Friday Morning Devotion (On ALL Flesh)

¹⁷“And this is what will happen in those last days,” God says.
“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your young mean will see visions and your elders will have dreams.
¹⁸ Indeed even on my male and female slaves,
Will I pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs on the earth below,
blood, fire, and smoky vapor.
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood
before the great and splendid day of the Lord comes.
²¹ And it will happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.”        Acts 2:17-21

I look forward to talking to Luke when I get to heaven. I want to know what was running through that scientific mind of his when he was recording the events and getting a deeper understanding of passages from the Old Testament like Joel that was now becoming new and being fulfilled.

First, the Holy Spirit will be poured out on people – Luke was seeing that at Pentecost. Joel said it twice that the Holy Spirit will be poured out. WOW!

Through this outpouring, there will be prophesy through visions and dreams. It could arguably be said that actively hearing prophesy in the modern day Church is the scariest manifestation of God’s presence! It certainly requires that the Body work in unity and discern that “YES! This is a word from God!” or “No, this was not.” And THEN be obedient to God’s direction. It means that men and women be educated and empowered in the gifts that God has poured out.

There will be wonders in heaven and signs on the earth. Have we not already seen them? Do we have eyes to see? Are our eyes looking UP or are they ‘distracted’ to only seeing ‘self’? Do we testify to the signs and wonders? Are we embarrassed to point and say, “THAT is God!”

And then there is the most AWESOME sign of God – CALL OUT TO GOD AND BE SAVED! As the thief cried out to Jesus and received his eternal promise – so God continues to be in the miraculous, redemption business! Jesus said that we are to follow Him and seek out those who are ‘sick’ in sin and show them His cure! Our congregations are not to be exclusive country clubs for the holy but hospitals for the sick and injured.

Do I look for God in the ‘now’? Do I want Him to ‘AWE’ me, even ‘bewilder’ me? Am I willing to receive the power of the Holy Spirit so that I may be used to Kingdom build? Am I willing to allow my world to be changed – my plans to be altered so that God’s Kingdom may be built – instead of building my kingdom?