"The Holy Spirit has been warning me from city to city that chains and hardships await me." -Acts 20:23
The Holy Spirit repeatedly warned St. Paul that chains, hardship, and even martyrdom awaited him. Although this would result in Paul suffering persecution and death (Acts 20:24), the Spirit compelled him to finish his race and complete his service to the Lord. The Holy Spirit warns us of trouble and then gets us into it.
If we're going to receive the Spirit in a new Pentecost, we must volunteer to get into the Holy Spirit's kind of trouble. For instance, some nurses who receive the Spirit this Pentecost will quit their jobs rather than be silent about their hospitals performing abortions. Some teachers who have a true Pentecost will be fired because they prayed publicly in a public school. Some Christians who receive the Spirit this Pentecost will be persecuted or even killed because they have tried to lead others to Christ in Muslim, Communist, or secular humanistic countries.
The Holy Spirit will get us into a certain kind of trouble. If we're willing to get into that trouble, we will receive the Holy Spirit this Pentecost.
Father, may my love for You make me willing to suffer and die for You.
"Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Him Whom You have sent, Jesus Christ." -Jn 17:3
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