Pentecost

Did you know that Pentecost was celebrated for hundreds of years before the outpouring recorded in Acts? Let’s jog your memory for a moment. Can you answer some basic questions about Old Testament Pentecost? What? Who? Where? When? If you have trouble, refresh your memory by reading Exodus 19. This account records the nation of Israel receiving the law on Mt. Sinai 50 days after the Passover.This event was to be memorialized yearly with The Feast of Pentecost. The New Testament Pentecost outpouring of the Holy Spirit is recorded in Acts 2. There are amazing similarities between the Old Testament Pentecost and the New Testament Pentecost when you compare them side by side.

Old Testament Pentecost                            New Testament Pentecost

Expect a visitation                                           Expect a visitation

Prepare yourself                                              Prepare yourself

Gather at the foot of the mountain         Gather in Jerusalem

Fire                                                                        Fire

Sound of a trumpet (wind instrument)  Sound of wind

Voice of God                                                      Holy Spirit spoke through people

Received the Law                                            Received the power to obey the living Word                      

The supernatural and spectacular giving of the law and God’s presence atop the mountain was an event and a clue of what He was going to do after Jesus paid the penalty for sin. The Old Testament Pentecost sets the tone for the outpouring of Holy Spirit in the New Testament; An event that is not frozen in time like a glacier. God's promised present came to do more than visit believers; He came to fill them.

Pentecost is a noun. It is both an event that occurred and a person that was introduced to the world. If you only know the historical Pentecost as an event, you are missing the real meaning of Pentecost. It’s more than a place we visit historically or a shrine in our tenants of faith. Pentecost must be a living reality if we are going to reap its benefits.

You can celebrate an event without understanding its meaning or enjoying its benefits. This fact is exemplified by the way some individuals celebrate Easter with only eggs and bunnies. But you can’t have the person of Pentecost, precious Holy Spirit without the verbs of Pentecost- go, do and be. When Holy Spirit comes He is like the wind, moving, energizing and transforming. He is the catalyst that energizes and inspires. He is the wind that catapults and brings life. The primary focus of His voice and His presence is to show us Jesus. The more we know Jesus, the more we love Him and are transformed by that love.

His Power, Not Ours

His Power, Not Ours

It was the close of the service at a District Girl’s Retreat and the girls were praying at the altar,  I noticed a leader with several girls as she moved among them praying and encouraging them to enter into the presence of God. I moved along slowly, praying for girls to experience the presence of God. But when I came to this leader, I felt an urgency to linger.

Prior to the service I had urged the leaders to move to the altars with the girls, praying over them, expecting God to flow through them to minister to their girls. This leader was doing exactly what I asked. It was inspiring to see her relate and minister to the girls.

But I sensed the need to minister to her for a moment and tell her something like this, “You ask yourself, can I minister to these girls? I have nothing to give these girls”. I shared the infamous verse from Zechariah 4:6 … “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” KJV

It is important that we never lose sight of that reality, it’s all about Him. We cannot change lives. We cannot give them what they need, even when they come forward for prayer at the altar. But, and this is a very important conjunction, be confident, that as a conduit His Spirit flows through you - like oil flows through the Alaska Pipeline - to touch the people you minister to. Your faith connects you with heaven and all God’s resources. God flowing through human conduits is what ministry is all about.

Two Olive Trees

In my book Pentecost Lost, I use 7 pictures to help believers know Holy Spirt better. One of the 7 pictures is oil. Oil is almost always a picture of Holy Spirit. Our need for Holy Spirit anointing far exceeds our need for crude oil products such as gas to fuel our cars. I am so thankful there is no Holy Spirit oil shortage. The supply is adequate to the demand, but often our demand is not adequate for the job. We must access the supply.

We see this principle of uninterrupted connection illustrated as Zechariah and Zerubbabel tried to complete their difficult assignment. Zechariah had the daunting task of mobilizing the emancipated Jews to rebuild the altar and the temple of the Lord. The rubble and ruin that remained from the city’s destruction was demoralizing. It seemed that the Jews were being distracted and hindered on every front, until finally all construction came to a total stop. They had a vision to rebuild, but they could only sit, with rubble all around them, and wait. They must have felt powerless and terribly discouraged. In Zechariah 4, God gave Zechariah a vision of a golden candlestick flanked on both sides by an olive tree.

