Wow! What a series this has been so far! We are so loving receiving your testimonies, and comments of what the Lord is doing, and has been doing in and through you. We value you, celebrate with you, and love hearing what the Lord is doing globally through His word, so please keep sending in the testimonies.
So let’s kick into today with Part 7.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Today we begin part A of our conclusion, for what it means by “And He shall direct your paths”. When I read this verse my heart thumped! Are you wondering why? It’s because a lot of the time the gap between acknowledging Him with all our heart and Him leading us, that can be a daunting process, one we see with the disciples.
Let’s read about it in Luke 24: 45-53
“He supernaturally unlocked their understanding to receive the revelation of the Scriptures, then said to them, “Everything that has happened fulfils what was prophesied of Me. Christ, the Messiah, was destined to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Now you must go into all the nations and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins so that they will turn to Me.
Start right here in Jerusalem. For you are My witnesses and have seen for yourselves all that has transpired. And I will send the fulfilment of the Father’s promise to you. So stay here in the city until the mighty power of heaven falls upon you and wraps around you.”
The Ascension of Jesus
“Jesus led his disciples out to Bethany. He lifted his hands over them and blessed them in His love. While He was still speaking out words of love and blessing, He floated off the ground into the sky, ascending into heaven before their very eyes! And all they could do was worship Him.
Overwhelmed and ecstatic with joy, they made their way back to Jerusalem. Every day they went to the temple, praising and worshiping God.
Wow, let’s just soak here for a minute and imagine this the Ascension of Jesus and seeing Him float off the ground and into Heaven before their eyes, and all they could do was worship Him. How beautiful is that?
Ok so the disciples had the promise, and it was beautiful YET there was a clause, and it was that word WAIT, they had to wait for the right timing of it.
As with a lot of things in the kingdom they always look upside down to our earthly thinking.
Jesus saying, ok guys here it is… your goal, promise, prophecies, in this all, you follow Me by waiting. What?
Yes, the same is true for us today, to follow Him we WAIT, we trust His timing, just like the disciples did.
Key: To truly follow Jesus we must learn the importance of waiting for the mighty power of heaven to fall upon us and wrap around us.”
This was KEY to Jesus secret for all He did and achieved! All the miracles, healings, lives changed, they all came from the Father’s leading through the Holy Spirit, and it’s the same for us today.
Did you know if we do anything without waiting for power of God to come, we can guarantee we will either fail at it, or the intended full purpose will not be achieved in that moment.
Acts 2:1-4 (TPT)
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
“On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Suddenly they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. The roar of the wind was so overpowering it was all anyone could bear! Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them. They were all filled and equipped with the Holy Spirit and were inspired to speak in tongues—empowered by the Spirit to speak in languages they had never learned”!
Did you realise this happened 10 days AFTER Jesus leftand had told them to wait?
WAIT is the a big key to ministry! It’s actually more important than we may think. We may think we have the hard time and job with waiting, well then think about the Lord’s time and job of preparing! He had been preparing for these moments from the beginning of time! That’s a longer wait than you or I have ever had.
Secondly the Holy Spirit leads us through directions, leadings and power that comes from the Father through us, to the world. We will not be able to be a true witness of Christ, to the people and world around us without Him, and without the Holy Spirit, we are powerless and cannot live a true abundant life.
Challenge time: Grab your journal and spend some time with the Lord
1. Do you struggle with waiting on the Lord? Ask Him to reveal why? Say a prayer like ‘Father reveal to me why I struggle in this area of waiting on You?
Or if you are really bold say ‘Father reveal to me the areas in my life I struggle with waiting on You? Write down what He says,
2 Then ask Him to reveal to you, what the outcome will look like when you wait on Him?
Father, thank You for Your promise that the power of Heaven will fall upon us and wrap around us. We receive and invite You Holy Spirit in us, as we wait on You, we know You will direct our paths. We wait for You. In Jesus name. Amen.
Craig Patten
Itinerate Pastor/Prophet
Encounter Ministries
