Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start.

A new day to stand up amidst the darkness.

A new day to stay rooted in the truth even when the storms rage.

A new day to hold ground even when you feel like there is pressure to back up and give up ground you’ve already conquered.

A new day to just stand steady in the faith amidst fogginess and confusion.

Faith isn’t always stepping out into the unknown, although that’s definitely part of this journey.

Faith isn’t always boldly charging ahead when you really want to shrink, although that too is part of this journey.

At times, Faith is STAYING STEADFAST right in the season you are in continuing with the very last Word you received from Jesus.

There’s a holy strengthening available to you when you stay rooted and secure even when you have no idea what’s up ahead.

There’s a holy breakthrough available when you rest in the season you are in now.

There’s a holy FIRE and miracle power up ahead if you will stay steadfast in the Lord, fully content in HIM first and foremost.

Right now in this season, in the confusion, in the uncertainties, in the fog, in the part of the road where it’s curvy and you have no idea what is around the bend, may I encourage you that by staying right there steadfast in Jesus, you will position yourself for great breakthrough!

And I am in this very type of season. A kinda misty, foggy, not sure where God is leading me season. My creativity feels blocked and my spirit feels weak, and there have been lots of tears and surrender. Continual surrender. Again and again surrender. Over and over again surrender. Surrender of my will, my plans, my fixed mindset of what ministry will look like, my heart, my destiny, my fears, my will, my emotions, and the very things I hold most dear.

And this morning, I turned to ACTS. And Jesus showed me a key, a model for how to remain in this season and WAIT on Him.

Waiting doesn’t always mean you do nothing. Waiting means we continue in the things Jesus has ALREADY commanded us to do while we WAIT for His next instruction.

Let’s go back and take a look at the disciples and the birth of the church. These men and women have been with Jesus for years. They’ve given up everything to follow Him. They’ve studied the scriptures with Him and they know He is the Messiah who would restore the Kingdom of Israel back to the Lord with an eternal King whose throne would never be overthrown.

They recognize that Jesus is the fulfillment of this Old Testament promise. The problem is it doesn’t look anything like what they were expecting!! Their King has been crucified and the Roman government is just as oppressive as ever.

Jesus has amazed them all when He rose from the dead and began to walk and talk with them again, and over dinner one evening He gives them instructions that leave them feeling confused even more.

He starts to give them instructions. Precautions to wait. He says, “Don’t leave Jerusalem. Don’t leave the last place I’ve set you. The promise is coming! A new baptism! The next level is around the bend. But you must wait here for it.”

The disciples with their eyes still fixated on how they thought this whole thing was going to go down began to question Him. “Is it time for you to take your throne? Will you restore the kingdom now?”

Jesus doesn’t answer the question. He tells them that what they are asking is for the Father to know and He will restore the kingdom at the appointed time. The disciples and Jesus are speaking of two different things. Jesus is speaking of FULL and total restoration of the Kingdom of God where all will be redeemed and a new heaven and earth will be established. Jesus is speaking of an eternal kingdom and the disciples are concerned with a temporal kingdom right here and right now. They want Jesus to be the King of Israel NOW and separate the Jews from the Roman government.

Instead He leaves them with a promise and an assignment. You will be receiving POWER and then you will GO and PREACH about ME everywhere!

But you can’t proceed in the assignment until you receive the power which only comes from Me.

Jesus is preparing them for His Ascension to heaven to take His seat at the Right Hand of the Father. He is about to leave them here on earth to carry out the ministry that He began and modeled for them. But before they start, they are to wait for a Holy Encounter!

So the last time Jesus left them was when He was crucified and that time many of them had returned to their old ways pre Jesus. Peter was back fishing again on the day Jesus first appeared to him after His resurrection.

But THIS time was different. Even though they were so confused. Even though Jesus didn’t do anything like how they expected Him to. Even though they watched Him leave them again….

THIS TIME, the disciples didn’t return to their old patterns or their old ways. They did something different. They remained. They stayed seeking. They stayed together and waited on the promise. They postured themselves for a miracle.

