I am so thankful that God counts us worthy of His dealings because it is a sign of His acceptance. The Lord loves and disciplines every son whom He receives (Hebrews 12:6). Consider the devastation the disciples went through when Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified and then ascended to the right hand of the Father. That must have been a horrific experience for those who loved the Lord and walked closely with Him. The resurrection was still a confusion to them, and God had just wiped out everything they believed to be true about the Messiah. But without question the devastation they went through on a personal level was preparation for the phenomenal outpouring of the Spirit to come.
We do not usually put together these two concepts of devastation and the Holy Spirit being poured out, but I think we should. God does not frivolously pour out His Spirit on people. We may think, “If God is going to pour out His Spirit, it will just happen everywhere.” But that is not how it happened in the Scriptures. The one hundred twenty in the Upper Room experienced devastation like no others had ever gone through before. And we need to realize that God is preparing us. Let our hearts cry, “Lord, finish what You have begun in us, so we can receive the great outpouring of Your Spirit that is to come!”
It is time for the Body of Christ to have power and the enablings that we recognize are resident with this experience of the Holy Spirit. We are still waiting for a double portion of God pouring out His Spirit on all mankind like floods on the dry ground (Joel 2:28–29; Isaiah 44:3). The earth needs the sons of God coming to maturity, and I feel confident about the deep devastation and inner preparation God is doing in each one of us. He has been dealing with our spirits beyond anything we have ever known. But the next great outpouring will never happen to a general mixed multitude of unprepared individuals. These collective experiences will be very individual to those who have been prepared. For the one hundred twenty, the tongues of fire rested on each one of them (Acts 2:3). So it happened simultaneously to all of them individually.
When God tests you like Job, just bleed worship. If there is nothing left, just give Him your life. When Yeshua was hanging on the cross, that is what He did. There was no way to rationalize or cope, but His response was “INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT” (Luke 23:46).1 Somehow you just do what God says without letting go or being moved. You do that when you are honestly at the end of your life—then something happens in your spirit. It was at that moment Yeshua became the sacrifice that God accepted for all mankind.
Likewise, we are following Yeshua into something that goes beyond explanation. We could say, “Oh yeah, we’re ready for the outpouring.” But there is an experience that we must have first. In my arrogance I do not want to assume that I am ready. It is the beginning of the administration of God’s Kingdom government in the earth resting on us. It is the mantle of Christ: His authority, power, and anointing resting on us. Did the preparation go deep enough? Realize what we are asking for. Lord, finish the preparation in our hearts and pour out Your Spirit upon us. We ask this in the name of Yeshua.
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1 All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).