A transition of some sort occurred yesterday. It happened to be 50 days since Easter which occurred before Passover this year. FATHER has us move through phases that contain both a beginning and an end with the door closing at the end so another phase can begin its course. In Scripture, the number 50 is associated with Pentecost and jubilee, both are associated with a separation and release.
In Acts chapter 2 we find the disciples waiting and separated from the general population:
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Prior to the cross, the disciples were expecting an external event where the Messiah would conquer Rome and establish the Kingdom on earth. They were looking for an outward solution without regard to their inward problem. It was necessary for Jesus to reveal His plan and correct their thinking. So it continues to this very day that our thinking must be corrected by FATHER as we mature in HIS SPIRIT. As the disciples were separated, they were being prepared to receive the Holy Spirit and power.
We should embrace correction rather than resist it. In order to grow and mature we will make mistakes which provides a basis of gaining understanding and wisdom. When you are untried and tested, you have no assurance of performance and when you are confronted with life’s decisions you tend to lean toward soulish and self-fulfilling actions and answers to your problems. They are generally meant to relieve the short term issue at the cost of the long term. Peter wanted the Kingdom “right now” and was willing to confront the soldiers at the garden in order to assure his perception of Jesus’ external plan occurring.
We should pursue correction rather than avoid it. David realized this in Psalm 51:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.
If we embrace correction then we will grow and mature unto Christ. Once we mature, the chaff is removed from us. During a harvest the chaff is removed from the wheat and only the productive, life-giving “fruit” remains. The chaff has served its vital function of enveloping the fruit until it ripen. Our soulish man provides a vital function as well when we are able to view it in comparison to our spiritual man. The chaff came before the fruit in order to allow it to grow.
By making mistakes, you are given an opportunity to learn and grow into maturity. This time of learning should be viewed in a positive manner in that it provides you a first hand comparison to light versus darkness. As I look back on my life, I made plenty of soulish, self-seeking decisions intended to exalt my ego and I experienced the repercussions of those decisions with regret. These experiences allow me to contrast a life being led by FATHER and now I can be a witness to those who are in need of hope. Joseph, David, Paul, and many others had to experience life’s failure in order to appreciate the narrow path revealed to them by FATHER.
We need to be strengthened in order to properly deal with life’s challenges. You become stronger as you embrace correction. Failure to change only perpetuates further weakness. Our goal should be to walk in the fullness of HIS SPIRIT and in order to do that we must change from our current state. As we move toward the purity of the fruit to be harvested and are willing to be separated from the chaff, we will embrace the prayer of Paul in Ephesians chapter 3:
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Amen!