May 17 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

These readings focus on the Holy Spirit. In the Old Covenant (or Testament), the Spirit "anoints" one person here and one there to perform a special work for God. In the New Covenant, the Spirit is "poured out" like rain on the whole church of Christ.

Bible Reading:

Acts 2:1–4

Bible Text:

A sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven.... They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire ... [and all] began to speak in other tongues (Acts 2:2–4).

Devotional:

On Pentecost God the Holy Spirit made his temple on earth. Nobody can see a spirit. We know his presence by the signs.

Three signs accompanied the Spirit's coming. First, the sound of a violent wind. It was not a real storm. The real wind (or breath, or spirit) is the Holy Spirit himself. And now he has come with a life-giving power never before displayed. The Wind of God is blowing. Dead and dry bones will become real people again, and the Breath of God will bring life where there was none.

The second sign looked as if a fire from heaven had descended. People saw what looked like fire, a fire that divided into candlelights.

These tongues of fire rested on "a group of about one hundred and twenty" (Acts 1:15). The twelve apostles were there, "along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers" (Acts 1: 14). And perhaps there were children. It is hard to think of a hundred and twenty people without children in an Asian country.

Moses once stood at the burning bush. He trembled because God was in the bush that burned and that was not consumed. Now, at Pentecost, the holy God was in these ordinary people. The fire was on them but they were not consumed.

And then they spoke in many tongues. That was the third sign of the Spirit. He loosened more than a thousand tongues—people from all nations of the world—to sing the Redeemer's praise.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.