good! So I pray for wisdom to discern over time just where to commit time and energy. And yet, there are ideas lurking in my mind which I can't shake off, and which I am accordingly bringing before God in prayer, asking if these are of his sending..
I see in my mind's eye a packed church, with hundreds of young people praising and rejoicing in their Saviour, committing to serve their God and their community in love and faithfulness... a dream, yes. But also a reminder that God can do anything when He releases people from their bondage to sin and death. I believe that, I long to see it in this place...
And I long to share with other believers from across the town in praying for our community and all the various forms of witness to Jesus which happen within it. When God's people gather to pray, beautiful things happen - mutual encouragement, strengthened faith, new boldness and expectation that God will break through in transforming power.
Lord God, my loving Father, thank you that I can trust you to glorify your name as I surrender to your will and serve you as best I can. Thank you that you are at work transforming my mind and heart, and for these desires which you have given me - to see our young people, and our whole community reached with the good news. Lord, lead me according to your will, to those with whom I can pray.
Pour out your Spirit in this place and bring transforming power to the lives of those around us. The living death which is exile from you and bondage to sin, cannot resist you since Jesus has broken its power, and how we long to see his victory realised in each and every individual! Your kingdom come, your will be done, in this place as it is in the heavenly realms..
in Jesus' powerful and glorious name I pray, Amen.
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