Let me save you some time. This blog post is only intended for those who could use a good, healthy dose of good news. If you’re all stocked up and have met your good news quota, delete the post and move on. For the rest of us, here it is.
Let me share three verses and ask if you can see what I see.
“When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot), and Judas son of James were there. They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers. During this time there was a meeting of the believers (about one hundred twenty of them).” Acts 1:13-15 (New Century Version)
You are probably thinking, “Where in the world is anything good found in these verses?” Actually, it’s not in the verses, and yet it is. Confusing? Yes. Read on.
Look at the list of upper room occupants one more time. In my estimation, there wasn’t what I would call a winner among the listed names. Go ahead and look at the names again and see if you can prove me wrong. In the list, there were Jesus deniers and abandoners. What about those who were actual family members who didn’t do the “Mighty Mouse” song with the “Here I come to save the day” as Jesus was being tried and later crucified? Wait, there’s more. In this group were those who went into hiding when His body was placed in the tomb. Though it’s not written, I’m quite certain that Mary could have been dealing with issues with “losing” her son, not once but twice. I would deduce that this might be one hundred and twenty people assembled in a room for what I would have called a protracted support group meeting. Am I right or wrong?
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. Here’s the good news that I promised. In reading just a few verses further, we see that when these less-than-stellar believers walked out of the upper room filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they were very different. They were so changed that I can only describe them as being radical, unstoppable, unwavering, bold powerhouses for the Kingdom of God. We can see that their past status had no bearing on what being baptized in the Holy Spirit could do in, for, and through them.
Here’s even MORE good news. The SAME Holy Spirit that downloaded a heapin’ helpin’ of DIFFERENCE in the upper room is STILL in the heapin’ helpin’ DIFFERENCE downloading, individual changing business. To me, this is so exciting. Just like the Holy Spirit dynamos leaving the upper room, when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we too can change our Jerusalem, all Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
Did I keep my promise? Isn’t this good news? No, I’ll change it. Isn’t this GREAT news? It’s so great that you won’t want to keep this post to yourself. Please forward this GREAT news to friends and family!
