MOVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Book of Acts talks about the movement of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. It began in Jerusalem, Israel, Asia. Similarly, in the past centuries, God has been powerfully moving among every generation in every nation. Every move of God has its own uniqueness and identity, but the same Holy Spirit is doing the work.
There are major commonalities among genuine moves of the Holy Spirit. The following are a few things I have learned from the book of Acts.
1) 120 people were waiting upon God in the upper room. They were hungry for the PRESENCE OF GOD. They gathered together eagerly to seek God and be touched by the Holy Spirit. They did not know what is going to happen while they were waiting upon God. They did not gather to do any religious activities or projects. They didn’t gather to meet their needs by God. God had His own timing and His own ways to visit them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
2) There was no importance of PLACE where they gathered. They gathered together in the upper room. There were beautiful synagogues in Jerusalem, but God moved inside the upper room. God can move in any place as He wants to move. A decorated, smoky or dimly lighted building is not necessary for God’s move.
3) PEOPLE who gathered together were not known, unpopular but had one mind and one purpose of meeting God. They lifted up Jesus!! They did not gather to promote themselves or perform something, though curious global onlookers came to know about what was happening in the upper room and it was weird for some people.
4) There was no PRECEDENT for what happened on the day of Pentecost, but God-appointed leaders stood boldly to lead the people to repentance, water baptism, and salvation. There were teaching of the Word, breaking of bread, and signs and wonders of God. Moreover, all of them were generous in their giving. There was brotherly love and fellowship among believers. There was a sense of awe and respect toward God and favor with people.
5) POST-PENTECOST days were not as they were on the day of Pentecost. They went around and preached good news of the gospel, planted many churches, trained leaders but they had to face severe persecutions.
GOD IS MOVING IN A SPECIAL WAY IN 2025 among the young and the old generations (Acts 2:17).
PLAN TO PLAN
Is God against planning? Some folks think so. They talk about the splendid plans they made which were all demolished by God! For them, planning equals failure.
It is true that God cannot work with your plans, if they are against His will. But God is not a ‘plan demolishing’ God. He is, in fact, the God of planning. A good reading of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 will help us understand that He meticulously planned the creation of the universe, including His masterpiece – human beings (male and female).
God desires His people to plan and move forward accordingly. The Bible calls Him as the ‘God of order’ (1 Corinthians 14:33 AMP). It is the enemy’s plan to make us run crazy. An unplanned life is a devil’s delight.
We read in Proverbs 16:3 ‘Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established’ and in Proverbs 21:5 ‘The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance…’
King David had a palatial plan about building the temple of God. He received this great plan from the Lord. (1 Chronicles 28:11,12)
Your success in 2025 depends a lot on this single factor!
How do you plan your affairs and life in 2025? Have you planned to build your spiritual health and bodily health? Could you decide to build your emotional wellness? Have you planned about your family, finance and work?
HOW TO MAKE YOUR DREAM A REALITY?
All of us love to be successful and fruitful. And it is the Lord’s will for us to be so. However, some people struggle to be successful. One reason is that they try to live in the future and forget to live in the present!
It is absolutely right and necessary to have a goal or dream. Without this, we won’t move forward and grow upward. But some are so possessed by their dreams that they forget to analyze their present situation and take appropriate actions.
For example, let us think about a girl studying nursing. She passionately dreams of working as a successful nurse and buying a beautiful house for her family. Her dream is good. But if she is going to try to live like that in the present, she will suffer greatly because now she is not even a nurse but only a nursing student! So rather than living in that dream, she must assess her present situation and make use of every opportunity and resource that she has to study well. As she continues day after day in living focused on the present with her dream in mind, one day she will be able to reach that goal.
This is exactly what the Holy Spirit exhorts us in the Scriptures: Make the very most of the time [buy up each opportunity] – (see Ephesians 5:16 AMP). As Christ disciples, we are called to live in the present. We cannot live in the past or the future. The past is over, and the future is yet to come. The only thing that we have in our hands is the present. Cease it! Make use of it!
Are you dissatisfied today because your dream is not coming true? If so, it is good to check whether you are really living in the present. Are you making use of every opportunity, relationship and resource that are available to you right now? Or is your mind full of thoughts about things that you are going to have in the future?
Cease the day. Live today. Do it every day. And your dream will become a reality!
CHOICE WITHOUT REGRETS
Every day we have to make choices. The results of a day are mostly based on the choices we make for that day.
God has given us the freedom to choose. He will not make us do things without our permission. God says in Deuteronomy 30:15, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction”.
Broadly speaking, we have only two choices in front of us: to choose life and its blessings or to choose death and its curses.
To choose life means to choose God, His Son Jesus Christ and His principles found in the Scriptures. To choose death means to choose principles that are contrary to God’s Word. God is not the one who makes choices for us. We have to make them.
God’s desire for mankind is that we will choose life. That’s why He says in Deuteronomy 30:19, “…Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”.
