Monthly Archives: February 2009

What are you still doing there?

Posted on by mattlegere

In the first chapter of Acts, we find a hilarious event involving the disciples of Jesus and angels.

Jesus has been with the disciples for 3 1/2 years.  He has been telling them of things to come:

As the Father sent me, so send I you

I am the light of the world.  Now you are the light of the world.

You shall be my witnesses

3 1/2 years of intense coaching, instruction, teaching, impartation….all culminating to the Lord being raised from the dead and walking with them for 40 days.

All these events set the stage for Jesus gathering His disciples together and speaking to them about the Kingdom of God.  He tried to warn them that He was leaving:

I must needs go away

After a little while, you won’t see Me.  I’m going back to the Father.

I still don’t think that it sunk in.  They said to themselves:

I thought we lost Him.  For 3 days, we wondered if His words were true.  Now He will stay with us forever.

But this was not the plan of God.  He was going away so that the Comforter…the Holy Spirit…power from heaven could fall on them. 

Suddenly, Jesus ascends up into heaven and they watched Him as He went higher and higher and higher.  They looked until they couldn’t see Him anymore. 

It was then that they got themselves in a little trouble.  The Lord told them before He left:

Don’t leave Jerusalem until you receive the promise of the Father. 

However, they were standing on Mount Olivet, which was a Sabbath day’s journey away from Jerusalem. 

They had divine impartation, they had doctrine and solid teaching from God Himself poured into them, they saw Jesus take dominion over EVERYTHING that came His way, they had direction straight from the throne (go to Jerusalem), etc.  However, they weren’t actually DOING what the Lord asked them to do.

I can picture them standing there looking in the clouds saying things like:

Won’t it be awesome when we get all that power that Jesus was talking about?!?

How cool will that be when all of Jerusalem knows who Jesus really was!?!

In the middle of these questions, two angels showed up and said:

What are you still doing here?

Could that question be applicable to you and I today?  We’ve been instructed, taught, trained, indoctrinated, and counseled.  We’ve gone to conference to get direction.  We’ve read blogs about how to be a better minister.  We’ve had phone calls with peers and mentors alike.  We listen to sermons and seminars on CD’s, we watch them on DVD, and download them from the internet. 

But in order to accomplish the divine mission of Jesus Christ, we must leave where we are and go where He told us to go. 

What things has the Lord asked you to leave behind?

Has the Lord spoken to you or put thoughts into your mind of what ministry and calling He has planned for you?

What are you doing today to follow and pursue the Lord’s will in your life?

If two angels were to show up at your house, your job, Starbucks, or wherever you are right now, would they look you in the eye and say:

Why stand ye here gazing?  What are you still doing here?

Why are we still letting fear hinder us from becoming who we are supposed to be?  Why are we being held hostage by the fear of failure and the fear of other people?  Why are we so complacent about being His hands and feet.

What are you still doing there?  Let’s go!

The Lord He is God!

Posted on by mattlegere

Psalm 68:9 “You shed abroad a plentiful rain O God. You confirmed your inheritance when it was parched.”

I feel that this Scripture is significant on 2 levels:

1. On one level, I’m tired of people saying that New England is dry and cold and a burned over field. The Lord will confirm our inheritance even when the land is parched.

2. On another level, I was hit with the idea that the Lord enjoys doing things contrary to our natural thinking. He sends rain down in parched areas and He sends fire down on drenched altars.

To further expand on bullet #2 above, we read in I Kings Chapter 18 about Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal. I believe that it was critical for Elijah to drench the altar with water before the fire fell down due to the significance of what it would mean to our generation specifically.

All throughout the Bible, water is a type/shadow of the Holy Spirit. We think, in our natural minds, that not getting the sacrifice wet will create a better environment for the fire to fall and consume. However, the Lord wants our sacrifice, our offering, etc. to be absolutely drenched with water (the Spirit).

Others might talk and say “Don’t you know that with all that water (Spirit) that the fire won’t come down and impact other people”. However, if we keep our pursuit towards God and His Spirit, the fire WILL come down.

It was also significant to me that Elijah didn’t just pour water over the offering and the altar but he built a trench around the altar (enough to hold 4 gallons). He didn’t just want to water to be on the sacrifice, but he wanted there to be a way that the water could be stored (i.e. entertaining the Spirit and creating environments where it can rest). Then, the fire of the Lord consumed everything, including what was in the trenches.

Through all of this, it caused the people to say” The Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God”!! I believe that if we pursue God and His spirit, regardless of the manifestation, that our city and region will fall to their knees and say “The Lord is the God!”.