The Spirit before and after Pentecost

Now let me suggest an analogy to illustrate the experience of the Spirit before and after Pentecost. 

Picture a huge dam for hydroelectric power under construction, like the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, 375 feet high and 11,000 feet across. Egypt's President Nasser announced the plan for construction in 1953. The dam was completed in 1970 and in 1971 there was a grand dedication ceremony and the 12 turbines with their ten billion kilowatt-hour capacity were unleashed with enough power to light every city in Egypt. 

During the long period of construction, the Nile River wasn't completely stopped. Even as the reservoir was filling, part of the river was allowed to flow past. The country folk downstream depended on it. They drank it, they washed in it, it watered their crops and turned their mill-wheels. They sailed on it in the moonlight and wrote songs about it. It was their life. But on the day when the reservoir poured through the turbines a power was unleashed that spread far beyond the few folk down river and brought possibilities they had only dreamed of.

Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. Before Pentecost, the river of God's Spirit blessed the people of Israel and was their very life. But after Pentecost, the power of the Spirit spread out to light the whole world. None of the benefits enjoyed in the pre-Pentecostal days were taken away. But ten billion kilowatts were added to enable the church to take the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ to every tongue and tribe and nation.

John Piper

The Source of Billy Graham's Effectiveness

Backstage at a Billy Graham crusade, some of the local pastors asked one of the crusade organizers, “What is the source of Billy’s effectiveness?” The organizer looked at them and said, “I’ll show you,” and led them to the speakers’ green room. There, he pointed to a damp spot on the floor and said, “Here is where Dr. Graham weeps in prayer over souls before the service begins.” That wasn’t hard for me to believe. I remember hearing Billy Graham say, “Tears shed for others is a sign of strength.

Larry Walkemeyer

A Handful of Candy

A little boy and his father visited the country store, upon leaving the store the owner of the store offered the little boy some free candy. "get a hand full of candy", the merchant said to the boy. 

The boy just stood there looking up at his father. The owner repeated himself, "Son get a hand full of candy, it's free." 

Again the boy did not move continuing to look up in the face of his father. Finally, the father reached into the candy jar and got a hand full of candy and gave it to his son. 

As they walked back home, the father stopped and asked his son why he did not grab a hand full of the free candy. 

The boy with a big smile on his face looked into the face of his father and said "Because I know that your hand is bigger than mine." 

Needless to say, in your time of sorrow and grief, place it in your Father's hand because His hand is bigger than yours. 

You just have to learn to trust Him. 

I have to admit that sometimes trusting Him isn't easy because our sinful nature would like to take over. 

But letting go and letting God is the sure way to victory. 

Grasshoppers Versus Prayers

John Maxwell writes in his book, Partners in Prayer;

"In the summer of 1876, grasshoppers nearly destroyed the crops in Minnesota. So in the spring of 1877, farmers were worried. They believed that the dreadful plague would once again visit them and again destroy the rich wheat crop, bringing ruin to thousands of people.

The situation was so serious that Governor John S. Pillsbury proclaimed April 26 as a day of prayer and fasting He urged every man, woman and child to ask God to prevent the terrible scourge.

On that April day all schools, shops, stores and offices were closed. There was a reverent, quite hush over all the state.

The next day dawned bright and clear.

Temperature soared to what they ordinary were in midsummer, which was very unusual for April.

Minnesotans were devastated as they discovered billions of grasshopper larvae wiggling to life.

For 3 days the unusual heat persisted, and the larvae hatched. It appeared that it wouldn't be long before they started feeding and destroying the wheat crop.

On the fourth day, however the temperature suddenly dropped, and that night frost, covered the entire state.

Result - it killed every one of those creeping, crawling pests as surely as if poison or fire had been used, It went down in the history of Minnesota as the day God answered the prayers of the people."

That is an awesome story!

God surely answer prayers but unfortunately some Christians are not praying enough.

Ever wonder why?

That's because their minds and hearts are not completely in tune with God. 


Don and Dawn

Open The Rose

A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was inquiring of the older preacher. The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.

The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry. Because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact…It wasn’t long before he realized how it was impossible to do so.

Noticing the younger preacher’s inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to tell the following poem…

It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of GOD’s design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
When in my hands they fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of GOD’s design,
Then how can I think I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

So I’ll trust in Him for His leading
Each moment of every day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way.

The pathway that lies before me,
Only my heavenly Father knows.
I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.

The Old Woman And The Baby

Patricia Saint John wrote about Mary, an English nurse who at the time was working in a mission clinic in an Arab country. "One morning she and her assistant, Fatima, needed to travel eight miles to another village. They caught a bus that was going in their direction. But after a few miles, the bus driver passed their stop and kept on driving. The bus driver ignored the women's pleas to return to the road that led to their village. Mary became upset, but Fatima remained calm, recalling their morning prayers asking for God's guidance.

"Finally, the bus stopped at the foot of a hill, many miles from Mary's and Fatima's homes. At this stop, there was an old woman with a baby in her arms. She walked up to Mary and presented the baby to her. The poor child had a severe eye infection and needed immediate medical attention to save her eyes.

"Mary asked the old woman how she knew to find help here so far from the main village. The old woman replied that a man had come to her in a dream and told her that the English nurse would be waiting at the end of this road the next day. Mary and Fatima had made no plans to come anywhere near this village. They couldn't have anticipated that a rude bus driver would leave them many miles from their designated stop. Yet God had told this desperate woman where to find them. Mary treated the baby's eyes; within days the infection was gone. Later, Mary and Fatima had the opportunity to give their Christian testimony to many people in that village because of their meeting with the old woman and the baby."

Patricia Saint John in Finding God Between a Rock and a Hard Place, compiled by Lil Copan and Elisa Fryling (Wheaton, IL.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1999), pp. 106-110. Cited on www.sermons.com. 

Trust the Catcher

Trust is the basis of life. Without trust, no human being can live. Trapeze artists offer a beautiful image of this. 

Flyers have to trust their catchers. They can do the most spectacular doubles, triples, or quadruples, but what finally makes their performance spectacular are the catchers who are there for them at the right time in the right place.

Much of our lives is flying. It is wonderful to fly in the air free as a bird, but when God isn't there to catch us, all our flying comes to nothing. Let's trust in the Great Catcher.

Henri Nouwen 

Power To Pump Well Water

C.T. Studd shortly after his arrival in the African bush (1910)

I don’t know if you’ve heard the story of C. T. Studd the great Christian missionary. He went to a fair years and years ago and was captivated by a man pumping a well. 

The thing that grabbed him was how fast he was pumping and how long he was able to pump. He said to himself, "No man can do that. What kind of vitamins does he take? What kind of exercise program is he on?" He walked over to get a closer look. He found that the man dressed in Oriental garb was not a man. He was a stick figure. His elbows were hinges. He was not pumping the well, the well was pumping him. It was an artesian well. You see, there was a power that turned the man.

I believe that’s exactly what Paul is saying. He says, "I want you to know something. I want you to know it’s not you doing it for God. It’s God doing it in and through you as you bow before Him." Listen, it’s a 200% relationship. It’s 100% my willingness to obey, yield and bow, but it’s also 100% His power, His presence and what He can do in and through me that I cannot do and certainly will never deserve.

by Dr. Wayne Barber