Journey to Pentecost

May 15, 2010    Mark 16.14

Unbelief is like having a tied shoe come untied.  Unbelief is belief that is coming “untied” or “undone.”  I really can’t blame these followers of Christ for “coming undone” with their faith.  Think about all they had been through.  Jesus here and then not here.  With us and then not with us.  Hopeful and then hopeless.   Then there’s the issue of the “promise.”  He had mentioned it before to them but now He had attached commands with it.  Go to Jerusalem and stay there until you receive the “promise of the Father.”  Ooooooh K!  But what is the “promise”?  Another  incarnate man to minister to us and then leave us?  No.  He had told them the comforter would come and dwell within them and never leave them (John 14.16-17,26; 15.26; 16.7).  All of this was so overwhelming to them.  You might say they were having some “faith issues.”  

What I love about scripture is the reality of it is so in our face!  I mean, we read scripture sometimes like a fairytale book.  We assume all the characters were just super hyper spiritual people who ran around with hero capes on all the time.  Not so.  These people were real.   They had families to take care, vocations to manage, fields to plow, wheat to grind and take time out of their busy days for prayer and devotion.  They were real people just like you and I.  They even struggled – hold on to your hat – with faith just like we do from time to time.

I wish I could tell you that I have never had a trial of faith that beat me black and blue.  I wish I could tell you that as a minister I have never wrestled with faith and felt the pressure of my opponent whose name is Un.  You know him.  You have met him before.   When the future looks bleak – it’s Un who shows up at the door.  When there’s too many bills compared to your income – Un shows up at the door.  Un is there to connect with your belief.  If you let him in he will partner with your belief and you will deal with Unbelief.   Oh yeah!  Un is for real.

You know the Orkin commercial on TV?  The giant termite is at the door and wants in to use the phone.   The idea is that we are sometimes over sympathetic to the termites at the door.   Oh yeah!  You have opened the door to him on several occasions. What they don’t show on TV is the termite introducing himself as…..Mr. Termite Un!   If you let him in the door your faith, your belief system will immediately come under attack. 

Today is the second day of our fasting schedule.  I hope you’re fasting at least one meal a day.  I trust you’re fasting the most important meal of your day.   Not the one that doesn’t mean anything to you or is the biggest meal of your day.  Fasting is supposed to be something we sacrifice.  Food is one of the most necessary parts of our life.  To fast is to sacrifice something that is costly to you.  Fast an important meal – not the unimportant.  There he is again…Mr. Un.  Fast the important meal…not the UNimportant meal.

What did we call the fast for?  We are fasting to prove our hunger and thirst for more of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We are fasting to see a perpetual manifestation of the Lord’s presence.  We are fasting to see miraculous healings.  We are fasting to see deliverance.  We are fasting to see people baptized in the Holy Spirit.  We are fasting to see people saved from a  life style of bondage to sin. 

This coming Wednesday night I want to pray over specific, life threatening and critical needs in our church.  We have set aside this Wednesday night (May 19) to spend time in worship and prayer.   I want you to join me in fasting and prayer that we will see some healings and deliverances take place.  Write down the needs and email them to me at bishoptwteague@yahoo.com.   We are going to take these needs and bring them to the altar.  We are going to stand in faith and tell Mr. Un to take a hike.  We believe that God can and will answer our needs while we set aside meals and prove our sincerity to the Lord.

Join me this coming Wednesday night at Victory Hill for a night of intense worship and prayer.  Come expecting – not UNexpecting.