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God Sends Help
For today, I wanted to share this story from “The Jesus Storybook Bible”, called “God Sends Help” to give us a different perspective/paraphrase on the passage:
“Jesus’ friends and helpers huddled together in a stuffy upstairs room. Even though it was sunny outside, the shutters were closed. The door was locked. “Wait in Jerusalem,” Jesus had told them, “I am going to send you a special present. God’s power is going to come into you. God’s Holy Spirit is coming.” So here they were. Waiting. Actually, mostly what they were doing was just being scared and hiding. (You can’t blame them—their best friend had left; the Important People and Leaders were after them; and Jesus had given them a job they didn’t know how to do.) As they waited, they were praying and remembering—remembering how, from the beginning, God had been working out his Secret Rescue Plan.
Suddenly a strong wind filled the little room, whistling through the walls, rustling the straw on the floor. And there—on everyone’s heads, shining in the gloom—were flickering flames. Fire that didn’t hurt or burn. And something more: inside, in their hearts, they felt a strange heat, almost as if all the coldness and hardness were melting away. As if their broken hearts were mending. And God was giving them brand new hearts—hearts that could work properly. How it happened they didn’t know, but they knew God’s power had struck their hearts ablaze…Whispering the promise that would get rid of the poison and the terrible lie and the sickness in their hearts. God’s wonderful promise to them: “You are my child. And I love you”... Could it be? Heaven was coming into their hearts.
There were lots of people from faraway countries in Jerusalem. They couldn’t speak the same language but as they listened to Peter, everyone could understand what he was saying—in their own languages! Many people believed. And became Jesus’ new friends and helpers. And the wonderful news of Jesus spread. Like sparks from a fire. To villages. Towns. Cities. Every day, more and more people believed.” [1]
Questions? Comments?
God Sends Help
For today, I wanted to share this story from “The Jesus Storybook Bible”, called “God Sends Help” to give us a different perspective/paraphrase on the passage:
“Jesus’ friends and helpers huddled together in a stuffy upstairs room. Even though it was sunny outside, the shutters were closed. The door was locked. “Wait in Jerusalem,” Jesus had told them, “I am going to send you a special present. God’s power is going to come into you. God’s Holy Spirit is coming.” So here they were. Waiting. Actually, mostly what they were doing was just being scared and hiding. (You can’t blame them—their best friend had left; the Important People and Leaders were after them; and Jesus had given them a job they didn’t know how to do.) As they waited, they were praying and remembering—remembering how, from the beginning, God had been working out his Secret Rescue Plan.
Suddenly a strong wind filled the little room, whistling through the walls, rustling the straw on the floor. And there—on everyone’s heads, shining in the gloom—were flickering flames. Fire that didn’t hurt or burn. And something more: inside, in their hearts, they felt a strange heat, almost as if all the coldness and hardness were melting away. As if their broken hearts were mending. And God was giving them brand new hearts—hearts that could work properly. How it happened they didn’t know, but they knew God’s power had struck their hearts ablaze…Whispering the promise that would get rid of the poison and the terrible lie and the sickness in their hearts. God’s wonderful promise to them: “You are my child. And I love you”... Could it be? Heaven was coming into their hearts.
There were lots of people from faraway countries in Jerusalem. They couldn’t speak the same language but as they listened to Peter, everyone could understand what he was saying—in their own languages! Many people believed. And became Jesus’ new friends and helpers. And the wonderful news of Jesus spread. Like sparks from a fire. To villages. Towns. Cities. Every day, more and more people believed.” [1]
Questions? Comments?
[1] Lloyd-Jones, Sally; Jago (2010-04-13). The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name (Kindle Locations 1747-1762). Zonderkidz. Kindle Edition.
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