5.9.25 ~ 40 days after His resurrection (Pt. 15)

Good morning!

Welcome to the 27th day, the 3rd week and 6th day of counting the omer; as well as happy preparation day :-)

After Yeshua was risen, He made Himself known for 40 days. Those 40 sacred days, hopefully and personally, still speak today. And with those final teachings on the kingdom still echoing in their hearts, the disciples must have felt ready, eager, and supercharged with the great commission that was just given to them. Without a doubt, breathing in the authority of the risen King, watching him walk among them with scars that would erase every doubt; how could they not want to go!

But then Yeshua said something unexpected,

 "And behold I am sending the promise of my father upon you but stay in the city of Jerusalem until your clothed with power from on high" (Lk. 24:49)

Huh? WAIT? Yes, wait for the gift My Father promised. In a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Wait! Ugh. After all this. After witnessing His resurrection. After receiving the clearest mission the Roman world has ever heard. Yeshua tells them to pause because heaven‘s mission doesn’t run on human momentum, it runs on divine power; and that’s where most of us (speaking of me, myself and I) miss it today. We’re so eager to do for God that we forget to receive from God...we want to go, preach, go, serve, go, change the world, but we forget the command that came before the words go was WAIT.

Yeshua knew something, the disciples didn’t fully grasp. Yet the mission He gave them could not be fulfilled through knowledge, zeal or strategy alone. It required the Holy Spirit. Without him, they wouldn’t have power. They’d have pressure without Him; they wouldn’t bring transformation. They’d bring performance and there’s a big difference. You see, Yeshua wasn’t sending them out to impress, He was sending them out to be empowered and empowerment only comes through the spirit. This is why he called the Holy Spirit the promise of the father, not an optional extra, not a spiritual bonus for the super faithful, the promise, the person of God who would not just be with them, but in them. He had already told them in John 16:7

"...it is better for you that I go away; for if I don't go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." (Jn. 16:7)

Think about that, Yeshua the word made flesh (Jn. 1:14), the One full of grace and truth, Emmanuel, says, it is better that he leaves. Why? Because the Spirit would come, the Spirit who convicts, comforts, councils, who reminds us of truth (Jn. 16:8-11), Who intercedes for us with groans too deep for words (Rom. 8:26) Who empowers us to witness to resist sin to live in bold obedience.  Without the spirit, the resurrection would be only history, but with the Spirit, it became a movement.

Now consider the timing: Yeshua could’ve ascended immediately after rising from the grave; he had defeated death. What else was left to prove? But He waited. Then He told them to wait, because the plan was never resurrection alone...It was resurrection plus power, resurrection plus mission, resurrection plus Spirit. He told them to wait in Jerusalem, the city that had just crucified Him, the city that still lingers with danger, the city that represented both the promise and the risk.

Isn't it ironic, sometimes God calls you to wait in hard places... not to punish you, but to prepare you because the waiting is where strength is born (Isa. 40:31).

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:31)

Notice Isaiah doesn't say...not they that run, not they that hustle but those who wait; there’s strength. That strength only comes in stillness, a kind of clarity that only comes in surrender and the kind of fire that only falls when you’ve stopped trying to start your own (Isa. 50:11).

Let’s be honest, waiting is hard, especially when you feel cold, especially when you feel ready, but the disciples had to trust that what was coming was worth the wait and so do we. In a culture that celebrates speed, the Lord still says wait. Wait on His timing. Wait for His word. Wait until you’re clothed with power. Because, as I know personally, if you rush ahead without the Spirit, you may have the truth, but you won’t have the touch, you may have the commission, but you won’t have the connection. Too many believers burnout, not because they are disobedient, but because they were premature, they moved in excitement, not empowerment and let’s not miss the symbolism here. Yeshua says they will be clothed with power, not just sprinkled. Clothed, covered, immersed, enveloped in the presence of God. Why? Because the battle they were about to walk into wasn’t a surface level fight. It was spiritual warfare. They weren’t going to be persecuted because of their personality. They’d be hated because of the power that would be upon them.

Are you waiting or are you already clothed?

Either way, it's time!

Happy 27th day of counting the omer and overcoming the fear of men (Gal. 1:10).

Shalom,
Alan