Tag: Rev. Dr. Ken Crawford

When the Feast of Pentecost came, [the apostles] were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force — no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

The image of “tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them” (using the language of another translation) is a powerful one. This wildfire of God’s grace signals the dawning of a new era in God’s work of salvation. The message of Jesus is boldly proclaimed. Hearts are touched and convicted. Faith in Jesus is spread. People are baptized. The Spirit is given as God’s gift. Sins are gone. A new movement that will sweep through the mighty Roman Empire is begun and is still with us today. The Holy Spirit is the wind that causes heaven’s wildfire to spread through human hearts and change the future of people, family, friends, cultures, and nations. So let’s pray for this wildfire to sweep through our lands, our churches, our friends, and our own hearts!

Father in heaven, I know that the Holy Spirit lives in me and in the hearts of your people. But we yearn for a fresh movement of your Spirit to bring renewal, to empower evangelism, and to bring conviction of sin and a realization of grace, peace, and joy. I ask that your Holy Spirit will break out like wildfire among us and propel us to be the people our world needs us to be! In Jesus’ name, we ask for this grace. Amen.

[Not long after Jesus’ ascension,] Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus.”

The crucifixion of Jesus was not an accident. The passion of Christ was part of God’s plan from the beginning (1 Peter 1:18-20). The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms all speak of the Christ having to suffer (Luke 24:44-49). The inspiration behind these writings, these prophecies, was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit spoke these things. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was not a surprise to Jesus. While the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus were tragedies and involved the work of evil people, they were planned by God and announced by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:23). It is amazing that this Holy Spirit, who moved the prophets to foretell the truth about Jesus, is the same Spirit who lives in us to confirm the truth about Jesus in us and to us (John 16:13; 1 John 2:24-28).

Father, I thank you for being present with me through the Holy Spirit, who brings so many blessings to me. As I seek to know Jesus, to really know him and not just know about him, I pray the Holy Spirit will guide me into all truth, into deeper and deeper truth, so that I can know the Son completely and perfectly reflect his character and compassion in my daily life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Jesus was filled with the joy
of the Holy Spirit.
– Luke 10:21 NLT

All too frequently, we pursue the wrong things hoping that they will make us happy. Real joy, however, comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we look at the life of Jesus and at the lives of his early followers, we see that the presence of the Holy Spirit brought them joy. The Spirit’s presence can do the same for us. This joy from the Spirit comes from many things, including but not limited to these blessings:

• Insight and understanding into the scriptures and into life.
• The abiding presence of God within us.
• The connection that the Holy Spirit gives us with other believers.
• The assurance of our relationship with the Father as his children.

Joy comes to us because of the Spirit’s presence in our lives!

Father, thank you for providing me with your source of joy, the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, I thank you. Amen.

Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
– Proverbs 31:28-29 ESV

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”  –  Joel 2:28 tniv

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s Spirit would come upon special leaders or agents of God’s will to do his work. Most of the time, the Spirit’s presence would be temporary, to help with a pressing issue, need, problem, or battle. In a few cases, like David, God’s Spirit never departed from God’s servant. But the presence of the Spirit living permanently inside all of God’s people was the promise of the coming of the Messiah and the formation of God’s new people. This promise from Joel 2 is the centerpiece Scripture quoted by Peter in his sermon during Pentecost. This day, promised by Joel’s prophecy, comes with the dawn of the church and signaled by the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit first comes to those who proclaim the story of Jesus, but then to all who hear the message, believe, and respond by being baptized, on this day and all the days of conversion to follow (Acts 2:38-39). We live in the age of the Spirit!

Thank you! Thank you O God, for allowing me to live in the time of your church. Forgive me when I discount your power released in and through her through the Holy Spirit. Forgive me for not responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to be conformed to the character and compassion of Jesus. Forgive me for the times I’ve grieved the Spirit by saying unkind things about others in whom the Spirit lives. I ask, dear Father, in the name of Jesus, that your Holy Spirit have more influence on my heart and in shaping my life. Amen.

“Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above And the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests.”   – Isaiah 32:15 msg

Throughout the Old Testament prophets, there are statements made about the coming of a new day for God’s people. It will be a day of healing, victory, and joy. It will be a time when bad things are made right and even the land will be healed of harshness, desolation, and unproductivity. And the key sign to all of this? The work of the Holy Spirit. With the coming of Jesus, all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) emphasize the work of the Spirit in Jesus’ life and promise that Jesus will baptize in the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts connects to this promise, so that with Acts 2 and Pentecost, and with each conversion story, we are shown the Holy Spirit is involved. When the Spirit of God comes, God’s new work has begun and his new people are born into his Promise and into his Kingdom, where there is joy, renewal, and new life.

