Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday. There were extra people at the 7:45 a.m. service and I wondered if it had to do with celebrating Pentecost. I think Pentecost Sunday should be as big of a deal as Easter Sunday! Unbelievable things happened that day!

God told us his plan for it through His prophets including Ezekiel. “Iwill give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from youyour heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.Before He left for heaven Jesus reminded the disciples that it was God’splan and told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for it to happen (Acts 1:4). Whenit happened it shocked the whole city of Jerusalem and Peter preached, full ofthe Holy Spirit, and 3000 were baptized in one day (Acts 2:41).

The Holy Spirit came to live in the hearts of men. What an unbelievable experience.The only thing more unbelievable is that we who have the Holy Spirit living inus rely on our self-sufficiency rather than this amazing source of wisdom, power,love, and other infinite possibilities.

Pentecost Sunday is the day that the spiritual possibilities for people livingin a sinful world trapped by fleshly bodies got a real chance to combat evil.Now is the best time to be a follower of God. Now we have His very Spirit livingin us. He can recreate us and actually make it possible for us to live free ofsin. Ezekiel goes on to say: “And I will put my Spirit in you and moveyou to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws”  Ezekiel36:27.

So, why don’t I? Why don’t you? Why don’t we allow the fullcapacity of the Holy Spirit to fill us so completely we are left deplete of ourconcern for ourselves and only glory in God through the power of the Holy Spiritlike Jesus Christ?

I wish I knew. It comes so natural for me to be me. I know that something moreawesome than words has happened in this universe when God made a way to sendHis very Spirit to live in the hearts of sinful people. I know what it feelslike to write, speak, counsel, love in the flesh and what it feels like to soall those same things in the Spirit. I can’t tell you why I don’tlive full of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the best explanation is that the Holy Spirit is so completely differentfrom me that it takes a lot of time for me to want His power for His power’ssake. The Holy Spirit fills me with power, but only when my spiritual state isready to receive it. He doesn’t give power to power hungry, but to thepoor in Spirit. I want to experience Pentecost in a deeper way this coming year.