Pentecost

The celebration of Pentecost is coming soon...50 days after Easter, just like it was in the days of Jesus. We celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that took place 10 days after Jesus ascended back into heaven after having rose from the dead.

I recently read about something so cool about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I've heard for awhile now about how the Israelites passing through the water symbolizes baptism, but now I have finally gotten the fuller picture of the whole thing. First, the Israelites were released from their captivity and experienced freedom for Egypt. This represents our initial salvation by faith, our release from bondage to sin and darkness. Then they passed through the Red Sea and God drowned their enemies. This represents water baptism where we declare before all of heaven and earth that we belong to Jesus, and our enemies have no hold on us any longer. But then there was a THIRD significant thing that happened. Another baptism! They eventually passed through another body of water, where God again did a miracle, when they crossed the Jordan river on their way to the Promised Land. THIS baptism represents the baptism of the Holy Spirit...without which we cannot inherit our promised land!