Rabbi Schneider - Stir Up the Gift Inside You! (Shavuot 2023)
We read in the Scriptures that the Apostle Paul was in a hurry to get back in Jerusalem in time for Shavuot or we call it in English, Pentecost. Shavuot or Pentecost is one of the three main pilgrim feasts in the Bible. The time that Jewish people would come to Jerusalem from all over to worship the God of Israel, Yud-hei-Vav-hei, in that place.
Shavuot is a time that has come to represent the giving of the Spirit, because we read in Acts chapter two that the apostles and the disciples were all gathered together in one place. That place usually being referred to as the upper room. And as they were remembering how God had appeared to them at Mount Sinai 1500 years earlier, suddenly the same God that appeared to them at Mount Sinai appeared to them again in the upper room with wind, glory, and fire. But this time, instead of writing His law on the tablets of stone like he did at Sinai, the God of Israel circumcised their hearts and filled them beloved ones with His Ruach, with His Spirit.
Pentecost, Shavuot, it's a time that remind us of the gift of the Holy Spirit. What greater gift could God have ever given us but His Son? And He makes His Son known to us through the Spirit. The Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son and the purpose of the Spirit, along with empowering us and equipping us and gifting us. The purpose of the Spirit is to reveal God and to reveal Jesus unto us.
So Father in Yeshua's name, Jesus. We ask You that You would continue to unfold Your glory to us. We pray that You continue to reveal Yourself to us in all Your many dimensions.
As I'm praying right now, I'm thinking about the shirt that I have on, TakingTheRainbowBack.com. It reminds me of all the beauty of the color of the Holy Spirit. You know, when a Ezekiel saw the Lord, he wrote in his book is Ezekiel Chapter one, verse 28, when he saw the Lord, he said there was a radiance around Him like a rainbow. The Spirit is light and in white light are all the colors of a rainbow.
So I'm wishing you a happy and a joyous feast of Shavuot this year. And some people have felt led during this time to present a special offering to the Lord. That's completely up to you. But if the Holy Spirit is laying a witness upon your heart to present a special offering to Hashem, to God. There's information at the bottom of the screen how you can do that through Discovering The Jewish Jesus. God loves you. God bless you today in Jesus name.