Thursday Morning Devotion (Time with God)

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Acts 2:4-6 (NIV)

The crowd was “bewildered”. We continue to be amazed and mystified when God shows Himself, don’t we? Why is that? We could state the obvious and say it’s because He is GOD and we are just … us. And it’s true that God is infinite and we are limited. But it’s more than that, I think. We don’t think we are good enough for God to take an interest and SHOW Himself to us! We’re scared!

[God said,] “I have loved you with a love that has NO beginning and NO end.” Jeremiah 31:3 (my paraphrase)

[Jesus said,] “If you who have evil and a limited love, know how to give wonderful gifts to your children, the Father who has limitless love will give you the BEST gift – the Holy Spirit if you ask him!” Luke 11:13 (my paraphrase)

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its name. ¹⁶ I ask that he give you strength and empower you from the inside by means of his Spirit, ¹⁷so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, rooted in and built on a foundation of love. ¹⁸I ask that you be fully empowered to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, length, height, and depth of that love, ¹⁹and to know God’s love that completely surpasses knowledge, so that you might be filled with everything that makes God what He is.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (Henry’s translation)

God will meet our needs – but often not the way we expect! The Jews (God-fearing) wanted God to take care of them. They were His Chosen People. Unfortunately they had not changed their view of Him since Moses. They did NOT want to get closer to God. “Let the priests do it!” And so here they were witnessing God’s Spirit showing not as a pillar of fire but tongues of fire and allowing each one of them to hear God’s words for themselves – but they couldn’t accept that!

God wants a personal relationship with me. He wants a personal relationship with each of you reading this today. And each relationship will be different. He has the time and KNOWING to meet each of us where we are. As Jesus explained in Luke’s Gospel, even with my limited understanding, I ‘get it’! Do I want to spend time with my children and whether they are good enough to spend time with me? – well, that’s not a thought that enters my mind! God is not just a ‘good’ Father – He’s great! Stupendous! He DESIRES to spend time with me! He wants to listen. He wants to teach me. He wants to heal me. HE and ME. He wants that!

Do it! Spend more time with God. If you think you are – there’s more! Come on! Take a step closer! Let go of what you already know and hold out your hand to your Father for more! Read His words every day and learn MORE! RECEIVE His love and encouragement and wisdom and strength. Accept His ‘bread’ for today.

My Father, who is heaven, I praise and honor Your Holy Name…Give me the ‘bread’ that I need for today. Matthew 6:9, 11 (my paraphrase)