A special message from one of our IAM Woman guest speakers Dr. Cynthia James….

It’s a Season

It will be clear by the second or third line that I’m clearly not a blogger. I say that more with regret than apology. However, I am willing to expose the thoughts that are on my mind and allow you to draw your own conclusions.

Truth is, I’m not good at holidays. I always admired those folks who long before July 4th had the nation’s colors displayed and even had shirts and sweaters to match. We all know at least one of “those people” who rushes to the store the day after Christmas to catch the sales on decorations, so they are the first ones “out of the gate” for the next year. I love Christmas, but I’m just not wired that way.

In the days I put up a Christmas tree, I would put it up the day after Thanksgiving, and possibly a week later the ornaments would be on the tree. In another week the wreaths might be hung in the windows. It was my favorite holiday, but I still needed every day until “D Day” to get it all finished. The crushing fact is, even though protocol permits leaving the ornaments on display for a considerable time beyond December 25th, Christmas has ended. Now every thought is devoted to, “when will I get it all packed away”? Every holiday is that way; it builds and then the day after it’s over.

So you may be wondering, “Why is she even bothering to blog”?

In this post-Easter and post-Pentecost season I’m relishing the fact that Pentecost does not end abruptly. It truly is a season. Whether it is 50 or 250 days after Resurrection Day, the Holy Spirit is still actively moving with no less vigor than on that Day of Pentecost.

This is the only day that can continue the rest of my life. The joy, the liberty, the freedom it announces – the sense of harvest and reaping becomes my pleasant preoccupation. There’s hope for me! This is the season that I can make every deadline, and never have to be concerned with the drudgery of packing it away for another year.

Pentecost in contrast to Christmas (the Advent season) has a rippling, ever increasing momentum. I experience more of the love and compassion of the Lord today than I did yesterday. His grace is multiplied in endless waves in my life. My joy and rejoicing is renewed as the Word of the Lord is fresh and new with each reading. Every occasion to explore the Scriptures is an invitation to read with clarity and proclaim with power.

What other season is every day, all year, every year?

Pentecost was also called the Feast of Weeks and bore many similarities to the year of Jubilee. The Feast of Weeks fell seven Sabbaths after the Resurrection, and Jubilee occurred every 7 years. Pentecost celebrated the grain harvest, and Jubilee was marked by a release from debts. The two concepts flow inextricably together in my life; as a believer I recognize the harvest and provision of God and our true freedom in Christ.

I don’t have to decorate a tree or put out a flag – just witness and be living proof of the transforming power of Christ. That’s why there’s hope for me – maybe not as a blogger, but as an “Acts” person living Pentecost daily. WE live our lives like those in the Book of Acts who saw the miraculous mysterious moves of God become “common place”.

Welcome to my world. A world where the Presence of the Lord: (1) grants me authority over the adversity and every evil work; (2) causes me to want to abide in God’s presence and most of all; (3) inspires me to adore Him.

Yes, the season of Pentecost is inexhaustible and so is my soul’s craving to abide, adore, and act on His granted authority. This is my plan, and can be yours too. This may be my last blog, but I can tell everyone that I will continue to see and experience the power of Pentecost in the coming days, months, and years.

Finally, I’ve found a concept that is forever. Pentecost is for all of the seasons in my life.

Blessings.