Receiving May 10, 2008, worship scriptures

Make the most of this post.
Receive the Word for yourself first. Suggestions for doing this are at http://charistis.blogspot.com/2008/03/receiving-word-as-spirit-and-life.html
Following are the notes I made while doing what I'm inviting you to do.

Scriptures for May 10, 2008
Numbers 11:24-30
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Acts 2:1-21
John 7:37-39

May 3 prayer for receiving
Thank you, God, for the desire to receive Your Word as spirit and life. Thank you for the times and ways you have satisfied this desire, and then increased the desire again. Enable me to receive again and more fully today, especially now.

Numbers 11:24-30 (selections and reflections)
"Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His spirit upon them!" (vs. 29)
Oh that is good. It's heart satisfying. That's what came over me as I received this story that climaxes in Moses saying, "Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His spirit upon them!"

"...the seventy elders...prophesied." (vs. 25)
"...Eldad and...Medad... prophesied." (vs. 26)
"Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets..." (vs. 29)
Receiving the Spirit of God and prophesying.
Receiving the words of others who have received the Spirit and prophesy.
What does this story show about both? What does it show about responding to the Spirit directly, and also to someone with a Spirit-given message?

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (selections and reflections)
"This great and wide sea,
In which are innumerable teeming things..." (vs. 25)
The Blue Planet is a miniseries about the ocean (a four-videodisc set available at public libraries) that, among many other aspects of ocean life, shows vast underwater "clouds" of those innumerable teeming things. This miniseries is this verse in your living room! It's a series that helps me receive the great and wide sea part of this fabulous Psalm.

"You take away their breath, they die..." (vs. 29)
"You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;" (vs. 30)
Life in creatures from the Spirit of God.
Life in human beings from the Spirit of God--physical life and spiritual life.
The Spirit sustains physical and spiritual life.

"May the glory of the LORD endure forever;" (vs. 31)
The more we see and ponder the connection between the manifold works of God in the earth (vs. 24 ff) and the glory of God (vs. 31), the more amazing it becomes. The size and splendor of the glory we can already see is more than any, or all, of us can absorb. Beyond this present glory, there is the unspeakably greater glory to come. The Spirit is our Guide in this territory that either eludes or overwhelms us without Him. And imagine this: The people of God are part of the present glory, and they will also be part of the glory of God that is to come. That is great to realize in the best of times and the worst of times. The glory of God mattered to Jesus; being glorified with God mattered to Jesus; and giving God's glory to others mattered to Jesus (John 17:1,5,22). This week's and last week's scriptures encourage me to love and seek God's glory the way Jesus did.

Acts 2:1-21 (selections and reflections)
"...a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house..." (vs. 2)
"Then...tongues, as of fire..." (vs. 3)
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak..." (vs. 4)
Sound and sight.
Filled house; filled humans.
They heard and saw. They knew the house was filled. They knew they were filled.
Ponder how the Holy Spirit has come to people you know, and to you.

"We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." (vs. 11)

Here are some reactions to what was happening:
- confused (vs. 6)
- amazed and marvelling (vs. 7)
- amazed and perplexed (vs. 12)
- mocking (vs. 13)
The word, in Peter's sermon (that begins in vs. 14) and spoken by the prophet Joel (vss. 17-21), helps the people receive and respond to what was happening.
Supernatural happenings combined with the word. Letting that connection sink in all the more is important.

John 7:37-39 (selections and reflections)
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
"He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive..." (vss. 37-39)
What are this week's scriptures showing me about believers receiving the Holy Spirit today?
One thing that's highlighted for me is that the Spirit and words go together; the people who are filled with the Spirit speak. It's sort of like air inhaled becomes air exhaled; the Spirit received becomes words expressed.
Receiving the Holy Spirit is the best and most essential receiving I can imagine. What's it like within and among believers when that receiving happens? Too many times the actions or words that the speaker thinks the Spirit inspired don't seem very inviting or desirable to those who see or hear them. There are a lot of scriptures that help a person discern the genuine. Experience also teaches us about the genuine.
May Day I was looking for a small potted plant in bloom. There are lots to choose from. I scanned the racks and racks of them, and liked the small white mums best that day. Then I started choosing which one of the many little boxes of small white mums. Some were "past their prime," others weren't in full bloom yet. I wanted full blooms that would stay fresh. (How much should a person expect from a blossom!) What occurs to me is how Spirit-given life is visible; we recognize fresh, vibrant life. We can see Spirit-given life in people, something like we recognize the life in a plant. If the words we speak don't seem to convince, we can let our life convince. Receive the Spirit, and let the water of life flow. That is water of life that flows, not frustrating or irritating actions or words.