Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ~James 4:8a NASB
When the disciples were meeting together, it was already the feast of Pentecost, though the word, as Wikipedia reminds us, did not have its Christian meaning:
Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai, although the association between the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) and Shavuot is not explicit in the Biblical text.
Rather, Pentecost in a New Testament sense commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to rush through this too quickly, so take a minute to pause and think about it:
- the giving of the Word
- the giving of the Spirit
Do you see the beauty of this? The parallels and the balance in the Christian life between Word and Spirit are not the purpose of today’s thoughts, but the Christ-follower needs both.
In the 21st Century Christian milieu, certain notions about the work of the Holy Spirit in general, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit in particular, are often thought to be more the province of Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. I am sure that today, the expression of Pentecost Sunday was quite different in Episcopalian churches than it was in Assemblies of God churches.
Regardless of the particular emphasis, we would all have to agree that on this day, the disciples received something more. And that’s the launching point for our thoughts. Perhaps you would resonate with someone who says,
- “There must be more to Christianity.”
- “I feel like I’m not all in.”
- “I’m not sensing the Holy Spirit’s presence.”
- “I think there’s things in the Christian life that I’m missing out on.”
- “I want more of God in my life.”
In some ways, I think this gets even more complex than salvation when it comes to discerning next steps.
Some churches teach that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second work of grace; a particular post-conversion experience that takes place after salvation. Others believe that we receive all of the Holy Spirit at salvation, and that there is no subsequent experience, and yet these also admit there are times they sense that God has something new for them, and wants to lead them into greater a greater experience, what others might call the deeper Christian life.
Either way, we all could agree with the 5th quote above, that we want need more of God in our lives, and some of you, like the 4th quote, feel this more acutely; you’re heart is really crying out to God, not for something you might receive (healing, etc.) but for more of God Himself.
I believe you just need to ask God for this. I base that on today’s verse at the top of the page. As one of my former pastors, Dr. Paul B. Smith would say, “If you take one step toward God, God will take ten steps toward you.”
Take the time as you listen to the song below to ask God to give you more of Himself. Ask for a greater awareness of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask for the filling; a saturation of the Holy Spirit.
Break my heart and change my mind
Cut me loose from ties that bind
Lead me as I follow you
Give me strength to follow through
More, more, I want to be more like Jesus
More of Jesus less of me
By his power I will be
Like a flower in the spring
Brand new life in everything
Holy spirit fill me up
Gently overflow my cup
Touch my eyes and let me see
Me in you and you in me
More, more, I want to be more like Jesus
More of Jesus less of me
By his power I will be
Like a flower in the spring
Brand new life in everything
More, more, I want to be more, I need to be more like Jesus
Go Deeper:
Take a close look at the lyrics of A.B. Simpson’s best known poem/hymn, Himself.
Christianity 201 