Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes. See how the farmer waits for the land to produce its rich crop. See how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. You too must be patient. You must stand firm. The Lord will soon come back. (James 5:7-8)

In an earlier DWOD—Be a Go-Giver, you read about how our daughter Priya had gone out of her way to serve others in the television news room while she was still working an entry level position as an autocue (teleprompter) operator. She also used her days off to shadow reporters and learn from them. This way when her turn came to be a reporter herself, she would be up to the task.

Then she took one more step since Jan. 15, when the aforementioned post was written. With the permission of her superiors, she prepared a couple of clips as though she were reporting on a story and submitted them to the more experienced reporters for their feedback. They were only too eager to offer her constructive critiques. In the process, they and her supervisors also took note of the initiative she was taking to improve her skills.

Of course, once she took these steps and kept on honing her craft, she simply had to wait for an opportunity to prove herself. The decision to send her out on the field needed to be made by others. She had to learn to be patient…which was not exactly easy for her.

In the passage quoted at the top of this post, the apostle James uses the example of a farmer to address the impatience of his readers for the Second Coming of Christ. The farmer prepares the soil, sows the seed and plucks the weeds. Once these tasks are complete, he has done what He needs to do and leave the rest to God.

The rains must come in due season, there should be adequate heat, there should be no grasshoppers or other pests that could destroy the crops. All these are out of his control. He has no choice but to wait for “the land to produce its crops.”

Dear DWOD friend, this is one of the most difficult lessons for you to learn as you advance toward your destiny. Yes, you’ve taken the prophetic words spoken over you to heart. Yes, you’ve sought the counsel of the Holy Spirit and godly leaders about the steps you need to take for those words to be fulfilled. Yes, you’ve actually taken them.

Yet, you have not seen the results you had anticipated by now.

This is where it is very easy to lose patience, to stop waiting, to force things to happen or to get angry, upset or depressed.

It is in times like these that helpful words such as those penned by James stand us in good stead. Although his context was the Second Coming of Christ, they are applicable to your particular situation as well.

In our daughter’s case, all that patience finally paid off as she was offered her first reporting shift last week. Here is what she produced. http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=383201. She comes across as a professional who has been reporting for quite some time, doesn’t she? It is because of all the work she did while patiently waiting her turn.

Yes, patience pays. The farmer shall indeed reap a rich harvest. The reporter-in-waiting will eventually get her chance. And you, dear friend, will indeed receive the breakthrough that propels you into your God-ordained, long-awaited destiny.

So, “let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Ephesians 6:9).

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30)

When Jesus uses such strong language to get his point across, we’d better get it, amen?

Why does he go to such extremes? Obviously, because He wants us to pay rapt attention.

Clearly, He lets us know that we need to make sure that we do not give in to temptation, because it has eternal consequences.

We cannot afford to slack off on this count. It is way too important for us to ignore this stark warning.

Surely it offends our sensibilities when we sense Jesus calling us to be ruthless. But, ruthless we need to be at times.

Recently, the Lord spoke to Sulojana about the time she spends on Facebook. To be perfectly honest, she spends way less time than I do. But, she felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit very strongly in this area. She could not ignore it or discount it. She had to take action. She has been extremely careful about the time she devotes to social media interactions ever since.

A couple of weeks ago, we were both pleasantly shocked to discover that our son Sathiya has programmed his computer in such a way that he gets kicked off Facebook after browsing for just 10 minutes. It forces him to pay attention to what is really significant within that very short window of time. Whatever doesn’t get taken care of just gets ignored. And he is fine with it. Because it was a directive from the Lord Himself. Is that ruthless? Yes!

The apostle Paul calls us to “redeem the time, for the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16). When it comes to how we spend our time, we need to be ruthless. There is simply no getting around it.

After all, time is the most precious commodity we have in this life. Money lost can be replaced. Relationships lost can be restored. But time lost can never be regained.

Dear DWOD friend, this is one area in which you cannot continue to be Mr. Nice Guy or Ms. Congeniality. If an expenditure of time does not in some way contribute to advancing into your destiny, you need to be ruthless and cut it out of your life.

