Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Romans 8:14-17
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all
together in one place.Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 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 their own language being spoken.
Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus
and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism);
Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”


Reflection
Our scripture today is a great reminder of how to tell if what we are learning comes from the Holy Spirit. Everything the Spirit does glorifies Christ. The disciples who gathered for Pentecost begin to glorify Christ by sharing the great story of God’s love for us. If you read on, Peter begins to preach about the love of God we have in Jesus Christ. This is his one theme and it is the one theme that we have that is taught to us by the Holy Spirit. Why do you think it is important that we remember that the Holy Spirit only glorifies Christ?