Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”
1 Samuel 10:6 “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.”
In 1 Samuel 9, Saul was looking for his father’s donkeys, yet when he encountered the prophet Samuel, his destiny completely changed from chasing donkeys to being anointed as king. The Spirit prophesied through Samuel, about Saul’s destiny. The prophetic word of God changed the heart of Saul and caused him to walk in an anointing he never demonstrated before, to the point that the Bible says, he will be “changed into another man.” That is the undeniable power and nature of God’s Spirit coming upon Saul and even changing the trajectory of his life and destiny.
The world’s temporal kingdoms are crumbling all around us. In these times of great uncertainty, catastrophic tragedies and global unrest, as believers and lovers of God, we get to walk in the Spirit and prophesy God’s heart and showcase the living Savior as He shines through us as earthen vessels.
With so many around us living in fear and tension because of world events, what if we as citizens of another Kingdom, asked for the Spirit of the Lord to possess us and come upon us mightily – to the point that we become changed and unrecognizable – because of His Spirit on us and His power residing in us? When His Spirit is alive in and upon our lives, we are living out the Kingdom of God in this temporal world.
What does the Kingdom of God look like?
Daniel 7:27 “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
It’s a generation and company of people whose faces are captivated by their King, whose hearts are enthralled by His beauty and whose fervent passion is to honor and value Him!
What does the Kingdom of God sound like?
Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”
When the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, I believe it was a sound of redemption and freedom that has been rising and rumbling up from the depths of the earth. It’s a Sound of Truth. Sound of Hope. Sound of Confident Expectation. Sound of Righteousness. Sound of Boldness. Sound of Triumph.
How is the Kingdom of God manifested?
In the Old Testament, God used prophets and priests to speak His prophetic word and bring alignment and fulfill God ordained destinies. In the New Testament, God used the Apostles and the disciples (including women). In one instance, people laid their sick on the streets and as Peter passed by, his shadow brought healing to every one around him.
John Bevere, the author and Bible teacher while praying one day, asked God “why is the modern day church not seeing the signs and wonders described in the Bible?” The Holy Spirit spoke to him and said, the church will be seven times more powerful than the early church! Wow!! (I encourage you to read through the book of Acts to see the power and demonstrations of the Kingdom that the Apostles walked in.)
When the Spirit comes upon us, we will manifest God’s nature boldly and supernaturally. The world is groaning for us to do so!
1 Samuel 10: 7 “It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you.”
1 Samuel 18:14 “In everything he (David) did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.”
Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
When the Spirit of God is with us, it denotes nearness, intimacy and His guiding Presence. He will lead and instruct us on what to say and prophesy to those He calls us to. We bring the Kingdom of God wherever we go. When we step into a room, things should change. Sickness has to go. Depression has to be annihilated. Bondages need to be broken. Restoration has got to happen.
The Apostles Peter and John had signs and wonders following them because they had been with Jesus. The phrase ‘had been with Jesus,’ speaks of intimacy, rich history and deep connection. These were no ordinary hang outs. These were days, weeks and three years of eating, breathing and walking with Jesus. The Lord see us as His disciples today. He has called us to a life of honoring His Presence, ministering to His heart and just simply being at His feet.
As we live in that posture of being attentive to Jesus, signs and wonders will follow us. The gifts He died for us to walk in, will be activated as we simply be with Jesus. The ‘doing’ overflows from the ‘being.’ I quoted this once before but just need to say it again: It was the very Presence of Jesus that was the training school for the disciples. It’s no different for us today.
