5.14.25 ~ 40 days past His resurrection (Pt. 19)

Good morning!

How did you overcome the spirit of the wicked frogs yesterday? Hopefully you were deaf to the discouraging croaking noise of those frogs and leaped out from the pit of despair to a new life separate from the crowd (Rev. 18:4). And with the same hope, as we learned a couple of days ago, the fight we are in is not a superficial fight, it is spiritual warfare. Individuals who choose not to listen to the evil spirited frogs (Rev. 16:13) are not persecuted because of their personality, they are hated because of the power that would be upon them and how they apply it (Rev. 12:17).

"And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua." (Rev. 12:17)

The spirit doesn’t just give gifts for the sake of gifts, He gives boldness (Acts 1:8)

"you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses/martys..." (Acts 1:8)

Yeshua wasn’t sugarcoating the journey. He was preparing them for the cost, martyrdom, telling them ahead of time, you don’t need hype, you need help. And so, today, as we wrestle with our own callings, our own dreams, our own visions for what God might do through us, the question isn’t "are you ready to go", the question is, "are you willing to wait"? Not wait in laziness. Not wait in apathy, but wait in expectation. Wait like the disciples did in the community, in prayer, in unity, in the upper room not to escape the world, but to receive what they couldn’t find in the world.

The greatest movement of God in your life will begin not in action, but in stillness. What if the spirit You’ve been asking for is waiting for you to stop trying to do it without him? Yeshua said 'wait' because what’s coming is worth it! And when Pentecost came when that rushing wind filled the room and tongues of fire rested on every head no one regretted waiting (Acts 2:1-3). No one said, "we should’ve just gone on our own"...because when the spirit comes, He does more in a moment then we can do in a lifetime.

As we move through this 33rd day, the 4th week and 5th day of counting the omer, don’t move without Him. Don’t rush ahead of His grace. Don’t settle for a good plan when heaven’s power is available. Wait, listen, and pray, because when you're clothed with power, then the world will know that what began in the privacy of an upper room will not stay there. And after the waiting, the teaching, the revealing, the healing, and the commissioning, it happened at the moment no one was quite ready. And even though Yeshua hinted at it many times before, the disciples stood on the Mount of Olives, the same ground where Yeshua wept over Jerusalem the city that rejected him (Matt. 23:37), but now this ground bore the weight of eternity in the next chapter of humanity; Yeshua now risen and glorified, lifted his hands one last time...not to perform a miracle, not to calm a storm, not to rebuke a Pharisee, but to bless.

"He lifted up his hands and blessed them while He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven" (Lk. 24:50,51).

Acts 1:9 adds He was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid Him from their sight.  There was no chariot of fire, no thundering sound of the shofar, just a quiet, divine ascent, heaven opening to receive its King; earth watching with wide eyes and aching hearts...and here’s the mystery of the ascension, while it marked an ending to a chapter it didn’t close the story, it launched it.

Yeshua wasn’t abandoning them, He was positioning them. He wasn’t retreating, He was enthroning. His ascension wasn't just to leave (Jn. 14:1-4), but to intercede for His future bride who would need to overcome even as He overcame.

Too many of us stop at the resurrection. We celebrate Passover, sing He’s alive and go back to life. Fortunately, the renewed church didn’t stop at the empty tomb, they looked up to the exalted throne. Hebrews 1:3 tells us, "after he had provided purification for sins. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven." To sit down is not laziness, it’s authority. It means the work is done. It means it was enough. It means the King is now in authority.

The ascension declared once and for all Yeshua is not just Savior, He is Lord (Phil. 2:9–11).  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name he is now seated in glory interceding for us that we would be overcomers (Romans 8:34), preparing a place for us (John 14:3) and sitting confidently until His enemies are made his footstool (Psa 110:1).

Have an amazing day waiting on the victorious One Who is interceding for you to overcome, so you can be empowered to carry out your commission and calling!

Shalom,
Alan