Today for the church is the day of Pentecost. What does that mean to you and I? Well its a very important event for the church. Not only did it start the church era but it gave Christians a great comfort and guidance. I am speaking of course of the Holy Spirit. I was attending church tonight at a small church of amazing brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. There was a man there that I had not met before and he got up to sing two songs before it was my turn to speak. He first sang: "Nothing but the blood of Jesus" ( Warning, that may not be the actual title!) and "Here I am to worship"                        ( Also, that may not be the actual title!). I digress though. Duing this small but powerful performance I felt the Holy Spirit truly manifest itself into me. I don't always wave my hand in worship or loudly amen, though I do enjoy people following the spirit, but I found myself consumed by it. It was an awesome blessing to feel such an overwhelming joy!

Where does this leave off? How about this statement, we have the ability to be in fellowship with God 24/7/365. That is amazing in itself, is it not? Think about it: The God who knows you and me is the same God who loved us since before we were conceived. The God who created the multitudes of all living things. The architect  of existence chose sinners to feel this thing that is indescribable.

If you by chance stumbled onto this blog and you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, now is a great time to pray this prayer.

"Mighty God, I am not able to live in this world on my own. I know that each day can be a struggle and I desperately want you to forgive me of my sins. I want a new start and I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I invite you into my life as father.
Amen"

If you prayed that prayer, then welcome! Today is a new start and you have a new life in Jesus Christ.

Today I ask myself, what am I in the grand scheme of things? Am I just an average guy, minister, salesman, husband or father?  Not exactly, I am a child of God. That puts me and everyone else in a much different category.

First, I have been task with declaring the good news. What is the good news? Well, I’m glad you ask. The good news is that Jesus Christ died for all of our sins. Not only did he die for my sins, but he did it so that I could live forever. How about that? That’s a concept isn’t it, he died because he loved us. Imagine doing that for someone….. I can’t.

Secondly, I live my life in Christ, because Christ lives in me. If you think about all the great things that Jesus did, think about all of the great things you can do. The world is still in parts a beaten and battered place. There are tons of men, women, and children that need help, love, and prayer. In missions work we not always be going over seas somewhere, but rather right in our own back yard.

Lastly, I just want to encourage you for a minute, If you’re a Christian and you feel like the world is coming down around you at every corner, realize that you are going to be okay. Greater is the one who lives in you, than he who is living in the world. God will take care of you, God loves you, God wants to see you stand upright in the face of adversity. He will make things okay, it may be in a way that we don’t always understand, but he will.

God bless you today,
Josh Shaffer