Acts 2:17
"And it shall be in
the last days, God says, That I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all mankind;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."
This sounds weird at first,
like what does it mean?? What are prophecies exactly, and what's with the young seeing visions and the old men dreaming dreams? So if we dream dreams are we old
now? Without going too much into historical context, I think the main idea of
this verse is that God does have a Spirit that He pours out upon all mankind.
Not just to Jews or praying Koreans, but on all
mankind.
Before the Holy Spirit was
given, God used to speak through prophets in the Old Testament who spoke on
God's behalf, like messengers. People could not hear from God unless a
prophet spoke to them from God, and in this way they, as prophets "prophesied".
In other words, they heard God speak and they spoke what they heard.
It doesn't necessarily mean they predicted the future, in fact that was
hardly the case, but it was that they spoke the words of God that counseled
them, encouraged and reminded them of their identity as God's own people.
So then, when it says:
"your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams" we understand that it is no
longer needed for a prophet to be designated to hear God's voice for us to know
what God is saying. But that because His very own Spirit is now poured
upon us all, we have direct communication, each of us, individually, with God
to prophesy, or in other words, we are all now prophets who can hear God's voice
and tell others about what He says because we have His Spirit in us.
God says "I will pour
forth OF my Spirit, meaning that it is part of His Spirit that pours into us,
while He Himself still remains with His Spirit, showing the greatness of just
how much He is and how much He has to give us of Himself while still
(obviously) remaining God as the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. In
essence we take a piece of God with us wherever we go--not in the fuzzy, romantic metaphorical way, but literally, the Holy Spirit is God in us. Emmanuel.
Some unbelievers hesitate to make a decision for Christ
because they know it is hard to live a life as a Christian:
-the
narrow door (Matt 7:13,14)
-take
up our cross and follow him (Matt 16:24)
…but once you embark upon your life as a believer there is a
wide road through that narrow door, and walking on that road is having the
freedom of eternity before you.
It is difficult to choose the path less chosen, to take up
our cross—an attitude,
not an action (since the actual cross has already been taken up by Christ)—and
be reminded daily of what that cross represents to us today, now. We have been set free because of what
Christ paid on our behalf. We are
free, but salvation itself was not free, it cost the life of Christ, remember
that. So then it could be assumed
that the main difficulty lies not in what we do, since all is finished
regarding the means to salvation, but in our attitude. Christianity becomes difficult because
most unbelievers feel it a burden to take on an attitude of gratitude, which
takes from them their rights of anything in their lives. However, gratefulness should set us free from
anger, from vanity, from fear, and all sin since all we need is what we have
been given: God Himself, in us, the Holy Spirit our seal as adopted
children. Praise God, it is
finished!
So how does one begin to change one’s attitude from that of
“what about me” to “it’s all about Him”?
Every sin can be traced to that attitude of “what about
me” (life of sin)
Every miracle (impossibly good things) is saying “It’s all
about Him” (life of miracles)
It takes practice and patience, perseverance and repentance, it takes our whole lives. We live better and better as we walk more and more in the Spirit. Life does not get more difficult, but our perspective of self shifts from "me" to "Him".
The life of a Christian begins with the Holy Spirit and ends
with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit empowers us, reminds us of truth, and counsels
us with wisdom from God.
He is the answer to our transformation, renewing our thoughts.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." -Rom. 12:2
"It is not the much that you say you believe that shapes your character; it is the little that you habitually realise. Truth professed has no transforming power; truth received and fed upon can revolutionise a man’s whole character." (Roman 12 commentary by Expositions Of Holy Scripture, Alexander MacLaren)
...the little that you habitually realize.
We are naturally
driven by what we see right in front of us, the bills, the people, ourselves in
the mirror, etc. To be mindful of the Holy Spirit takes more than just
what we see right in front of us, it takes seeing the unseen, aka: FAITH, over and over and over and over until it is habit. The Holy Spirit helps us see things
clearly, especially ourselves,
because if we do not see ourselves clearly we cannot see God clearly
either. C.S. Lewis once wrote: “Just as sunlight,
though it has no favorites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as
in a clean one. “
The REAL body of Christ is broken and sinful, and desperately in need of God. As one pastor put it: “God uses bad people, because bad people are all there is!”
Some think Christians are chained to walking around as pilgrims and saints...which if you look around any church closely enough you will soon see a plethora of broken people, far from being on a pilgrimage. I once wrote a blog that I titled "swamp monsters emerge!", in which I go on to describe my true self as a swamp monster. Nonetheless I am a loved and forgiven swamp monster with the hope of eternity securely in my heart. PRAISE GOD! You might wonder what makes me a swamp monster, and the list would be endless. I'm selfish, in that I always keep my eye out for the best for myself. I'm greedy in that I am inclined to take more than what I need. I'm vain always worrying about my weight, my skin, my clothes, my instagram, i'm impatient- getting angry when things don't go the way I wanted them to, i'm distrusting, i'm critical, i'm skeptical, i'm judgmental, i'm mean, i'm self-righteous, i'm the worst kind of person even in my action of being self critical is bad. I'm just bad through and through. Yet, Christ died so that I too would die in my sinful nature, and be resurrected with Him into a new life. This new life I so desperately desire to live out, but can only do so with the help of the Holy Spirit.
That is precisely why the Holy Spirit is referred to as OUR HELPER-- because we cannot begin to live out new lives in the Spirit without the help of the Spirit Himself to bring us to the finish line. Seeing myself clearly shows me just how badly I need the Holy Spirit’s help.
Also, as in all good things in life, living as a christian or as a successful businessperson, a straight A student or a good parent, a loving spouse, or whatever good kind of person you want to be, has it's difficulties. Life is difficult, yea? I mean, who here doesn't have any problems in their life, even right now? Whether your problems are external (like you need a job or help coping with someone at work, money or surgery) or internal (you struggle with depression, loneliness, anxiety, apathy) or most likely you have both like I do! So it might be more correct to say that most people hesitate to follow God because they think it will be even HARDER than it already is, rather than the tremendous gift and grace it truly is because we receive help. The Holy Spirit is referred to as our "helper". Not our tormenter; that is the job of the enemy.
Matthew 15:22
"A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely."
(what possesses you at times?)
John 14:26
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
The Bottom Line of all that He has said is “You are free”.
The entire bible culminates and points to Jesus, what He did, what He finished.
Understanding for me came through the clarity of seeing that I now have the grace to believe that though this assault on my life feels like death, moreso even if it does kill me, my faith is in God who resurrects. Therefore faith gives me the freedom to obey, the freedom to never get offended. However, it also reveals to me that in some areas I am more in love with my sin (my rights) than with God, and that is one of the most difficult things to see for myself; all the more reason I know more deeply just how much I need God to help me as a desperate person, so desperate that other things begin to fade and all that matters is my freedom from that bondage. The Helper shows me more clearly why, then I am convicted more strongly, and by grace the faith given me transforms my life. I am always questioning God’s methods, or my abilities to really act in faith, but yet in the areas that I find I am still in bondage I have not made a real attempt to face such feelings of death with faith in God’s resurrecting power. I often wonder why, or if i can...and that is where faith becomes a choice. Very difficult. Seemingly impossible.
Oh that He would increase my faith, help my unbelief!
What I can do is make it a habit to realize it is all about Him, and why.
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