Perhaps some of you may be called to take this one step further. You may need to cut out relationships that are dragging you down and keeping you from making the progress you need to make.  You may need to be ruthless with “friends” who take up your precious time complaining or tempting you to indulge in activities that are a waste of your time.

If you’re ready to take this message to heart, start keeping a log of exactly how you spend every waking minute every day for a week. Then you review it.

Ask yourself whether you were redeeming the time or receding on the road to your destiny. Examine whether the way you used the gift of time would bring a smile to your heavenly Father’s face or tears in His eyes.

Now you need to make some choices, don’t you? Go ahead, make His day. Be ruthless. You will not regret it.

Chances are good that at least some of you, our DWOD subscribers, are soccer fans who are feasting right now on the Brazilian churrascaria known as the FIFA World Cup.

For the benefit of those who haven’t been to one, a churrascaria is a restaurant where different cuts of meat perched on metal skewers are turned slowly over an open flame. Servers bring the meat-laden skewers to your table and carve the pieces you would like right on to your plate. They’ll keep doing this until you feel that you can’t eat anything else for the next 4 days or you’ve gained 6 lbs, whichever comes first! But I digress…

Although I have not watched a single match yet, I do catch the highlights occasionally. It would appear that every country has at least one superstar who can make a soccer ball do things that make you wonder whether they have it tied to their toes on a string that they can manipulate at will!

Yet, despite all the mesmerizing manoeuvres, fancy footwork and pinpoint passes that comprise their repertoire, the players never forget that the aim of the game is to deposit the ball in the opponent’s net.

As much as fans can get caught up in the artistic antics and the thrill of the skills on display, ultimately what counts is the goals that are scored and the victories that are won.

Should a player forget this and simply focus on showing off his abilities, it would still be considered part of the game, but it would not contribute to the overall aim.

In yesterday’s DWOD, you read about an encounter that a young woman had with Jesus through an accurate prophetic word. As thrilling as it was to see her response to that word, the entire exercise was not about delivering a spell-binding, gut-wrenching, heartwarming, tear-inducing spiritual reading. The aim was to point her to Jesus and give her the opportunity to surrender her life to Him.

That same afternoon, a young man walked into our pod seeking healing prayer for his back which had been damaged badly when the car in which he was a passenger crashed while his buddy was driving at 180 km/hr (110 mph). After my partner Amelia and I persisted in prayer, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that his pain had subsided by 60%.

Once again, the doors were opened for us to speak into his life and let him know that it was Jesus who brought about the healing in his back. We gave him some prophetic words that Holy Spirit delivered to us from the Father’s heart. He too gave his life to Jesus before he left the encounter pod.

The aim of the game was not for him to receive healing, but for him to encounter the Healer Himself!

Dear DWOD friend, please bear in mind that as much as you may be able to dazzle others with dizzying displays of your gifts, even spiritual gifts, that is not what your destiny is all about. It is about leading others to Jesus, without whom your gifts are no better than ball tricks in the middle of a soccer field that have nothing more than entertainment value.

However, when you use those gifts with the aim of adding eternal value to the lives of others, now you’re within striking distance of a soul. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:13-14)

It never ceases to amaze me how a simple sign that says: Free Spiritual Readings & Healing Prayer attracts people who will wait in line for hours, if necessary, to step into an “encounter pod”.

Yesterday was no exception as Rev. Heather Curnew and crew set up shop at a community outreach in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. My ministry partner Amelia and I ministered to seven people over a three hour period.

One of them was a lovely young woman with a pleasant personality, who came quite expectantly, even though she had never received a spiritual reading before in her life. She did admit that despite her childhood Christian upbringing, she had searched out other faiths. At the moment, she was fascinated by native spirituality.

We informed her that we were Christians who hear from the Father in the name of Jesus and release the mail delivered by the Holy Spirit.

We begged her indulgence for a few moments of silence while we waited to see or hear something. All I was getting was a picture of a train. So I simply said to her: “I am seeing a train.”

No sooner had those words hit her ear drum than her eyes started to well up with tears and her lips started to quiver. Amelia promptly handed her a tissue with which to wipe her tears.

“I see you standing on the platform in a railway station. You are kicking yourself for missing the train. But God says it was a timing issue. You are getting back on the train and going to your destination.”

The tears kept on flowing as the prophetic flow kept on increasing.

