Dealing With Delay
48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising God.
Luke 24:48-53
The church world has been quarantined by respective governments into a kind of “upper room” for the past several months due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Worldwide individuals, families, entire cities and nations have been ordered by their government to ‘shelter-in-place’ until this plague passes over us. I do not want to discuss the rightness or the wrongness of these government edicts. However, it has brought to the surface how human nature responds to DELAY and or DENIAL.
The Resurrected Lord Jesus after 40 days of appearing to His followers presenting proof that He was IN FACT risen from the dead. He ate bread and fish with His disciples. He showed up at their workplaces. He walked through locked doors to allow them to touch His wounds with their very own hands, in order to burn the fog of doubt away. His primary focused message continued to be the kingdom of God.
In the end, He leads them from the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha to somewhere outside of Bethany on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Before He ascends, He commands them to preach the Gospel of the cross and the resurrection as the means of redemption and forgiveness to all nations of the earth. The chief focus of the church was to “GO” and make disciples and model obedience for others to follow the example of Yeshua, Messiah Jesus. But first, they must “STAY” or ‘wait’ in Jerusalem for the promised power of the Holy Spirit to “clothe” them BEFORE they GO into the world to preach the gospel.
You may have heard it said, “ I hope it’s worth the wait?” I myself have murmured the cliche under the cloud of disappointment, “Delay is not denial.” I believe the opposite can be true, “Denial can cause unnecessary delay or even a detour.” I have been on several, shall I say, “deployments” or “tours of duty” forged in the fires of denying the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As soldiers, earning our stripes in the army of God is often found on the battlefield we thought we would never fight upon. Fortunately, the Apostles taught that our ‘denials’ can become the very setting of new vista’s or horizons of humility,love,and purpose to glorify God and help strengthen others …thank you Peter…thank you John Mark…thank you Abraham and Jacob…etc.!
Never forget God’s “NO” is as important to your future as God’s “YES”! How we deal with the “no” often determines the depth of our maturity in the ways of God.
As we reflect on and celebrate the Ascension of Jesus Christ to “sit down at the right hand of the Father” and the corresponding outpouring of the promised Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, let us receive afresh into our spirits the value of WAITING on the Lord while He fulfills His promises in His time!
What are you “waiting for”? The perfect soul-mate”? The job that will best tap into your potential? Graduation? Retirement? The stock market to raise or fall? A much needed raise? Test results? Surgery? Vindication of your actions or words? Someone to fail? To be noticed, valued and included?
The list could go on and on…….
Read the following familiar Ascension passages of Scripture (perhaps in a different translation or paraphrase) and ask the Holy Spirit to “open your eyes to behold wonderful things in Thy law” (Ps.119).
The Victory of Jesus Christ and His subsequent Ascension creates a path of life to encounter His Presence in 5 special ways!!!!!
I have listed a quick focus of each passage to serve as lens to look through to gain insight:
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Mark 16:14-20: POWER-ENCOUNTER; The Power-encounter that flows from the Finished Work of Christ on the Cross…”he sat down at the right hand of God”…preach, heal and deliver!
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Matthew 28:16-20: TRUTH-ENCOUNTER; The Command to “Go” make disciples…teach…no need to wait because all authority and power have already been given to Jesus.
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Luke 24:50-53: SPIRIT-ENCOUNTER; the command to WAIT for the power of the Holy Spirit…the atmosphere of joy and celebration
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Acts 1: COMMUNITY-ENCOUNTER; The blessing of unity, corporate prayer and biblical study.
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Ephesians 4:7-16: GIFTS-ENCOUNTER; The release of gifted ministries to bring the body of Christ into maturity and full productivity.
Next, I have listed below several truths gleaned from the Gospel accounts and some relevant Biblical narratives which underscore how we can ‘deal with delay or denial’ in healthy fashion.
Like a new shirt or pair of pants, try them on to see if you find God’s power for the job he has for you to do!
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Realize & Embrace Quarantines as a Necessity: The premiere example is God quarantined the Israelites under the blood of the Passover Lamb to their homes in Egypt the night the death angel struck the firstborn of Egypt (Ex.12:12-13). The future promise is we will be saved from the wrath of God to come having been justified by the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9). We may go through the judgements of God but we will be saved from the wrath of God. The Laws of Leprosy in Leviticus teaches the need to quarantine houses or garments of linen and leather for 7 days to determine the nature of the uncleanness (Lev.13-14). Personally, I believe this Covid-19 pandemic was a critical opportunity to shelter-in-place to allow God to cleanse us from doubt, fear and sluggishness. It is time to awake from our slumber!
