A while back, a store came to install a piece of equipment for us. But after the install one of the main functions failed to work. And they wanted us to accept the equipment and sign for it. But that didn’t happen. We had them uninstall the equipment and take it back and order us equipment that worked perfectly! Wouldn’t you? Sure you would! You’d send it back!
And yet, too many Christians are ready to SETTLE for lack of wholeness, incompleteness, and imperfection in their lives!
Mat. 5:48 – Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. But this “perfection” is referring to completeness – as in completely fulfilling the destiny that God has prepared for you!
There are twenty-five different Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible that have been translated as perfect; perfection; perfecting; etc. that ALL actually refer to being whole, complete and fulfilled.
We already know that God wants us to be whole, nothing missing nothing broken – but this tells us that God wants us to be COMPLETELY WHOLE! Saved, healed and delivered – whole! And I know that we are all actively receiving these things. But is there more?
This is Jesus speaking: Mark 16:17-18 – And these signs shall follow them that believe; (Who? Are you a believer?) In my name: they (Who? YOU!) shall cast out devils; they (YOU!) shall speak with new tongues;..no deadly thing shall hurt them (YOU!); they (YOU!) shall lay hands on the sick, and they (the sick) shall recover.
Marcia and I used to religiously keep the Old Testament Holy days of Passover (unleavened bread), Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles! All of them are symbolic, prophetic, types of the New Testament Church! The disciples experienced Passover. They ate the bread and drank the wine in that upper room. They saw Him (Jesus) taken. They knew that He had died.
But then Jesus arose (from the dead) and spent forty days with them, and they all accepted Him as their Lord and Savior! They all became legal witnesses of His resurrection. And then He commanded them to go back to that upper room and wait to get something that He had for them at Pentecost! (They waited 10 days more. i.e. 40+10=50 “count 50”, “pente- koste”)
This is Jesus speaking again: Luke 24:49 – And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued (enveloped) with power from on high.
Acts 2:1-4 – And when the day of Pentecost was fully come (a full 50 days after Passover),… And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And… cloven tongues like as of fire,… sat down upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
When they walked out of that place, they were tongue talking, demon casting, hands laying, Spirit filled, POWERFUL men and women of God! Does that sound like your church?
Pentecost and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are NOT just something the crismatics made up because thay got board with salvation! To paraphrase what Jesus told ALL of His disciples, “Don’t GO anywhere or DO anything – until – you get filled with the Holy Spirit and RECEIVE the gifts He has brought for you! And these gifts weren’t party favors or toys to play with! They were required equipment to GO and DO what Jesus ask them (and YOU) to to do!
If these gifts are not operating in your church, then perhaps they and you never showed up at Pentecost! Or perhaps they and you are still STUCK back in Passover!
But the next Holy day in order is Trumpets! 1 Cor. 15:51-52 – Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, – In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I believe this to be when Jesus returns in the clouds to “catch away” (or rapture in Latin) His Church. And I believe that this will occur very soon.
Jesus wants His church to GET from Passover over to Pentecost to properly equip them IN ORDER TO successfully get to Trumpets!
The children of Israel came out of Egypt on Passover, they received God’s instructions on Pentecost and I believe that God wanted them to be in the Promised Land by Trumpets! But they never got there because they refused to receive what the Lord had for them on Pentecost. Most of them ended up wandering aimlessly for 40 YEARS and died without fulfilling their God given destiny.
Remember that God wants you to be perfect in the sense of being whole, complete and completely fulfilling the destiny that God has prepared for you! And ALL of God’s gifts are GOOD, whole and perfect.
Parents want their children to eat the wholesome meals prepared for them and not push what they “don’t like” over to the side and refuse it, Parents want their children healthy and strong. In the same way, God has prepared EVERYTHING that you need to be spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and socially whole, healthy, and miraculously powerful! But you have to stop being picky, and just RECEIVE and partake of ALL that He has made available to you today!
Jesus said that He sent His Holy Spirit to clothe us or wrap us in miraculous POWER! The power to cast out devils; speak with new tongues; lay hands on the sick, and more! And we can receive this power by simply asking for it!
This is Jesus speaking again: Luke 11:11-13 – If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a (good) father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil (compared to God), know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?
If you are not sure what to pray, ask something like this: “Father God, as a believer with Jesus as my Savior and Lord and believing that Your Word is true, I ask You to fill me to overflowing with Your precious Holy Spirit. Jesus, baptize me in the Holy Spirit. I believe that I now receive and I thank You for that infilling. Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I praise my God. I fully expect to speak with other tongues, as You give me the utterance, lay hands on the sick and cast out devils as I am led by You. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
Lets continue to move forward to completely fulfill the destiny that God has prepared for us. And never again, settle for anything less than God’s very best!