At that moment, I saw her dressed like a doctor and said: “You’ve always wanted to be in the medical field. You are worried about the money. But, don’t worry. God will provide you with the resources and the connections you need…but there is one man you need to forgive first.”

It was time to pause now and ask her why she was so emotional about what she heard. The simple answer was because it was all so true. Her grandmother’s house was by a train station. A teen pregnancy had made her feel as though she had missed the train. Yes, she had always wanted to be a doctor. And she thought she had forgiven that man.

We asked her if she had ever experienced anything like this in the other faiths she had explored. Nada. Nyet. Non. We told her: “What just happened was all Jesus.” To make a long story short, the session ended with her surrendering her life to Jesus and earnestly desiring to be his disciple. We took down her contact information and promised to be in touch.

What made it possible for such accurate prophetic words to be delivered that afternoon? Was it a gift? An anointing? An impartation?

Probably all three to some degree. But simply receiving the gift or anointing or impartation was not enough. It was “by constant use” that the accuracy came.

Whether it was at pastors’ gatherings with my spiritual father Steve Long, outreaches with Heather Curnew, online sessions and Facebook groups, Activate! sessions at our churches, the prayer lines at Catch the Fire, Toronto and other places…seizing the opportunities that the Lord opened up along the way…sticking to it despite the initial fumbles, stumbles, one-sentence and one-picture feeble attempts…that is what led to encounters such as the one in Hamilton last Friday.

Dear DWOD friend, no matter what your particular gift may be, please realize that you cannot cut corners when it comes to constant use. It is absolutely indispensable for you to move from milk to solid food, from infancy to maturity. Put your gift to constant use and watch what happens. You will advance toward your destiny at a greater pace than ever before!

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:36-37)

“Altar calls are unbiblical.”

Every time I make that statement, whether in a sermon or a seminar, there are raised eyebrows and glaring gazes that shoot nonverbal missiles right back at me.

One of the passages that supports this contentious statement is the one quoted above from Acts 2. It is in the context of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

Peter has just finished preaching a pointed sermon proving that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah. Before he can call for a response to this message though, the people pipe up: “What shall we do?”

Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, makes it very clear that it was not Peter’s sermon that convinced them to ask that question. It was because they were “cut to the heart.” The Greek word so translated literally means “to prick or to pierce thoroughly.”

Peter’s words, though direct, were not by themselves able to produce such a result. It was the double-edged surgical scalpel of the Word and Spirit that caused the listeners to respond the way they did.

Dear DWOD friend, as you advance toward your destiny, you need to be acutely aware of the distinction between convincing and conviction.

Convincing is something you and I do by logical progression and skillful persuasion. It is more of a sales job than anything else.

Conviction, on the other hand, is what the Holy Spirit does. It is His specialty. As Jesus taught the disciples, it is part of His job description. “And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin…” (John 16:8).

Clearly the first application of this distinction is to the enterprise of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others—whether it is done from the platform of a pulpit or other public forum where you are addressing a group—or in a one-on-one setting over a cup of coffee in your dining room.

I must admit that it is possible for you to convince someone with your superior persuasive skills to give their life to Christ. However, if it is not undergirded by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, chances are very good that this conversion experience will not produce lasting results.

Your job is to simply share from your heart with conviction. But it is not your responsibility to bring about conviction in their hearts. Leave it to Holy Spirit.

Another area where you will be called upon to do something similar is when you face conflict. Of course, you would want to meet face-to-face with the person who disagrees with you. Whether the other party is a member of your family, a colleague, a client, a business partner—if you approach the meeting with the aim of getting a conviction, you may not be successful.

What if, you were to simply state your case, as Peter did that day, and leave the rest to your Paraclete, as Jesus called the Holy Spirit? It is interesting that this Greek word is actually a legal term, describing someone who comes alongside you to support, counsel and help you. Let your advocate do what He does best.

And they too will ask, as did those who were cut to the heart on the Day of Pentecost: “What must we do?”

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Over the past 32 years of full-time ministry, there have been many occasions when I’ve had to answer questions that begin with: “WHY?”

Sometimes it was easy to see a direct cause and effect, as in someone who smoked all their life being diagnosed with lung cancer.

