Now but not yet!

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Acts 2:2 (NIV)

There seemed to be a conflicting message that Jesus preached. He would say the kingdom of God us here, then He’d say the kingdom of God is near or still coming (Matthew 4:17, Luke 10:9)! We are told that we enter the kingdom of God through being “born again” (John 3:3-5). We live in the tension of now but not yet. Yes, Jesus’ kingdom is here, but not in its fullness. More is coming. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as an engagement ring, a guarantee of kingdom that’s coming (2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:13-14). We are to seek it (Matthew 6:33), and expect to do what Jesus did and even more (John 14:12). Yes, the kingdom of God is here, through you and me (Luke 17:21), and it’s going increase as we get more and more of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

That’s what Pentecost is all about! In just a few days we will celebrate the original pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit. In this hour, we look at it from our rearview mirror, but the Disciples didn’t know what to expect. They were in the room together waiting and ‘suddenly!’ They knew something was coming, but they had no grid or compartment to put it in. They were not expecting a roaring wind to suddenly blow from heaven. Nor were they expecting the fire that fall upon them, nor the release of a strange language. All that was unprecedented! Like a natural birth it was chaotic and messy! In fact, it was the birthing of the church and a great movement of God that has since changed the world!

As we approach Pentecost 2022 (this coming Sunday, June 5), be asking the Lord to prepare you, your family, your pastor and church for the unexpected, even the unprecedented! Like the Disciples, expect Him, wait for Him, but don’t box Him in! The movement of God that is coming, yes, that is here, is like nothing we’ve ever experienced! Ask God to tear down every box and barrier that we have put up in dictating how He must or will move. Cry out for Him to open the heavens and come down upon us in our city this Sunday, the Church’s birthday!