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What Looks Like an Ending, is a Beginning: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven”(Acts 1:11) WOW or shall we say, “woe”? Is this comedic or a warning? If we are not careful what appears to be an ‘end’ can freeze us in place. We can become stuck by the gravity of what just happened to us or someone around us. Whatever it seems like we lost becomes an obsession to try and figure out what just happened. It takes two angels or messengers from God to break the bewildered gaze of the dumbfounded “men of Galilee”. The simple message that broke the stalemate between the First and Second Coming of Jesus Christ was the truth that the way things begin is often a clue to how things will end. Jesus will come again in glory to the Mount of Olives just as He departed to heaven from the Mount Olives. If we are not careful our Eschatological longings can paralyze us from moving forward into fulfilling His commands to apply His finished work to an unfinished world! The Ascension was the necessary completion of His work on Earth, in order to begin His ministry from heaven on earth. We now are seated together with Him in heavenly places far above all rule and authority.
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Stick to the Primary Sources as the Foundation of Your Message: Preach the word of God gleaned from Scripture no matter what is going on. Preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, raised, ascended and coming again! The entire counsel of God is found in the Scripture and we can address any human predicament from sound biblical study and application (2 Tim.2:15;3:15-18).
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Waiting in Worship: The discipline of waiting is the ascent of the soul to God. The prophet Isaiah makes it very clear that ‘waiting’ releases ‘strengthening’… “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isa.40:31). This language used by Luke in Acts 1 is both intimate and forceful. Jesus, face-to-face COMMANDED His disciples to wait in Jerusalem. Conversely, waiting on the Lord is the means by which God descends to the individual and community. Thus, in this vortex of ascending and descending the promises of God are fulfilled in perfect harmony with power.
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The prohibition, “do not leave Jerusalem” is as important as the commission to “Go” into all the world. A mere 10 days of waiting produced years, centuries and millenniums of victorious power! How we wait has great bearing on the nature of how we perform for the glory of God!
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Aim Small, Miss Small: This is used to train someone to shoot a gun at long ranges. Jesus gave a very specific target to His disciples while they waited, “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The focus was to get powered up by the Holy Spirit. During delays to the fulfillment of God’s promises to you…pick one area and draw a circle around it and wait on God to supply you with the power to do that work. HE WANTS TO POSSESS YOU WITH HIS PROMISE BEFORE YOU POSSESS YOUR PROMISED LAND OF PURPOSE! God wants to reach you before He reaches the world around you!What are you expecting will determine your level of faith, hope, love and joy! False expectations will fuel disappointment, unhealthy stress and debilitating depression.
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Receive Strategic Provision & Vision: Delay can often bring into focus tactical strategy along with the needed resources.
“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
A seasoned elderly prophetic brother recently came up to me at a home group meeting and said, “Jeff this delay has been used by the Lord to develop new skill sets and tools for the ministry which has been entrusted to you.” Amen…I received that word of encouragement! Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, essentially said “God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply!”
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Be Aware of the False Narrative: This is the opposite of priming the pump of your primary sources of the Scriptures, the Saints and the Savoir. Unplug yourself from the false narrative or at least critically discern what you listen to , watch and read. Matthew 28:11-15 reveals a ‘fake news’ that was pushed by the Jerusalem Post which was driven by the Jewish religious leaders in bed with the Romans to squash the true narrative of the Resurrection of Yeshua. Follow the money and you will find the source. In this day and hour, the Church of Jesus Christ must be thoroughly immersed in sound biblical truth and the true person and work of the Holy Spirit. We must stand united with a singular message to proclaim the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Disinformation during delay can spread like a coronavirus and create strongholds of fear and unbelief in individuals, families and entire people groups.
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The Centrality of the Scripture to Track the Wind of the Spirit..”This is That”: When the promise of the Father was given to the 120 disciples in the upper room Peter took the lead and quoted the prophet Joel.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Friends in Christ, these days demand that we be mighty in the Scripture and mighty in the Spirit. There is a desperate need aptitude to be able to rightly divide the word of God and wield the sword of the Spirit. When we are immersed in biblical study and meditation we will be able to better walk in the Spirit, speak with the inspiration of the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, sing in the Spirit, flow in the gifts of the Spirit and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. True Pentecostal power is demonstrated in supernatural communication, supernatural character, supernatural signs and wonders and a supernatural harvest of new followers to the cause of Jesus Christ.
Maybe you will enjoy this song!!!! David Ruis, Every Move I Make