But when I was asked to explain why the man who had never smoked a cigarette in his life was dying of lung cancer or why the drunk driver walked away from the accident with nary a scratch while the sober one lost her life, it was not that easy. It was downright difficult.

To be perfectly honest, in times such as these I had to admit that I could not really answer that question with any sense of certainty. The last thing a pastor does at a time when someone needs pastoral care is to talk theology or worse get into a debate on theodicy (why God permits evil things to happen to good people).

Sometimes the best answer I could offer was: “God only knows!” Then I would pray to that God who only knows why to give the one who asked the question His strength, peace, grace, clarity or whatever else they needed at that moment. For “your Father knows what you need before you ask” (Matthew 6:8).

However, with the benefit of hindsight, I have also discovered that when a follower of Jesus goes through such difficult situations, there is at least one sure answer to the “Why” question. It may not be readily apparent when someone is walking through the valley, but it becomes plain as you hit higher ground.

Let me illustrate with a man named Rex who I got to know outside church circles. His daughter, who had been barely married for a year, died very unexpectedly when she suffered an epileptic seizure while taking a bath. Needless to say it rocked his life. But, by the grace of God, he and his family came through the tragedy with their faith intact.

Because Rex was a leader in his business organization, he had the opportunity to share his testimony of God’s faithfulness, peace and comfort to thousands of people over the years that followed. Holy Spirit used his testimony to bring healing to many.

A few years later, the son of another leader in the same organization died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. It was totally unexpected as this young man was a specimen of physical fitness. When Rex heard the news, he hopped on a plane and flew from one end of the country to the other so he could be with his friend Ron and his family.

Now you can see what the apostle Peter is talking about in the verse quoted above. As Rex experienced the comfort of his heavenly Father following the death of his daughter, now he could comfort Ron with the comfort he himself had received.

Dear DWOD friend, this is the unknown reason you should know when you are going through a difficult time or facing a test of your faith. God can use your experience to bring comfort, strength, counsel, companionship, etc. to another person who may be travelling down the same or similar road.

It may not always be easy to remember this when you’re wrapped up in your own pain, as some of you may be right now. But I pray that Holy Spirit will bring this to your remembrance.

For the day will indeed come when the Lord will use you in a way that you could have never imagined. And the person at the receiving end of your ministry will be so thankful—to you and “to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.”

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” (Deuteronomy 5:9)

Passages such as Exodus 20:5, 34:7, Numbers 14:18 and Deuteronomy 5:9 make it very clear that the impact of sins extends beyond those who commit them.

Those of you who have offered yourself for any kind of inner healing ministry will be familiar with the term “sins of the fathers” or “generational curses.” Since no one can be totally aware of every sinful tendency that was passed down the generational lines to us, we simply break them off so they cannot continue to affect us adversely.

The flip side of generational curses is blessings that were handed down to us from generations that have gone before us. In passages such as Deuteronomy 5:10 and Exodus 20:6, we are told that our God is one who is equally known for “showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

On this Father’s Day, as I was exploring the influence of godly fathers upon their families (e.g. Psalms 127 & 128), I came across a study that followed the generational lines of two prominent families from the 18^th century. The goal was to see how curses and blessings manifested themselves in the lives of their descendants.

One family descended from Max Jukes, a well-known atheist, who did not follow the Lord. Neither did his wife. Among the over 1,200 descendants studied, 310 were professional vagrants; 440 were physically wrecked by lives of debauchery and uncleanness; 130 went to the penitentiary for an average of 13 years each (7 were murderers); 100 were alcoholics; 60 were habitual thieves; 190 were prostitutes. Of the 20 who learned a trade, 10 learned it in a state prison. Collectively, they cost the state of New York over a million dollars.

The second family studied was that of Jonathan Edwards, the New England preacher, and his godly wife, Sarah. Among their descendants, 300 became pastors, missionaries, and theological professors; over 100 became college professors; over 100 became lawyers, including 30 judges; over 60 became physicians; over 60 authored good books; 14 became presidents of universities; 3 became United States congressmen; and one, (although he was a black sheep spiritually), became the Vice President of the United States (Aaron Burr, Jr., Edwards’ grandson).

Wow! What a striking contrast!!

