From The Pastor's Desk - February 2016
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. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. -Acts 2
Winter finally arrived. It was great while it lasted to have nice temperatures and no snow. But we knew winter would come. Some people were ready. Shovels, salt, warm clothes. Others just pretended it wasn’t coming. There were other things to do. Especially with the holy days upon us.
The passage above is from Acts. We read it during Pentecost to talk about the Holy Spirit being available to all of us, and empowering us with abilities we wouldn’t expect. Like old people still dreaming and young people having understanding beyond their years. But this is actually a quote from the book of Joel. And it points to the end of time. It will come. Pretending it isn’t coming, or ignoring it, won’t change that.
The Holy Spirit does guide lives. And people are empowered to change the world for God. And many will be saved. But we have to live in this life for God, so that we will live in the next one with God. There is an end of time and it is essential we end up on the right side of eternity. For those who don’t, when the sun turns black, it will make our winter seem like a sunny day at a beach in Florida. For those who are saved, it will be like springtime, turning our pains and sorrows into a joy beyond our current experience.
When that day comes – and it will – those who listen to the Holy Spirit, who live for God, will go to their reward. Those who make excuses, are clueless, or simply ignored God, will find themselves on the wrong side, the dark and cold side, of eternity.
When we open our hearts to the warmth of the Holy Spirit, and we use the gifts God has given us to bring Christ to a dark, cold, broken world, it prepares us to get beyond the cold of judgment day, and live into the spring of the New Creation.
Are you ready for springtime? It’s coming. I am certain of it. Now, and for eternity.
Pastor Tom