During the fifty days between Passover and Pentecost, God was at work in the hearts and minds of the disciples. The Father was bringing them out of their confusion and misperceptions to prepare them to move under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Each one came to the end of himself to be completely surrendered to the will of God.
After the Lord’s resurrection, the disciples were devastated because their world had just caved in. Grieving the loss of the Lord, they were fearful of what would happen to them. But “to these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).[i] They had false images of what Yeshua would do to deliver them from their Roman oppression (Acts 1:6). Then, before His ascension, Christ told His followers, “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” (Luke 24:49).
By faith, put yourself in that upper room experience. The disciples were devoting themselves to prayer and seeking the Lord for a new, fresh revelation of the Father’s will for their lives. Christ said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL” (Hebrews 10:9). That was the root of His relationship with the Father. The disciples were confronted on a deep level as to whether they also would align themselves with the Father’s will. They had to ask themselves whether or not they would commit their hearts to being what the Father needed in the earth at that time. Together, they experienced a collective honesty they never had before, and during this process they began to relate as one mind.
Pentecost is a divinely appointed time for us also. The Father wants to change our paradigms so that we too can align our hearts and minds with His will for us today. It is our opportunity to let go of our old ways and allow the Father to baptize us so we can live and function in the Holy Spirit in a new way. Paul tells us to live and walk by the Spirit: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). We can choose to love the Lord with all our hearts and delight to please Him.
Yeshua (Jesus) wants His Church to be a vital part of what He is doing in the earth today. Even God’s creation shows us new ways we can function as the Body of Christ and flow together in unity. Birds, for example, can fly for thousands of miles in perfect unison and together totally change direction. Schools of fish can move all together in the same direction beyond their own understanding. We can keep trying to create unity in the Body of Christ on a natural level, or we can move in the authority of Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit that creates this unity, and revelation of the Father so needed in the earth today.
We also seek to experience a true revelation of what the Kingdom of God will mean personally for us in our daily lives. We ask the Father to work His will in us. “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). We enter our closets with the Father and let Him go through our hearts, minds, and wills to clean out everything that is not part of His Kingdom. We receive His preparation that leads us to transformation. He is a good Father and He wants to give us good things. And His will is good for us. Trust Him.
[i] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95).