Where is God Amidst All This Chaos?
Special: Counseled by God Free Video Event and up to 50% off!

Pt. 4 - Empowered to See by Charity Kayembe

Mark Virkler's picture

In today's guest post, my daughter shares her insights on a powerful Scripture, Acts 1:8. 

What is witnessing? Indeed, before we ever witness and talk with people about Jesus, we would do well to first witness Jesus Himself in the supernatural realm, look to see what He's doing, and minister His Spirit life out of that divine initiative.

I know you will love this word... Be blessed!
 

Saving the best for last

Now Jesus had told the disciples to wait, sit tight and not go anywhere until they received this promised Holy Spirit. And we all know the last thing someone says to us before they leave is really important and we should definitely pay attention.

Well, after Jesus died, rose again, hung out on earth for 40 more days, then He says this. The very, very last thing He tells His disciples before His final ascension is…

“You shall 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 1:8)

What?

Power is awesome, but power for what? To be witnesses. Now this is pretty interesting because we Christians are just about the only people on the planet who understand witnessing to be something you do with your mouth.

We think of witnessing as evangelizing, and talking to people about Jesus. Which is actually more “witness bearing.” Other verses talk about that, but not this one.

This verse is talking about “witnessing,” which is something you do with your eyes. You look, see, watch, observe. That’s witnessing.

And He said we would “be" witnesses so it’s actually even less about what we do and more about who we are. We’re the watchers and observers.
 

Who?

So what are we watching or who are we observing? Jesus. We’re fixing our eyes on Jesus. Well, how can we see Him if He’s gone to heaven? Impossible, until we get baptized by the Holy Spirit. Then we receive our supernatural night vision anointing and realize that heaven is not so far away and we can actually see into it and hear from it anytime we want.

In the beginning the Garden of Eden was heaven on earth. No sin, no sickness or death. Satan had no authority until we gave it to him. And there was perfect fellowship with God.

And if we fast forward to the book of Revelation we know it talks all about those same characteristics of our heavenly home.

When?

But as I've mentioned before, heaven is just too awesome for me to wait around until I die to experience it. And Jesus said I don’t have to. He told His disciples to pray in this way, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” On earth as it is in heaven? On earth as it is in heaven!

And when does Acts 1:8 say we are witnesses and observers and watchers of Jesus? Well, He was only on earth as a man for about 33 years, so if I were going to look at Him in the natural world, it would have needed to be a couple thousand years ago. 

But Jesus said you will be witnesses and watchers. Which throws this whole observation and seeing Him thing into the future, for sure. It's not about watching Him in Israel way back when, it's about what He's been up to every day since, and what He's doing right now.

Where?

Because that's the other thing, speaking of locations...

When Jesus lived in a physical body in the physical world, He actually had a fairly small area of ministry. I mean yeah, He was in Jerusalem, Judea, and even Samaria, but not a whole lot farther out than that. He only ever traveled about 200 miles from where He was born.

Yet, this verse talks about seeing Him where? In the remotest part of the earth. The ends and the uttermost. This has got to be a future thing, because Jesus never got to the ends of the earth when He was here as a man.

And He's talking about us seeing Him there. Watching Him and observing Him and being a witness of Him as He currently lives and actively works and ministers in Buffalo and Beijing and Buenos Aires. The farthest parts of the earth.  

Why?

Because the invitation is still the same. Jesus is still calling us now just as He did then with a simple, “Follow Me.”

It’s not an impersonal, cold religion or pile of doctrines and theology. It’s a relationship. That's what God's into. That's all He's ever been into. It's just us who've gotten sidetracked with rules and laws and boxes to live inside.

Just like a little kid learns by imitating her father or big brother, we’re seeing our heavenly Father and we’re imitating Him. We’re watching our elder Brother Jesus and we’re modeling Him. This has gotta be easy enough for a child to do, so we just hang out with Him and follow the Leader.

How?

