We’ve all had it happen to us. We read a passage of Scripture we’ve read many time before without really having much impact on our souls and then one day, BOOM! it jumps off the page and we are astounded.
I recently had that happen with Acts 5: 15:
“As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.”
So, the part that I can’t help be absolutely astounded by is that this is happening about two months after Peter denied Jesus three times. Approximately 60 days prior to this, Jesus was being tried, convicted, beaten, and crucified. Peter, who had sworn that he would never deny his Lord, denied ever having known Jesus not once, but three times.
Peter, the king of messing up, had really done it this time. Of all the things he could have done, after he swore he would die for Jesus, to deny him like he never knew him was beyond just messing up. Mr. Bravado had acted like a common coward, a hypocrite, a cheat, –the king of all liars.
I can imagine the dialogue of condemnation that the devil whispered in his ear. It’s amazing he remained with the other apostles and didn’t take the Judas way out.
And then that beautiful, beautiful restoration on the beach. The charcoal fire that echoed the fire where he made his last denial. The love he pledged three times. And the tears as he pledged his love to the very end.
Then the appearance of Jesus to hundreds –the undeniable proof of the Resurrection. Then the Ascension.
And finally, fifty days after the Resurrection, Pentecost and the long-prophesied pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
The Helper, the Advocate had come and He was moving in great and mighty power. Thousands came to faith and belief in Jesus as King and Messiah as Peter and the other apostles preached with ever-increasing boldness. They healed the crippled and preached boldly that even though all those listening had killed the Messiah Himself, there was no other name under heaven by which people could be saved. They defied the Pharisees and Sadducees, saying, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 4:19)
The church grew by leaps and bounds. People sold all they had and put it at the apostles feet. One couple, Ananias and Saphira, lied about the amount of such a sale and promptly dropped dead at Peter’s feet. All of Jerusalem looked upon these people of The Way with fear and awe. Miraculous healings were common-place and then we get to the part where people are bringing the sick and lame and crippled out into the street in the hope that Peter’s shadow –just his shadow– would fall upon them as he walked past!
It’s like there was a Holy Spirit Tsunami sweeping through Jerusalem!
And it was the guy who couldn’t keep his mouth shut, who almost always said or did the wrong thing, the guy who thought he could walk on the waves, the guy who whipped out a sword and started hacking off ears… yes, that guy, it was that guy who was front and center in the middle of this mighty wave of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.
It’s amazing what God can do with the humble, with those the world looks on as being unworthy, incapable, not good enough, or just not enough.
But I’ve see the Holy Spirit do the tsunami thing right before my eyes.
There’s Genesis Church in Iquitos, Peru, that has grown from 200 to 1,000 in four years and two-thirds of the congregation are teenagers. They do amazing and astounding things and they are currently in the process of adding on more space for worship and ministry.
There’s GoServ Global that I watched, in a matter of minutes, raise enough money to buy motorcycles for fourteen pastors in Africa and greatly expand the areas where they could go and tell people about the life-changing love of Jesus Christ.
And there’s Kinship Radio, that literally started from a vision in a dream and, in just 40 years, grew to a ministry that proclaims Jesus as LORD 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout virtually all of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa with a potential listenership of over one million people.
So, if you ask yourself why God doesn’t do miracles anymore, I would encourage you to look around because the wave of faith that is sweeping the world hasn’t stopped in two thousand years. Even as you read this, it is Springing Up as Kinship Radio is raising funds to add six more radio stations and cast an even larger shadow of the love and mercy and healing that is in the LORD Jesus Christ!
The Holy Spirit Tsunami isn’t over yet.
Today’s Praise
Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NLT)
Wow! My Friend, the Holy Spirit, did all of that?
Do you want to do a interview with me?