Father, I thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit’s presence — in your church, in my world, and especially within me. I look to your Spirit’s presence to renew my heart, to bring joy in everyday moments, to bring comfort in times of sorrow, and bring new life where there was none. Thank you for this incredible gift of power and your presence within me. Through the mighty name of Jesus I praise and thank you for this gift! Amen.

“As for me, this is my covenant with [those who repent of their sins],” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants — from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 59:1-16 is one of the most crushingly sad sections in the entire Bible. God is frustrated and heartbroken because his people are in such blatant rebellion and have no one to lead them back to him. They have been crushed by their enemies, and they are without hope — spiritually and physically. So, God decides to act! He moves with fury and might against his people’s enemies (Isaiah 59:17-19). Then he promises to send his Redeemer. From that moment on, God’s Spirit and God’s words will rest with his people forever. As was often the case, such prophecies had double fulfillments: One was in Old Testament times and another, in New Testament times. We have just seen the New Testament fulfillment in the gospel of Matthew: Jesus is this Redeemer, and the work of the Spirit brings the dawning of God’s kingdom. While we live in difficult times for the followers of Jesus, we also live under the promise that God’s Spirit will not depart from us and that the Spirit’s presence assures us that God’s words will not be taken from us!

Father, thank you for your Word, and your words. Thank you that your Word is the great Redeemer who has delivered us from Satan and sent your Spirit to us. We praise you and thank you for this grace, and we pledge ourselves to your work in our world, transformed by your Spirit and informed by your Word. In Jesus’ name, we thank you! Amen.

[Jesus, in the synagogue, reading from Isaiah:] “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” – Luke 4:18-19 NLT

Luke makes clear that Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb through the Holy Spirit, anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism, and empowered by the Holy Spirit into and through his wilderness temptations, and that he emerged from the temptations full of the Spirit. Today’s passage reminds us that the Spirit is powerfully upon him to focus his ministry. This quotation from Isaiah 61:1-2 is in the context of God’s servant, Jesus, bringing restoration and healing. If Jesus’ ministry was empowered by the Holy Spirit, how dare we try to minister without the Holy Spirit’s power? Release of the captives, freedom for the oppressed, and the time of God’s favor don’t come without the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the ministry of God’s servants!

Father, I know that you have given me gifts, talents, and abilities to use in ministry to bless others and to honor you. I recognize that even with these gifts, my ability to accomplish all that you have called me to do is impossible without the power and guidance of your Spirit. I ask for the Holy Spirit to help me recognize these gifts, to empower me so that I can use these gifts effectively, and to help me use these gifts in ways that honor you and reflect the character and compassion of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Jesus left that place and went to the area around Tyre. Jesus went into a house there. Jesus did not want the people in that area to know he was there. But Jesus could not stay hidden. A woman heard that Jesus was there. Her little daughter had an evil spirit inside her. So the woman came to Jesus and bowed down near his feet. –  Mark 7:24-25 NLT

Jesus and his leading followers are still in need of rest. The crowds have pressed upon them repeatedly. However, Jesus’ reputation has now grown and he is well known even far away from his home and center of ministry. Gentiles have heard of his power and know their need for help. In this context—the deep need to withdraw and be alone and the seeking hearts of Gentiles—a woman comes to Jesus with a deep concern on her heart. Her daughter is possessed by an evil spirit. The Phoenician people had a proud, but very pagan, heritage (from a Jewish point of view). They had often been bitter enemies with the children of Israel. For this woman to fall at the feet of a Jew, especially one of “no noble rank,” was indeed a sign of desperation and humility. For the culture that produced Jezebel and a host of condemning words because of their Baal worship, here is a woman who shows dependence and worship to the Savior of the world, who also happens to be Jewish. Not even the distance—geographical and racial—could keep Jesus’ saving power from being known!

Father God, please help us awaken and realize that what we have to share with the world is Jesus—not our technology, our culture, our knowledge. While many other things are good to share and I know we need to be generous in sharing them, please help us to be more passionate about sharing Jesus both in our teaching and in our conduct. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” –  Romans 10:15

How beautiful are your feet? People with beautiful feet are either “sending folks” or they are “going folks” who share the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Which are you? If we’re not one of those two options, we’re Christians with ugly feet. Now nobody would want that to be said of him or her? So let’s make a partnership agreement with other believers by either going and asking for their support and help, or by helping and supporting others while they are going!

Almighty God of the nations, I know it pains your heart to see so many people in our world today that do not even know the name of your Son, much less trust in him as their Lord. Through your Holy Spirit, stir in us the desire to have beautiful feet just like our brothers and sisters had in those early chapters of the book of Acts. May the Gospel spread in our day as it did in theirs! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.