“For these men are not drunk, as you imagine, for it is only the third hour (about 9:00 a.m.) of the day, but [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel.” Acts 2:15-16 (Amplified)
At this time of the year, Jerusalem was always heaving as Jews from home and abroad congregates to celebrate the statutory feast of Pentecost. Hence, commotions were no rare sight in this boiling cauldron of cultures and exotic languages. Nevertheless, whatever might have gone on before in terms of chaos was surpassed by the curious event that took place in that city on this particular day. Early reports said that a mysterious tornado had struck a house, but that the house was still standing and to top off this mystery, out came over a hundred inebriated men and women from this house and wonder of all wonders, they were speaking gibberish, something later explained as praising God in strange languages, which also miraculously corresponded to the major native languages of all the Jews that were present in Jerusalem that day. Closer investigation threw up another surprise. It revealed that these strange people were actually native Galileans and Judeans. So, how could these unschooled people have learnt these foreign tongues? Something fishy was definitely going on.
While the people were still mulling over this entrancing puzzle, out stepped Peter to make sense of the events they were witnessing. His keyword as it applies to us is that this was the beginning of the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy concerning the end times signalling the beginning of the era or dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The move of the Spirit has often been compared with the rainfall regime of Israel, which has the early and latter rain. The acts of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament corresponded to the fall of the early rain, while His Pentecostal outpouring compared with the early part of the latter rain of the Jewish calendar. The latter part corresponds to our contemporary times as proven by the resurgence of the Pentecostal movement in our world.
So, what does this mean for God’s body on earth? It means that we are due another mighty move of God that will surpass all that He had done in the past. Understand that God’s move in our time is imminent and inevitable. It has been prophesied a long time ago, but it is about to happen in our time. Just as His Spirit rained on the world as the early rain, and later as the initial part of the latter rain, God has every intention of completing the move He started so long ago in our time so that the world might acknowledge His Lordship and He intends to do that in our generation. So, how does this impact us? God’s clarion call to His Church is that we should get ready to rumble, because He is about to move in our world the way He has never done before. He will heal, save, restore, resurrect and do the good works that we have read of countless times in the bible. In essence, we are going to live the bible and prove to the world that our God is indeed alive and is the God of all the earth. Equally important is the fact that you are means by which God is going to impact your world by His Spirit. So, prepare yourself to be the conduit of God’s grace and power to meeting the needs of people around you. Get ready for the Holy Spirit rumble and your world will never be the same again.
Prayer:
Lord, I thank you for the privilege to be alive at this time and to witness what the saints of old could only dream of. I now yield my life to you as I ask for your Spirit to descend on and flow through me to impact my world for you in Jesus name. Amen.