Resurrection 101 - Peter and the Gift of Power

Jesus is getting ready to bid his final goodbye to His disciples after giving them ample evidence of His resurrection and the revolutionary implications it has not only on each of them personally but also on every man and woman, boy and girl that ever lived or will live on our planet.  Even with forty days of listening to Him of this new God-life manifested to them, it's almost too much to take it all in at once.  There is still so much they don't understand, so many promises left unfulfilled.  

How does it all fit together? Are we going to see God’s rule finally established on earth as it is in heaven… in our lifetime? Is the time now? By the end of June?

Jesus’ answer to the inquiring minds who need to figure it all out is simple:

It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. Acts 1:7-8

As much as I feel I need to know the whos and the whens and the hows of the coming kingdom, what I need, what I really need is the power.

Ability. Strength.

The physical and moral enabling to do what I know I need to do.  What I know I should do, but am too weak, too crippled by fear and doubt and memory of past failures  to graciously live out in this uncooperative body with a mind of its own.  

What I need is the life-giving energy of the Spirit of  God to allow me to live the kind of life that reflects His gracious rule in my house, on our street, in our neighborhood, in our city. In my Jerusalem. My Judea.  My Samaria... all the way to Papua New Guinea and Lesotho. 

The life that is not ashamed of Jesus Christ in the world, among the people who are ignoring or rejecting Him, whether its through misunderstanding, lack of knowledge or arrogance. 

And that’s exactly what Jesus promises to His disciples.  

But, before they get it, they must wait.