I shared about this with my small group recently. That to be a witness means to be a watcher, and that it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that anoints us with the power to be witnesses. Current and in-the-moment seers, watchers, lookers and observers of Jesus.

It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that opens the eyes of our hearts and gives us the power to look into the supernatural realm, see what Jesus is doing and follow His lead. Holy Spirit is the one who anoints us to be active, present tense, real time witnesses of Jesus.

See what He's up to and join Him. Work and play alongside Him. Do life together with Him.

That is the Great Invitation.
 


Ready for more?

If you haven't been baptized by Holy Spirit yet and want to be, check this out. He will open the eyes of your heart to the kingdom of heaven that is upon you and within you. Blessings on your journey!
 


Back to Eden: Restoring the Super to Our Natural


Photo credits
"The Kayembes"  image courtesy of CharlaArts.com
"Green Eyed Girl"  image courtesy of Clare Bloomfield at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
"World Map on Paper"  image courtesy of nuttakit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net


 

Related Resources: 

How to Be Empowered by the Holy Spirit!   

Related Blogs: 

Back to Eden   
Add new comment

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Results

Results 41 - 50 of 479

Pages

Kids Can

by Karen Barnes | 98 Pages

This book will inspire you and train you to teach children to minister in the power of the Spirit! And the stories it contains will bring tears to your eyes! Kids Can is a message for the children of today about their destiny tomorrow. When kids encounter the pure essence of Jesus, they will become empowered, equipped and energized to serve Him accurately and with amazing clarity. As they hear His voice and are encouraged in their giftings, strong leaders are created and maturity, vision and skills are fine tuned.

Price: $14.95
Lamad Biblical Education Association

Lamad Biblical Education Association

4 Co-authors | 44 Pages

FINALLY - A Spirit-Anointed Epistemology! A system of knowing for the Spirit-filled believer. A fresh moving of the Holy Spirit has been upon the Church of Jesus Christ for the last 100 years, since the Asuza Street Revival in 1902. In all that time the Spirit-filled community of believers (now numbering 27% of all Christendom), had yet to delineate an approach to learning which restored the Holy Spirit to His rightful place as the primary Teacher in our midst.

Price: $10.00
Lamad Faculty Handbook

Lamad Faculty Handbook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 78 Pages

This book presents lamad (revelation-based learning) standards  for teachers and curriculum writers. Lamad is a Hebrew word found in the Old Testament and it is translated "to teach" or "to learn."  It is a kind of learning that involves the Holy Spirit granting divine revelation to the heart of man. Thus it goes beyond western rationalism as a learning methodology.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 1 - Welcome to God's Family

Living with Jesus Book 1 - Welcome to God's Family

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 1 - Welcome to God's Family introduces the child to the Body of Christ.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 2 - Special Times and Gifts

Living with Jesus Book 2 - Special Times and Gifts

by Daphne Kirk | 45 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 2 - Special Times and Gifts - Baptism, Communion and the Holy Spirit.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus - Book 3

Living with Jesus Book 3 – Talking and Listening

by Daphne Kirk | 47 Pages

This delightful book teaches children ages 4-8 the four keys to hearing God's voice and gets them started journaling (drawing pictures if writing is too hard for them) and seeing vision.  It is ideal for parents and children to use together, or for use in a children’s Sunday school class or children’s home group.

Book 3 - Talking and Listening - Hearing the voice of God.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 4 - Love for Me and Love for Others

Living with Jesus Book 4 - Love for Me and Love for Others

by Daphne Kirk | 63 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 4 - Love for me and love for others introduces children to the unconditional love of Jesus.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 5 - Strongholds

Living with Jesus Book 5 - Strongholds

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 5 - Strongholds introduces children to strongholds, the soul and freedom.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 6 - What Do We Choose?

Living with Jesus Book 6 - What Do We Choose?

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 6 - What Do We Choose? introduces children to making kingdom choices.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 7 - Having Faith

Living with Jesus Book 7 - Having Faith

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 7 - Having Faith introduces children to a life of faith.

Price: $9.95

Pages