Through Adam and Eve, God planned to fill the earth with multitudes of people who will choose life. But disobedience crept in along with its consequences.
Each choice has its own results or consequences. Adam and Eve thought that they could disobey God yet enjoy His blessings. But that didn’t work that way. Choosing something and expecting a different result doesn’t work right.
Devil’s desire is to see us broken and defeated. But all that God has for us is good – salvation, healing, long life, protection, provision, favor, success and so on.
God has not kept any evil for human beings. He demonstrated this clearly through Jesus Christ. It’s up to us to experience the life that God gives freely and generously. The one who chooses life will never regret making that choice!
CHANGE YOUR WORLD BY CHANGING YOUR THINKING
Change is a fundamental component of our lives. We love positive change. One of the keys that the Bible provides us for success is ‘changing the way we think’. It is simply changing our thoughts according to God’s Word. In Romans 12:2 (NLT) we read, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is”.
Changing your mind is a daily process. Before you start your daily schedule, it is good to consult with God about what you are supposed to do regarding that day’s schedule. He will give you the right counsel from His Word. When you change your thinking according to God’s Word, you will taste victory even though you may face some challenges. As you set your mind to follow God’s instruction, you will be able to come up in life as God wants you to be.
Galatians 5:17 says that the sinful nature in man loves to do evil which is just opposite to what the Holy Spirit desires. And the Spirit of God gives us desires that are opposite to what the sinful nature craves for. Even after you are born again, you can have the old way of thinking. That is why the Bible exhorts to change your mind daily. As God’s child, you have access to His Presence. He will speak to you from His Word. He will never let you down. In fact, God desires His children to enjoy progress in life. He doesn’t want you to be stuck on the same old level. So He is not to be blamed if you don’t experience progress. It may be that you are still having the same old thinking.
For example, jealousy can be a factor that stops your progress. Therefore, choose to rejoice in the progress of others. Have good thoughts about them. Encourage them and thank God for their progress so that you will start seeing progress in your life too. Learn to walk in the counsel of the Holy Spirit. He will help you to protect your mind from being contaminated by the behavior and customs of the world. Changing your thinking according to God’s Word is the foundation for success. Once you do so, you will be able to bring fruitful changes into every area of ‘your world’. And that, in turn, brings progress and growth into your life.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
No one is unaware of the word “challenge”. The dictionary gives synonyms of challenges as a dispute, question, threat, test, etc. Everyone faces challenges but responds differently. Responses to challenges are critical, not the size or depth of challenges. No one can escape challenges, instead must accept and deal with it.
For a child of God, the Bible strongly recommends a powerful standard of how to respond when they face challenges. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calms you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]” (John 14:27 AMP).
Many times, believers would react to challenges just like the worldly people; instead, respond as per God’s standards. The above verse clearly assures that God’s perfect peace gives courage and strength for every challenge. For believers, knowing who they are in Christ makes them settle down within themselves and accept challenges in life. Knowing one’s identity is all about self-image. Identity is the way one defines self. It includes values, beliefs, and personality. Identity-crisis is a sense of insecurity. Once insecurity arises in one’s mind, it is difficult to face challenges. Knowing and accepting the truth that you are a child of God, you are an heir and co-heir with Christ, you are more than a conqueror, you are the righteousness of God, and you can do all things through Christ Jesus, will make you secure in Christ.
Competitiveness and comparison are two enemies of one’s self-image. Acknowledging the uniqueness of self- image breaks insecurities and helps to face any challenge. Bible emphasis, “Do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].” (Romans 12:2AMP).
MIND RENEWAL
Mind is the place of thoughts, emotions, imaginations, and intellect. Our mind is always working even when it is in an unconscious or sub-conscious stage. Our mind works as we perceive with the five senses: sight, hear, smell, taste, and touch. What you see, what you hear, what you smell, what you taste, and what you touch matter a lot in life. So, what goes to one’s mind determines the framework of life. To live our best life God’s way, we must know God’s will which is good, pleasing, and perfect.
In the Bible, the book of Colossians 3: 10 (Amp) says, “you have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self.” To know God’s will, we must renew our minds. The word ‘renewal’ is simply about changing the way we think.
How can someone change one’s thinking? The Bible provides the answer in Ephesians 4: 23 (NLT): “The Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” No one can read one’s thoughts, but God can. Any doubt? Read Psalms 139: 2 (NCV): “You know my thoughts before I think them.” Ask the help of the Holy Spirit to renew your mind. He is ready to help.
SELF CARE
During busy schedules in life, everyone needs to have personal times. Otherwise, life brings burn outs. Human mind works with its own ways. As it’s the brain functions, one must follow the same. No technology or modern systems can manipulate the mind. There are common good for every mind. Those are proper nutrition, regular exercise, sufficient sleep, rest, renewal, keeping spirit healthy, manage stress appropriately.
If one can take time to take care of the mind, there will be more productivity and success in work, family and personal life. It’s a general phenomenon that mind is least care giving area but having a protected mind is very necessary and its worth spending time for the mind.