Dear DWOD friend, the consequences of your decisions today not only impact your destiny in your lifetime. They follow down the generational lines and impact the destinies of your descendants as well—for better or for worse. You can be responsible for handing them blessings or curses. Now, that’s a heavy, isn’t it? But it is the God’s honest truth.

What a privilege it would be to be known as one who passed only blessings down the generational lines as Jonathan and Sarah Edwards were! It is my prayer that this is what will be said of you and me many years from now.

Do I hear a loud AMEN?

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (I Timothy 2:1-2)

We who live in the province of Ontario in the country of Canada were surprised by the results of the election that was held today. The ruling party, which had been plagued by scandals, was elected to power with a stunning majority. None of the opinion polls had predicted this overwhelming victory.

Many Christians, including me, have grave concerns about some of the policies of this government. I am personally aware of a Christian school being told that essentially they had to teach sex education classes which were in total opposition to their understanding of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman only…or they would be shut down.

Chances are very good that with the solid majority that they have been given by the people of Ontario, they will have no trouble pushing through their legislative agenda, at least some of which will not sit well with theologically conservative evangelicals like me who are practising charismatics to boot!

What must be our primary response when this government enacts laws that violate our Christian conscience?

Judging by the apostle Paul’s advice to his young protégé Timothy, there is only one action that we can control. Prayer! We intercede for “kings and all those in authority.” That’s it. Period.

Badmouthing the government. Criticizing the Premier. Focusing on her sexual orientation. None of these is as an option that will bring about the positive change that prayer will!

On the contrary, it will give rise to anger and judgment which will only trigger the law of sowing and reaping. We ourselves will end up being the targets of anger and the recipients of judgment.

It reminded me of a time when I was under attack by a segment of the church I was pastoring at the time. Whenever I focused on the hurt they were inflicting upon me, I was the one who was getting angry, resentful and bitter. It was beginning to creep into my sermons. Not good at all.

Around that time, I was at a Conference where R.T. Kendall was teaching on the power of forgiveness. One thing he stressed was that we have not totally forgiven until we have asked God to bless those who stress us. After all, isn’t this is what Jesus told us to do in Luke 6:27-28? “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

I could not control what others were saying about me. I could not change their minds about me or the offense they took at what I had said or done. None of these were under my control.

All I could do was to focus on the only thing I could do that would honour Jesus. Not only did I forgive them, but I went on to ask God to bless them and indeed declared blessing over their families, jobs, businesses and relationships.

I would like to say that they all changed their minds and we all lived happily ever after. Not! But I had the satisfaction of knowing that I did what I could control and left the rest to God. Let’s just say that He took care of me just fine!

Dear DWOD friend, on the road to your destiny you too will face times such as these when your hands are tied. You cannot take matters into your own hands and change things around. You too would be wise to follow Scriptural directives such as the ones in this post.

We would love to hear from you about similar situations that you have faced and Scriptures that guided you during those times. Please share them with the rest of your DWOD family, will you? Thanks in advance.

“The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:11, 25)

Every Sunday evening at Morgan’s Point United Church we have been offering what we call a Good News Gathering. The format is very simple. We begin with a time of refreshments at 6 p.m. At 6:30 we have a time of praise and worship. Then we go around the room and ask anyone who has a praise report to share it. Following this time of sharing, one of our members shares their personal testimony. Then we break up into small groups and pray for one another.

The primary purpose of this gathering is to share with those who have not yet made a commitment to follow Jesus fully how their lives can be changed when they choose Him to be their Lord and their Saviour. “If He can do it for me, He can do it for you as well!”

As an added bonus, it also provides an opportunity for those who are further along in their faith walk with Jesus to make connections with those who are just on their way (or about to get going) and disciple them.

When I tell friends outside our congregation about the Good News Gatherings, the first question they ask is: “How do you find so many people who are willing to share their testimony in a relatively small community such as yours?”

My answer is very simple: We teach them to keep it simple. This way it does not seem foreboding in any way to those who are not used to sharing their testimony to put it all together.

As a matter of fact, the verses quoted at the top of this post provide the framework for an effective testimony. You know the story of the man who was born blind receiving his sight. This causes quite a stir among the religious leaders. They question him repeatedly to discover how exactly this amazing change had come about.

