Amazed!

God never ceases to amaze me. He loves to pull us out of our comfort zones and into His atmosphere. Personally, I find that when He does this, it is a fantastic place to be. However, I understand that it may also be a place of discomfort for some. It may even turn out or appear much differently than you thought it would. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in a room where the Holy Spirit fell? In Acts 2, Paul describes it as a sound from heaven that was like a roaring windstorm. That sound literally filled the house. Would I have grabbed my earplugs trying to find silence, or would I have stepped into that sound? As the tongues of fire appeared, would I have been the one grabbing a bucket of water to control the fire or allowing the fire to consume me? From there, we are told that everyone began speaking in other languages. Would I have recognized the promised Holy Spirit being in the house, or would I have thought everyone had gone crazy? Moves of God are not always quiet, nor are they necessarily comfortable. Remember, Jesus had warned the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit. Although I don't think they had a committee meeting to decide what it would look like, I am sure they had wondered. And, I believe they didn't expect loud noise, flames or other languages. What I did notice about the account is that they did not try to shut it down. They stepped into the moment with boldness and authority that came straight from the Kingdom of Heaven. I have been in an organized church all my life. I find that it is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because I am well-grounded in the word of God. It is a curse because I also became well-grounded in accepted religious traditions. I'm sure some of you can relate. So, just how would a glorious move of God look? Certainly, it would include signs, wonders, and miracles. In my minds-eye, I saw physical healing or maybe some emotional healing being released. That is in the realm of the "acceptable" move of God that I am comfortable with. But God had another plan! It was the first day of the Glory Conference. Things started to happen right at the beginning of the day. A beautiful rainbow ran straight through the fountain in a pond behind the building we were meeting in. The owner of the property shared with me that he really felt it was a sign of God’s promises for the day. What did I do? I chalked it up to a scientific explanation. It never dawned on me that God was warming us up for what glory was about to happen. Using only a keyboard, we began to worship. To our surprise and wonder, half of the lights in the room began to beat in perfect time with the music. And I don't mean flicker! They were going on and off in perfect timing. I asked the owner if they had an electrical problem, which he assured me they did not. I was looking for the rational, earthly reason and not realizing that God was moving. As the afternoon rolled around, there was no longer a rainbow in the fountain. The lights didn't "clap" in time with the music. All seemed calm UNTIL… I was in the middle of teaching about the glory of God when it began to rain in the room. We had puddles and everything!!!! I looked up at the ceiling expecting to see a leaky pipe, but it was an open dry ceiling with nothing to "leak" on me except the Kingdom of Heaven. GLORY!!!! Although I have heard stories about this type of manifestation of the Spirit, it was still outside my comfort zone. I once heard Bill Johnson say something that somewhat explained it. It went like this, “sometimes God will give us signs that make us wonder”. God was genuinely giving us signs that made us wonder! As I pondered all that happened that day, I realized that God was inviting us into a different realm of His splendor and glory and to experience things that we had never experienced before. Those who were there on the day of Pentecost could not deny what had happened. Those who were at that conference could not deny what they had seen and experienced. As the account began to be shared, a fair number of skeptics were encountered. As conversations began to take place, each person had to decide if they would be silenced or share the wonder of God. Of course, some people were in awe and wonder of the goodness of God. They were taken outside their proverbial box as they listened to the account. It is my heart cry for the Kingdom of Heaven to be experienced on Earth. I must learn to see and discern from a Heavenly perspective; or, I may miss what God is doing in our midst! How about you?