As the full moon marked the beginning of Passover on April 8, 2020, America and the world was sheltered in their homes praying for the plague to pass over. I have been praying that God would use this pandemic to do a great work through the Holy Spirit to call individuals and our nation to Him. Today we celebrate Pentecost and our nation is in the midst of another crisis. A Houstonian, George Floyd died in handcuffs as Minneapolis policeman, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for over 8 minutes while Mr. Floyd gasped “I can’t breathe.” For those of us that saw the video or heard the story we are disgusted, disturbed, heartbroken and angry. Protesters march while rioters and violence has engulfed our nations cities. The truth is that no protest, no rebellion, no amount of violence and destruction, no passionate rhetoric, no national debate or no new legislation will ever solve this problem. There is a spiritual darkness covering our land. For decades America has exchanged truth for a lie and has invited sin to infect our lives. We have pushed God and truth from our public places and this infection has spread to be a pandemic of the heart. Mark 6:45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.
BUT, our LORD reigns and we know that He is working through these tragedies to accomplish His great work in the hearts of men. An excerpt from Robert Sloan’s message to Houston Baptist University: “The central work of Jesus, carried on by Jesus’ followers through worship, service, and the preaching of the Gospel, was to form a new world, beginning with the unity of people of all ethnicities, races, nationalities, economic strata, and gender (Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 3:9-11). All those who embrace Jesus by faith are brought together in one body, a living, serving, and worshiping fellowship, that rejects all dehumanizing divisions. That is the central goal of the transforming power of the message of Jesus when applied to life in everyday flesh-and-blood people, families, and communities.”
50 days after Passover as prescribed by God, Jews celebrated the giving of the Law called the Feast of Weeks. On this day as told in Acts 2 when the believers in Jesus gathered together they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit that resides in those who believe in Jesus is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Today, as we celebrate Pentecost, it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit would move in the hearts of every man and woman in our nation to open the eyes of their heart to recognize the evil that infects them, that they would desire to turn from their sin, believe in Jesus as their savior and rise to walk in a new life in Jesus. It is only the power of the Holy Spirit that will truly change the hearts of men and cause them to turn from their wicked ways so that God would heal our land. Jesus said “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.“
To learn more how the Holy Spirit works to battle the desires of the flesh in the lives of believers read Romans 8.