They remained STEADFAST in the Lord. They stayed together and gathered in prayer and waited.

Steadfast means to be resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.

Some synonyms for steadfast are- loyal, firm, uncompromising, unflinching, faithful, devoted, unchanging, dedicated, determined, single-minded, relentless, or unyielding.

Wow! And that’s what the disciples were all doing when the breakthrough and long awaited promise CAME!!!

They were meeting together about 120 of them, all in one accord, in unison, waiting loyally, devoted, unwavering that God WOULD come through.

And they didn’t even know what they were waiting FOR!!! They didn’t know what it would look like, how it would be revealed, or when. They didn’t know how, when, or what, BUT THEY KNEW WHO!!

They had such a relationship with Jesus that they trusted His last Words to them. They had seen and experienced his Word.

They had witnessed the sacrifices, the humility, the love, the crucifixion, the miracles, and the resurrection.

The KNEW He would come through on His promises. So they REMAINED prepared, in prayer, together with hearts surrendered for whatever Jesus’s next move would be.

The didn’t know what it was, but they positioned themselves to RECEIVE!

And in the midst of the gathering of believers, in the middle of the them doing the same thing they had been doing, in the middle of their faithfulness, GOD MOVED in such POWER and might that wind blew, fire came down, and the GLORY was revealed. What they were waiting for was revealed! The long awaited, promised Holy Spirit!!! And Peter now filled, recognizes it as the promise.

Friends, are you waiting? Are you enduring a foggy season where you can hardly see the way in front of you? Do you feel unsure and uncertain how God’s next move may play out in your life?

May I encourage you to follow the model of the early disciples? Stay steadfast. Stay loyal. Stay single-minded. Stay secure in the last Word Jesus spoke to you. And if you are unsure of His last Word, you can count on every Word He wrote to you in the Bible. You can stay steadfast by reading the Word of God every day even when you feel dry and parched and it just feels like words. Pray and stay in prayer even when you have to choke the words out because they don’t flow like they used to. Posture yourself in surrender and wait. Just wait! And praise, praise Him! Let His praises flow continually from your lips. Lord, You are good. LORD, I submit to You. Lord, You are worthy of the wait. Lord, I trust You. LORD,You are the author and finisher of my faith.

But you must wait because the destiny ahead, the plans for your life, can’t be fulfilled apart from an encounter with the Living God who desires to fill you afresh with what is needed to move where He calls.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Wow! You are goooooood. We trust You. We will wait on You. We will wait for Your next instruction. We will pause and stay steadfast in prayer, in the Word, in praise. We will continue to meet with believers. We will continue to pursue You while we wait for Your instructions. Lord, give us discernment to recognize Your voice, Your instructions, Your movement. Let us not miss what You are doing and let us not race ahead into places not willed for us by You. We receive every good and perfect plan You have for our lives. Let Holy Spirit convict our spirits of anything that needs to be surrendered today. Help us to take a heart posture that will prepare us for whatever You want to do next in us and through us.

In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Blessings and Encounters with the Holy Spirit!!

Vanessa Lynn

And if you came across this post and you haven’t yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, may I encourage you that by choosing Him you receive eternal life in heaven, BUT ALSO abundant life NOW. Following Him is the most precious adventure you have ever taken!! All you have to do to get started is to pray and receive Him as Lord. The Bible says to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe with your heart the precious gospel message that Jesus taught. Repent of your sins which means simply to ask Jesus to forgive you and then choose to walk away from them and go in the New Direction that God is calling you to. Confess or speak that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for you, that He was resurrected from the dead, and ascended to heaven. And that you recieve Him as your Lord and Savior. That you are sorry for your sins and you recieve His FULL and complete forgiveness for every wrong you’ve ever committed. And that you are choosing to follow Him now and leave the ways of the world behind for the things of Jesus!!! And if you mean that with your heart, you are saved and set free to live a new life free of sin! The Bible says you are now a brand new creation! Old things have passed away and new things have come!!! The Bible also says that all of heaven rejoices whenever a person is saved!!!! Just imagine the party being held in heaven on your behalf right now!!