Opportunity Pending – Are You Ready!

Are you tired of the same old thing? Nothing is satisfying. You’re tired of your hair, clothes, TV shows, same old food and life in general. It is not that you don’t appreciate what you have. You are grateful for food, a place to live and most of your family (ha ha). Nothing is wrong that you can point too. You just have an unsettling feeling of being dissatisfied with life in general.

When this happens in your life, it usually means it is a time to make some changes. The problem is you don’t know what to change or how to get there. Sometimes you don’t even know what you need. Think of it this way. If you were kid stuck in the desert 40 years eating a bread called manna, you wouldn’t know what the adults were talking about when they wanted food from Egypt. But deep inside a feeling of dissatisfaction would come alive and created a desire for more than just manna. That is what is happening right now in people all over the world. A deep dissatisfaction of wanting more but not sure what the more is. Even in this time of pandemic, the desire for more than the norm is rising up in the world.

New Starts are Confusing!

I have felt this way at different times in my life. I remember sitting, on the only bench in my town of 1000 people, thinking there has to be more. When I was eleven years old, I had gone to a Methodist overnight camping trip. The pastor presented the salvation message and I got saved. Later, I explained this as my fire insurance. I would get to go to heaven but had no investments or rewards because I didn’t have any teaching of being a disciple.

I ended up leaving my small town and joined the United States Air Force. This was during the Vietnam War and during all the riots in the United States. Unrest was everywhere. The veterans that I worked with were worn out, defeated and wasn’t sure what to do with women working in men’s jobs. It was an interesting time.

I was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi for training for radio repair on airplanes. I had a friend who was a Southern Baptist convert. He informed me that I wouldn’t get to heaven because I had to be immersed in water to be saved. I had been sprinkled with water in the Methodist church which is what new believer were required to do. Since I didn’t know which way was right, I decided to be baptized (water immersed) in his church to be safe.

Discovering the More in Life!

This is where the story gets interesting. I figured if I had to be immersed, I might as well ask God for everything he wanted to give me. I had no idea what was in store for me! After the baptism, things started changing in my life. I didn’t understand what was happening. I started a Bible study with two Christians, a Jew, an atheist, and a witch. The group would ask me questions and I would have godly answers. I had never studied the Bible, so I wasn’t sure how I knew the answers. To make a long story short, the Jewish lady had a dream of Jesus walking on water. She got saved and eventually went into the ministry. I knew something had changed in me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what changed. I was different.

It wasn’t until after I left the service that I found out what had happened to me. During this time, the Jesus movement was going on in the United States. I was invited to go to an Aglow meeting. It was in this meeting I heard people praying in tongues and talking about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Ok. Don’t quit reading! This is important. I am not pushing tongues or a denomination. I am offering an opportunity to get all that God has for you.

A group of people laid hands on me to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Instead of speaking in tongues, I prayed out loud for the first time in my life in front of people. They were disappointed but I was excited. I realized, when I looked back at the Biloxi Mississippi immersion, I had already gotten the Holy Spirit. I just didn’t know what to do with him. Then I found the instruction manual which is the Bible.

Out of the Box

My path has never been what people would call an orthodox Christian life. God created me to be outside the box of religion but being respectful and honoring for their knowledge and experience. I go to church and give money because I believe in church structure. I also believe that God loves using out of the box thinkers to keep us on our toes.

In this season of changes, we are in the middle of an opportunity. We are hungry for more than the norms that we have enjoyed. During this season of Pentecost (May 28th through 31st), we have an opportunity to ask God for more of him. Are you bold enough to ask? Aren’t you ready for more? If you are feeling this unrest and uncertainty, why not ask God for all he has for you? This isn’t religion. It is a deep hungry placed inside of us that nothing in the world can satisfy.

It is amazingly simple. Ask God for all he has for you! If you are willing, he is willing. Doing this will lead you to unexpected places with rewards beyond your imagination. Yes, some roads will be hard but now there is a reason for the hard places as well as rewards.

Prayer

Father God, I accept that Jesus died for me and paid the price for all of my wrongdoings. He came to set me free so I can be who God made me to be (his original intended purpose). I am asking you for all you have for me. I may not understand or deserve it in the natural, but I want your best for my life. I am willing to accept this gift of Holy Spirit. I receive your grace, peace, joy, and gifts in whatever way you want to give them to me. Your will be done. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Scriptures

Acts 2; Joel 2:28-29; John 3:16

Disclaimer: These statements are based on my experience and not on debatable doctrine about immersion or sprinkled baptisms and speaking in tongues and being baptized in the Holy Spirit. To clarify the fire insurance statement, it meant I was a convert. Asking God for all he has for me meant I wanted to be a disciple.