I’ve had in my spirit the “feeling”, “thought”, “anticipation”, of something suddenly happening that many of us have been expecting for some time. It’s not that we all have the same things we are expecting, but I just believe God is readying the release of “And Suddenlies” into our lives. I’m poised in the receiving mode with great anticipation.
Bill Johson says “Heaven is filled with trust & belief. The world is filled with mistrust and unbelief. We reflect the nature of the place we are more aware of”.
The “and suddenlies” change the situation immediately, and a good steward sets up the opportunity for an “and suddenly” to occur. Yielding so completely to the Holy Spirit will cause whatever one says to be said by the other. “The Spirit and the bride say come”. Lets look at some examples.
Mark 9:1-9. Read the story in full. I’m going to paraphrase here in the interest of space and time. In this story, we see Jesus take Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain. It was there that Jesus is transfigured right before them. All of a sudden Elijah and Moses show up and are talking to Jesus. Now that’s a conversation I would have loved to have heard. What did they talk about? Hmmmm.
Right away, our good friend Peter falls into the religious church trap and says something like “wow, this is great. What a powerful move of God. I think we should start a building program and structure three memorials”. It’s like living on a past move or anointing of God. The problem is, that’s where religious spirits congregate. Around past moves of God.
Then something happens in the now. A right now move of the Spirit that envelopes them and at that moment they hear the voice of God. Look what happens when we get in the presence of God, rather than simply living on the principles of God. An “and suddenly” occurs.
As they look around, the only thing they see now is Jesus. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all we ever saw in the situations of life is not the circumstances as they are, but Jesus and the way He sees things. It just seems it takes an “and suddenly” to get our focus right.
In the Message it says in verse 8 “The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus”. They got a new focus on what is, instead of what appeared to be. It’s like getting an unexpected check in the mail just at the right moment. It changes your focus from lack to provision, when we should never focus on lack.
Acts 2:1-4. There they are. All in one place and all in one accord or unity. Who were the all? Well Acts 1:13-15 tell us who they were. It mentions the disciples in verse 13. Then it goes on in verse 14 to make special mention of the fact the women were present also, especially Mary the mother of Jesus. Finally, it details that there were about 120 all together in this place.
Right there in verse 2 of Acts 2 an “and suddenly” occurs. In comes a mighty rushing wind that fills the whole house where they were sitting. We see in the first example at the Mount of Transfiguration that it was a cloud that overshadowed them. Here it’s a mighty rushing wind followed by cloven tongues sitting upon them.
Let me say that you can’t invite God to a party and not expect things to happen. Just don’t expect them to happen the same way every time. There are no special formula that force God to move in a specific way.
Look what happened here. They all got filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other tongues. Now did you remember that the women were there also, and MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS. Wait a minute. Am I saying that Mary spoke in other tongues. No. I’m just repeating what scripture said, but I believe scripture to be true and so I believe she was filled and spoke in other tongues.
We have gotten so regimented in the way we believe God does things. For example, someone prays for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We’ve got this one over here saying “let it out”, and this one saying “hold it in”. Then another saying “come over here by the railing and kneel – that’s where it happens” and another saying “get on your face”, another saying “stand up and raise your hands”. Give me a pentecostal, charismatic, full gospel break. God doesn’t have any formulas. By the time you get done with all the theatrics that others want to put you through, you’re so warn out you can’t even understand the experience if it ever happens.
It’s really simple. You want the baptism in the Holy Ghost, just say, Jesus….fill me with the Holy Ghost. He’s the baptizer in the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33)
Acts 9:1-5. Wow. What an “and suddenly”. This one right here set in motion the writing of the Pauline Epistles. Thirteen books of the New Testament came out of this moment and the glorious, ridiculous, radical, inexhaustible grace of God is revealed in such a way that it boggles my mind how anyone could miss it. But, I guess religion is just too proud to receive it.
As Saul is making his way down the road near Damascus, scripture says “and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven”. So we’ve seen a cloud, mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues, now it’s a light from heaven. This was so powerful that it completely changed everything about Saul, including his name.
Just look at verse 1. It says Saul was yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Now an “and suddenly” occurs and in verse 5, Saul says “Who art thou, Lord”? Curious the way that is punctuated. If you remove the comma it would read as if Paul was asking in an inquisitive way. With the comma, it appears He is asking a rhetorical question. Almost making a statement. Who art thou…………..Lord?
Then in verse 6 it’s as if he has been given the revelation of who this Jesus is that he’s been fighting against, so he says “what wilt thou have me to do”. Amazing what happens when there’s an “and suddenly”.
Acts 16:25-27. Ahhh. This is the story that I like to refer to as the first Jail House Rock. Paul and Silas are in prison praying and singing praises to God. Verse 26 says “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed”.
Now we’ve got a cloud, mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues, a light from heaven, and a great earthquake. It’s just not possible to put God in a box or establish some religious formulas to get God to move. That’s why the traditions of men do nothing but put us in bondage. Can I just say that it’s easy to get God to come, but to get Him to stay is another matter.
What do I mean by that. Well, the presence of God is apparent as we rest in who He is and simply worship Him, but the more we try to perform to gain His presence through principles in the church or of men, we can’t feel Him. Worships true definition is God’s people, telling God, that He’s God. Not God’s people trying to perform so spiritually that God is impressed to join them.
Okay. There's more surrounding this awesome gift of "and suddenlies" and we will look into them in Part 2. For now, prepare yourself for an and suddenly by agreeing with the Truth of God's Word and receiving all He has for you. Grace and Peace.
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