Acts 2:1,4: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

March 30th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

There was a story some years back about a large cargo ship that strayed off course near San Francisco at low tide and got stuck on a reef. Twelve tugboats were unable to budge it. Finally, the wise captain instructed the tugs to go back to port, leaving him to simply wait patiently for high tide. A few hours later, as the ocean began to rise, what human mechanical power could not do, the rising tide of the Pacific Ocean did. It lifted the ship off the reef, freeing it. Something like that happened to the early church on Sunday morning, on the Feast of Pentecost, in 32 AD.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit. So in obedience, they gathered, prayed, and waited. They were all together in one place, probably a little confused and fearful; but waiting, as Jesus had told them, when suddenly the tide of God rolled in, and what they in their human efforts could not do, the Holy Spirit did, gave them power to be His witnesses.

We know that the Jewish feast of Pentecost was an annual festival, also called the “Feast of Weeks” or the “Day of First Fruits.” It was a celebration of the first ingathering of the harvest. Jewish men, 20 and older, were required by law to go to Jerusalem 3 times each year to celebrate the major feasts. Passover was in the spring, with Pentecost 7 weeks and one day later, and finally, the Feast of Tabernacles was at the end of harvest in the fall. So on this particular “Day of First Fruits,” in that upper room, those who were overflowed with His Spirit, were the first fruits of a vast harvest of millions of souls to come. The Holy Spirit doesn’t always work the way we think He should. Sometimes He’s a mighty, rushing wind, and sometimes just a gentle, blowing breeze; but the result of His visit will always be the same. People will turn their hearts to the Lord.

“LORD, visit us again and fill us any way that You might desire, be it a gentle breeze or a mighty wind. Please do it, LORD, we ask in Jesus’ name.”