The angel asked him, “Do you know what I’m showing you?”

“No.” Zechariah answered.

Then he said to me, "This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: 'May God bless it! May God bless it!' (Zechariah 4:6-7)

He wanted to assure Zerubbabel that he would do more than simply lay a foundation; he would complete construction. God wanted Zerubbabel to recognize the job required more strength or power than he could muster. Zerubbabel saw the task, but what he needed to see was his source--God’s Spirit, who would enable him to finish the task.


Zechariah asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees?” A major responsibility for a priest was to fuel the lamp in the Holy place with pure, fresh oil, so it would burn continuously. But the lamp Zechariah saw was not tended by a priest. The oil was funneled directly from two living olive trees into the golden lamp. Zechariah saw an illustration of miraculous supply to help him visualize God as his source.

The vision, while both inspiring and encouraging to Zerubbabel and Zechariah, was also a prophetic picture for the modern church. Let’s look at the picture again. The prophetic picture represented by the golden candlestick is the Church. The lamp stand was gold because it is God’s Church, not a building, but a holy habitation for His Spirit. The church was symbolized as a candlestick because it should be a light in a dark world. John Wesley said, “All which is an emblem of the church, made of pure gold; to be a light in the world; to shine as lamps that continually burn, maintained with pure oil, distilled from the olive - trees, not pressed out by man, but continually, abundantly, and freely flowing from God.”

But, why did the vision include two olive trees? What was God saying with this clue? Even the prophet, to whom the vision was given, asked for clarification. John Wesley’s commentary for Zechariah 4:14 states “The two anointed ones - Christ and Holy Spirit. The Son was to be sent by the Father, and so was the Holy Ghost.” This is really, really important. The Church needs two trees to burn brightly in the end time. We desperately need Jesus, the living Word, and the living Holy Spirit.

But, the mystery in this picture continues to unfold. When olive oil is produced, the olives are removed from the trees. Did you notice that the oil in this picture did not come from lifeless fruit, but a living tree? What is the significance of oil from an olive tree, instead of oil from an olive? The significance is life. Our faith is not rooted in a dead hero, but a living, risen Savior. Our relationship is not built on a distant memory, but a personal indwelling. He is alive with a viable voice-speaking and a watchful eye-guiding. As a tender shepherd, He is both nourishing and protecting. It is comparable to the difference between viewing a photograph of a garden and taking a stroll through that fragrant garden, listening to the birds and exploring exotic waterfalls with the love of your life. Far too many believers have never experienced anything beyond the photograph they glimpse in Scripture. " (Copied from Pentecost Lost Copyright 2011 Patricia Holland.)

The Springhouse

It was hot, even in the shade. I still had a long distance to walk, when I noticed the sign, “Springhouse Well.” I hadn’t seen an artesian well for years; maybe since my childhood. The sign reminded me of a visit to my aunt’s house in rural Alabama. My dad had taken me to an artesian well on her property, where the water bubbled up into a small pool. I remember cupping my hands and drinking the coldest, most refreshing water I had ever tasted.

That memory made me even thirstier, so I quickened my steps. I had to find the well. I could see the springhouse, small and quaint, across the parking lot. Water, refreshing and cold, was just what I needed on a scorching hot day like this one. The door squeaked on its hinges as I opened it. I peered inside. The well was capped. I looked around for a hand-pump or faucet, but none was in sight. No water…only a sign to mark the place where people had once drank. Disappointed, I stepped back outside. The springhouse was beautiful, but beauty wasn’t going to refresh me or satisfy my thirst. I left the springhouse, as thirsty as I had come.

