Journey to Pentecost

April 16, 2010    John 20.30

Scripture is clear that Jesus was a busy man!  We know what He did and why He did it…but we don’t know how often He did what He did.   Wow!  That was a mouth full!  This passage of Scripture indicates that if everything Jesus did was recorded – it would take multiple libraries to hold the writings!  Think about that for a moment!

Jesus was a busy man!  Not much solace for lazy believers!  Oh well, that’s another story for another time!  The bottom line here is that Jesus performed his Father’s will perpetually.  He was in constant motion.  He came to please the Father and destroy the works of the devil.  That is a schedule that none of us can keep up with but the glorious thing is that we don’t have to.  He did it for us!   Perpetually moving against the established evil in the world was his portfolio of activity.  Constantly confronting Satan and his organized structure opposing works.  When we read of Satan confronting Jesus in Matthew 4 we only see a small microcosm of what actually happened around the clock with Satan’s confrontations with Jesus.   Paul the apostle himself had a thorn in the flesh to deal with (2 Corinthians 12) on a daily basis.  A messenger of Satan who opposed Paul for the constant revelations of truth given to him.  Imagine for a moment where Christ fit in Satan’s priorities of hindrance.  Jesus was Truth in the flesh.   I believe that Jesus was under constant attack from Satan himself and we only have a few passages of scripture to indicate the actual physical confrontations He endured.

Jesus engaged in the work of the Father seven twenty four’s!  Imagine for just a moment what Jesus is doing for you personally.  Every day Jesus and His host of angels assigned to you – are in motion.  They are working on your behalf.   You may not “see” the physical manifestations of His work for you.  You many not “feel” His presence with you all the time.   What we do have are those moments of manifestation – like we do in Holy Writ.  We get the privilege of knowing that He is working on our behalf when we see Him heal, move mountains and sense His presence.  But the truth of the matter is that He is there.  All the time.   His eternal promise to you and I is that He is with us constantly.  He never leaves us or even considers forsaking us (Hebrews 13.5). 

During this journey to Pentecost I want you to come to a personal realization that He is with you.  His desire is to give you peace that passes all understanding.  His desire is to give you abundant life.  His desire is to empower you to live through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Arriving at the point of receiving the fullness of the Spirit in baptism and speaking in tongues is not difficult.  He is working toward you receiving all that the Father has willed for you.  Why would you want anything less than the most powerful Gift you could receive outside of salvation?  Empowerment for daily living is yours for the asking.   I want you to know that once you focus on receiving – He is committed to you receiving.   He has secured the Gift of the Holy Spirit just for you.  He is working in ways you can’t even imagine to get you to the point of being hungry and thirsting for the Gift.   He is working behind the scenes.  He wants you to know the fullness of His Spirit.   The Gift is there.  All you have to do is unwrap it.  How do you unwrap it?  Simple.  Believe the Gift is for you.  Open with radical faith.  Open without any preconceived ideas of what’s in the box.  Open as if you’re being made aware of it for the first time in your life.   Go on!  I double dog dare you to reach out and grab the Gift of the fullness of the Spirit.  Don’t hesitate when you sense Him speaking through you.  It’s His language – not yours.  Let Him fill you up with His awesome Spirit!  Take the journey!