Pentecost
“This is Holy Ground, we’re standing on Holy Ground, for the Lord is Present and where He is is Holy”.[1] Recognizing the Holy in the here and now is the work of the Holy Spirit. How can we recognize the gentle promptings of the Spirit in the arena of our daily lives?
As one writer put it …”does a trumpet blast announce the opening of a rosebud?” Often the Holy Spirit is with us in our everyday situations….leading and guiding us with gentle tugs of the sleeve.
Scripture tells us that “The Spirit” comes to those who are obedient to the word. Since this is the month of May- I take Mary as my example. The angel announced “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the Power of the most High will overshadow you! You will conceive and bear a son.” Her gentle openness to the Holy Spirit was a sign to us of her Grace. It was her willingness to give her “yes” that further prompted her to visit her cousin Elizabeth. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit… (Luke 1:41) These women prayed for each other and were filled with JOY at what the Lord was doing in their lives.
As it says in John 15:8 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” This month let us continue to pray to abandon ourselves to the Power of the Holy Spirit and desire the fruits of the Spirit which the church list as ” charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity. May our hearts burn with the fire of Love as we bring “Hope for a wounded world.”
[1]Beatty, Christopher, “Holy Ground”, Text and Music 1982 , as in “Songs for Worship” . (Birdwing Music, The Sparrow corp., Brentwood TN,1985)