Our modern culture craves fresh, living water. God has lavishly supplied a crystal clear riverhead in the heart of the Church. Still, our culture desperately attempts to quench their thirst from religious mud puddles. Could part of the problem be that the riverhead is dammed up and diverted so it does not flow out of the Church? You cannot answer for the Church at large, but you can answer for yourself. Is living water flowing out of you?
Taken from my new book "Pentecost Lost". copyright 2011 Patricia Holland

Bonsai

While I understand bonsai trees are both beautiful and treasured, I find them profoundly sad. Trees are designed to be big! You climb in them; swing in their branches or rest in the shade of its bushy canopy. But not the bonsai, it is too small. Trees with mature heights of 50 to 150 feet, will only reach 12-14 inches as a mature bonsai. They are not dwarfed by genetics. Instead, they are miniature by deliberate design. The blueprint locked inside the DNA of the young seedling promises a mighty giant. But to create a bonsai that destiny is altered. To grow a bonsai the tap root is clipped and the branches are pruned. Then the developing seedling is planted in a low container. The bonsai reaches maturity, but it never reaches its potential. The miniature lives a low dish while its giant relative grows outside. Locked inside the bonsai is the potential to kiss the sky, which it will never do as a bonsai.

But the reality of bonsai Christians go beyond sad to heartbreaking. A bonsai Christian is the result of unrealized and unleashed potential, God implanted potential. God’s incorruptible seed was destined to produce believers that would be called, “… trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Verse 3 of Isaiah 61:1-3) You are called to be like a tall, magnificent tree, visually displaying the nature and glory of God. You are called to be like a giant sequoia, a tree of righteousness, so God can receive glory from your life. He doesn’t get glory when you live your life chained and defeated by sin or stunted with tiny faith and miniature results. Too many believers live satisfied and content as bonsai Christians instead of being the giant God intended believers to become.

Sequoias are spectacular giants which grow to heights of over 250 feet. When I stood at the foot of the General Sherman, named for its exceptional stature, I commented to my husband, “Look how small the branches are.” My husband was reading the sign. One branch was over six feet in diameter, more than the average height of most men. The height of the branches caused them to appear much smaller than they actually were. You feel like a tiny bug in comparison to their towering majesty.

Although God put the seed of potential in every believer to live super-sized Christian lives, too often we live like a bonsai with bonsai results. Something is missing. That something is actually someone; we are missing precious Holy Spirit. Our unbelief has frozen Pentecost into a myth or a relic of the past like a dinosaur. By deliberate neglect, fear of the unknown and/or skepticism we have pushed Holy Spirit into a dark corner in the basement of our lives. Our inability to produce desired results leaves us questioning Him, instead of questioning our beliefs and values. Oh yes, we have an abundance of activities, programs and ideas, but no power. We have plenty of knowledge, but little wisdom. We know how to compromise, organize, and economize, but we refuse to evangelize. Every believer has the DNA to be a spiritual king, but we have dropped the scepter and shirk from the responsibly. We live as if Christianity were another self-help program, picking and choosing scriptures as though they were suggestions. We employ self-discipline to produce righteousness and holiness like we try to stay on a diet. We live as orphans, deserted and hopeless. Our theology insists Holy Spirit exists, but divorced from His living presence we live like a deserted orphan.

The early church was born in the fire and power of Holy Spirit. If the early church needed power, why don’t we still need it? Did God intend for the church to be born in a dynamic fire only to fizzle out? Or, has the lid of wrong teaching kept us from expecting and experiencing the infilling of Holy Spirit? Has unbelief cut our tap root so we fail to reach for and receive the deep things of God?

William Robinson Clark saidin his book "The Paraclete", “I believe that the cause of the general ignorance on this subject is that God will not reveal His fullness to a partially consecrated soul. Until our whole being is yielded to Him we cannot understand these things. God only reveals His fullness to those who are willing to go all lengths with Him.”


Let’s dedicate our hearts to discover God’s truth. What is the truth concerning Holy Spirit? We all have questions; some that don’t seem to have clear answers; others that are simple to understand when you know where to look. Who is Holy Spirit? Do you receive Holy Spirit when you are saved? Is there a second work of grace? Have tongues stopped? The truth is hidden in the seed of a mystery. Unlocking the mystery will enrich your life beyond your wildest dream. In these seven lessons we will take you on a journey through scripture to unlock the mystery of Pentecost!