The blind man’s response is very simple. There are three distinct parts in his response that constitute the essential elements of a testimony.

“I was blind.”

“Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed…”

“Now I see.”

We have made it easy to remember by teaching everyone who shares their testimony to use the following format:

B.J—What life was like Before Jesus.

E.J—How you Encountered Jesus.

A.J—How life has changed After Jesus became your Lord and Saviour.

Pretty simple, isn’t it? But don’t let the simplicity fool you. It is simply powerful when you put all three elements together.

Last Sunday, one of our DWOD subscribers, Lori Fournier shared her testimony using this format. Just so you know, when I first asked Lori to do this a couple of months back, she was very reluctant to comply with my request. She was not sure that her testimony would have much of an impact on anyone else. She was not ready. So I just left her alone.

On Sunday afternoon, Sulojana asked Lori to consider doing it that very same evening. She had a sense that the timing was the Lord’s. Thankfully, Lori, who hears well from the Lord herself, agreed.

We had four first-timers at the GNG that evening. Two of them were powerfully touched by Lori’s testimony. Great freedom came to them during prayer ministry.

Dear DWOD friend, do you have your testimony ready to be shared with others at short notice? You may wish to prepare it using the B.J., E.J. & A.J. template. You never know when a door will open up for you to share it with someone who needs to hear it at that particular moment.

Jesus wants your testimony to be shared. The world needs your testimony to be heard. You got it?

Last Sunday, as we were reading from Acts 2 about the Holy Spirit coming upon the 120, I was struck by this description of the bystanders’ reaction to all the commotion:

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12)

“This” refers to the inexplicable phenomenon of people from a number of language groups being able to hear the “wonderful works of God” declared in their particular language. What made this even more astounding is that the speakers were Galileans!

To get the full impact of the reference to Galileans, we need to remind ourselves that Peter, a fisherman by trade, was a Galilean, as was his brother Andrew. Ditto for James and John. In other words, these were not linguistics majors from a renowned university 🙂 As a matter of fact, fisherfolk were “sea” students who did not go to school as a rule!

No wonder these visitors to Jerusalem were amazed and perplexed by “this.”

The one positive attribute of this group was their desire to find out what it really meant. This is in stark contrast to another group of people who simply mocked the proceedings as a case of “too much new wine.”

Peter seizes the opportunity to provide an explanation of what was actually going on. He shows the Jewish pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the harvest festival of Pentecost how prophecies delivered by Joel were now being fulfilled in this most unusual manner.

For Peter to even have the opportunity to provide an answer however, first there had to be a reason for the people to ask the question. The inexplicable demands an explanation.

It is instructive to note that according to Peter’s explanation, the premier manifestation of the Spirit of God falling upon someone is the gift of prophecy. This actually would not have been too much of a stretch for the Jewish mind to grasp.

In Numbers 11:24-30, we read about how the Lord took a portion of the Spirit that rested upon Moses and gave it to 70 of his elders. What happened as a consequence? “When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.” (v. 25)

Similarly, when Saul encountered a group of prophets, we are told that “the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.” (I Samuel 10:10). In verse 13, we read that he had stopped prophesying after a while.

The Jewish experience was of the Spirit of God coming upon a select few. Some prophesied for a short spell. Others wore the mantle of the prophet. But now Peter declares that the Spirit of God was being poured out upon ALL people.

This explanation seemed to answer their question, as they now listen intently to the rest of his message.

To this day, quite often when we prophesy over someone who has never experienced this gift in operation, their response is very similar to that of the visitors to Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost: “How did you know that about me? You do not know me at all!” Or when God shows up and miraculously brings healing to an unbeliever, it shakes them up and they wonder how this is possible!

It is only when they are amazed and perplexed that they ask the question and are eager to receive the answer that the Lord gives them through us. No occurrence of the inexplicable, no requisition for an explanation which could potentially lead to their salvation as it did that day for 3000!

Dear DWOD friend, when the Spirit of God comes upon you, do you realize that you too are now a conduit through whom He can flow and cause signs, wonders and miracles to follow? This could potentially open the door to many meaningful conversations and life-transforming decisions.

So, let me ask you now: “Do you leave them amazed and perplexed?” What is your answer?