I received a taste of this a few weeks ago as I was worshiping the Lord while driving.
(By Paulette R. Reed)
Pentecost
The Lord has been speaking to me recently about the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. As the disciples were gathered together in the upper room, waiting for the promise of the Father, God’s Spirit was poured out upon them and released dunamis power in each of their lives. The pouring out of God’s Spirit on the day of Pentecost reveals three distinct experiences the disciples had on that day and that we can have, also.
First, a violent wind filled the house where the disciples were gathered together. This breath or wind is symbolic of the Spirit of God. Ezekiel 37 tells the story of the prophet’s vision of a valley of dry bones that came together when the breath of God entered into them. As Ezekiel prophesied to them, the Spirit of God came and breathed upon them, causing life to enter into them. The dry bones lived, and stood to their feet, an exceedingly great army. The Pentecost wind represents the power of God to bring life to dry bones. This is a good place to say, “Alleluia!”
Second, tongues of fire came to rest on each person gathered that day. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world,” and He told His disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). In Acts 2, as a flame of fire came to rest upon each person there, it is as though Jesus was saying, “I am the light of the world and now you are. Go and do as I do.” The pouring out of God’s Spirit was God’s empowering presence commissioning His disciples to carry on His work after He physically left. Now, it’s your turn!
Third, the disciples who were gathered together began to speak in other languages. One of the main points here is that there had been a barrier between the people, and Jesus was saying, “No more is there to be a barrier between My people.” This powerful outpouring links back to the Old Testament, when the people began to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). God confused their language so they could no longer understand each other because they were trying to build a tower to heaven. At Pentecost, this Babel confusion is reversed. May we all communicate clearly in love and unity with no barriers.
When Peter preached immediately afterward, about three thousand people believed and were baptized. Oh, how exciting to know and believe that when God’s miraculous power is present, then people get saved as a result. Acts 2:42–47 summarizes what happened right after this:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
The Year of the Wind
In accordance with the Jewish calendar, 2016 is the Year of the Wind. I received a taste of this a few weeks ago as I was worshiping the Lord while driving. My radio was blaring! As I went to lower my window (just a bit), I didn’t realize that the window had automatically gone all the way down. Consequently, as I sped up a wind came into my car and I screamed because it startled me.
At that moment Holy Spirit said to me, “Tell My people that the winds of heaven are about to blow so strongly that they will startle many as I breathe on dry bones. There will be sudden lies that occur in the lives of My people that will change them forever.” Oh what an amazing time we’re living in! When the winds of heaven blow, they bring dunamis power along with them. With the coming of the wind, there is the fire and heavenly languages that bring strength to our spirits, releasing revelation and confusing the devil. Invite the winds of God’s Spirit to breathe on you today friend!
Let There Be Light
In the book of Genesis, Moses tells the story of God creating the heavens and the earth. There was nothing at all in existence, except for God, and God said, “Let there be light,” and suddenly light came to be. I ask you, “Is there still light today?” And, “How was light manifested?” God decreed it and it was so. Oh my, the power of words. There is still light today because of God’s decree and the word of His power is presently holding all things together (Hebrews 1:3).
When we think of God, our Creator, let’s remember that He reigns mighty and works through whoever He wants to, whenever He wants to. Thomas Edison is one of thousands of examples of someone who took what God had created—light—and learned how to bottle it. As a result, the first lightbulb was created. And this is true for each and every thing that was created in this world. Look around the room you’re in right this moment: everything was created at one point in time by people who are made in the image of God and reflect His nature. We might ask ourselves today, “What is God asking me to create?”
It Is Finished
Genesis 2:2 tells us, “On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work.” Of course God didn’t rest because He was tired; He rested because He was finished with His creation and He wanted to enjoy all that He had created. God was well pleased because it was good. The bedrock off Christianity is the truth that God is good! He has been and always will be good and that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.
God is always our example, our Mentor. So we in turn can create our world, the atmosphere in which we live, by allowing God’s creative power to flow through us. In Genesis 1:28 God blessed those He created and said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” From the beginning of time God has made it clear that His work was complete and He is waiting for all who will believe (Hebrews 4:3). He is waiting for us to call on Him as “He gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). Where are the things that do not exist? They are within the born again believers. This is why I love the prophetic so much—we are calling things that do not exist in people’s lives into existence. This is why the Lord says that all of you will prophesy—we are all made to see what is not there and to speak and decree it into existence. In essence, we are to create through the power of the Creator who resides within us.
Are We Praying Like It Is Finished?
When we pray, we must pray the will of God, because He said, “It is finished.” Kingdom people release the will of their King. When we pray, we must pray from the position of it is finished. We must call heaven to earth. We hear this again in John 19:30: “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
We get to pray for miracles today because it is finished. Because it is finished, we know the will of God and we will speak the Word of God into our situations. We don’t have to pray, “Well, Father, if it is Your will …” for certain things, because we know the will of God – we are partakers of His Divine nature. It is only because it is finished that miracles occur in our lives today.
The Apostle Paul said, “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28 NASB). Miracles are gifts that God has appointed for the church, in our day and in our time. When Paul went to Corinth to preach the Word of God, he said, “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5). He didn’t want their faith to be in his word, but in God’s demonstrated power, a power that was made available to the church on the day of Pentecost.
Beloved, it’s time to open the windows and pull on the winds of heaven and say, “Lord, You promised. You said …” This is the Year of the Wind. This is the year where God’s power and miracles are poured out in our lives, in our circumstances, in our bodies. This is the year where we declare with the psalmist, “You are the [awesome] God who works [powerful] wonders; You have demonstrated Your power among the people” (Psalm 77:14). God’s power has never stopped being poured out; call upon Him today. It is finished.
