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Consecrated for Nearness
The Invitation of Pentecost
Welcome back to You Are My Witnesses. As we approach the Hebrew month of Sivan and the appointed time of Pentecost, there is an invitation from God before us—an invitation to draw near. Sivan carries the remembrance of the moment God descended upon Mount Sinai and revealed His law to Israel. It was a moment of holy nearness, where God was drawing close to His people. Yet even in that sacred encounter, humanity faced a devastating reality: sin separates us from God.
The sacrifices, cleansing rituals, and ceremonies found throughout Leviticus all pointed to this truth. Humanity could not make itself holy enough to enter perfect communion with a holy God. The purpose of the law was never to transform the human heart. Rather, it was meant to expose the condition of it. The law revealed that sin is not merely external behavior—it begins internally, deep within the heart.
The Law Reveals, but the Spirit Transforms
Jesus addressed this directly when He taught that hatred in the heart is equivalent to murder. Before outward sin ever manifests, something sinful has already taken root inwardly. The law can restrain behavior, but it cannot transform desire. That is why Jesus came.
Jesus fulfilled what humanity never could. He became sin for us so that we could become righteous—not through our striving, but through Him. Then, during another Pentecost in Acts 2, God did something extraordinary: He poured out His Holy Spirit. No longer would His ways only be written on stone tablets. Through the Holy Spirit, God began writing His truth upon human hearts.
This is sanctification—the miracle of inward transformation. The Holy Spirit changes what we love, what we hunger for, and how we see. He transforms us from the inside out in a way the law alone never could.
God Makes the First Move
If we are honest, we must acknowledge that God always makes the first move. Even salvation itself begins with Him. We did not wake up one day and decide to discover God on our own. The Holy Spirit pursued us, revealed Jesus to us, and opened our eyes through His Word, through conviction, through creation, and through encounters with His presence.
God initiates. God pursues. God draws near.
At the same time, Scripture repeatedly instructs us to guard our hearts and minds because what we behold shapes us. What we consistently give our attention to will eventually transform us. We are constantly being discipled by what we watch, hear, meditate on, and consume. We can either be conformed by the world or transformed by the Spirit of God.
Why Psalm 63 Matters During Sivan
As we prepare our hearts for Pentecost, Psalm 63 becomes an especially powerful meditation. This Psalm has the ability to convict us, align us, and awaken deeper hunger for God. But to fully understand its weight, we must first understand its context.
David wrote Psalm 63 while fleeing for his life from King Saul. Saul had rejected God’s ways and instead chose control, pride, and his own wisdom. Eventually jealousy consumed him. Jealousy is deeply incompatible with intimacy with God because envy, bitterness, and rivalry cannot coexist with deep fellowship with Yahweh.
David had done nothing wrong. He had faithfully served Saul, defeated Goliath, and protected the kingdom. Yet Saul relentlessly hunted him. David found himself exhausted, vulnerable, and hiding in the wilderness. Yet what is remarkable about Psalm 63 is that David does not primarily ask for deliverance. He is not consumed with escape or revenge. Instead, he cries out, “O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You.”
David desired the presence of God more than relief from his circumstances. He was not merely seeking God’s hand—he was seeking God Himself.
From Seeking His Hand to Seeking His Face
This revelation mirrors a lesson God taught me personally during one of the hardest seasons of my life. I became incredibly sick. Doctors could not determine what was wrong with my body. I was rapidly losing weight, living in constant pain, and eventually a doctor warned me that if answers were not found soon, I could die.
Eventually I connected with a doctor who could get me into Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I thought this had to be the answer. Surely this was how God was going to heal me. But while making the appointment, I heard the Lord clearly say, “No.”
I was frustrated and confused. At the time, it felt as though God was opposing my healing. But later I realized Jesus was asking me the same question He asked the man at the pool of Bethesda: “Do you want to be healed?”
Like the man at the pool, I had become fixated on one method. I believed healing could only come one specific way. But God’s ways are higher than ours.
In that painful moment, the Holy Spirit revealed something hidden within me: I had been seeking God primarily for what He could do for me. I wanted His hand, but He was inviting me to seek His face. That revelation changed everything. The Holy Spirit began teaching me how to enter God’s presence not with striving and desperation, but with surrender and intimacy.
Do Not Miss the Messiah While Seeking a Method
Many of us are carrying deep needs right now. We need healing, provision, restoration, freedom, or direction. Those needs matter deeply to God. But sometimes we become so attached to one method, one timeline, or one solution that we miss the deeper invitation standing before us.
Jesus is offering Himself.
This month of Sivan is an invitation to consecration and nearness. It is a season to ask the Holy Spirit what might be standing in the way of intimacy with God. Perhaps it is jealousy, bitterness, distraction, or comfort. Comfort often becomes the place where we hide from pain rather than allowing Jesus to heal it.
God wants to reach beneath the surface and touch the deeper places of the heart.
A Call to Draw Near
This week, spend time meditating on Psalm 63. Read it slowly. Pray through it. Allow it to reveal what your soul is truly thirsty for. Ask the Holy Spirit to transform your hunger.
Do not settle for merely wanting God to fix your life. Seek His face until He becomes your deepest satisfaction.
Because Pentecost was never only about power. Pentecost was about nearness. And God is still drawing near today.
Becoming His Witnesses
When you truly encounter the presence of God, you cannot remain silent about Him. Witnesses are not simply people who memorize information about Jesus. Witnesses are people transformed by His presence.
The disciples entered the upper room waiting, but when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, they did not leave polished—they left burning.
That is the invitation of Sivan: to draw near, to be consecrated, and to seek His face above His hand. And when we do, the world around us begins to encounter evidence that Jesus is alive through our lives.
A thirsty soul that has been satisfied by God becomes a witness to the nations.
Have you been interested in learning more about Pentecost from a Christian perspective? The goal of Pentecost is to remember God’s provision of the Holy Spirit and thank Him for guiding us to follow after Christ.
This guide (PDF only) includes:
- The Feast of Pentecost in the Old/New Testament
- Teaching materials
- Worsheets
- Two Recipes
You will be amazed at how much you learn about Jesus when participating in the Feast of Pentecost.
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Now My Eyes See You
When pain becomes an invitation to encounter God face-to-face
If this episode has stirred something in you, Janell invites you to go deeper with her. Explore her devotional Now My Eyes See You. In it, she shares how suffering, though disorienting, can become the place where we encounter God’s redeeming presence. Like Job, we are not alone in the ashes. Jesus steps in and leads us into healing. The devotional is available on Amazon in all formats. And Janell has a free Bible study to accompany it, link is below.
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Click above to join Janell’s Substack for a Bible Study on the Book of Job
Download the pdf notes and all seven videos. You can use it forever! Whether you have questions about suffering, this resource will help. If you know of people in your life that do, this resource will be a rich and meaningful addition to your faith toolbox.
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Janell Kremer 
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