You First

Acts1:⁶ “So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” …⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses…” [with emphasis]

Everyone that followed Jesus while He walked the earth, even the people that followed Him closely, had an agenda for Him. And it was because they saw Jesus as a political deliverer, so there were very many attempts to make Jesus king.
When Jesus fed them with bread, He gained the popular votes because the people were certain He was their king. So they made up their minds to make Him king and politicking began at serious levels. Even Mrs. Zebedee brought her sons James and John and asked that one sit on the right and another on the left hand of Jesus. You would think she was only talking about heaven, right? But this was actually the first recorded lobbying in the company of Jesus.

They had a very strong belief that Jesus was going to be President; Jesus was going to deliver them from Caesar. When Jesus spoke about His death on the Cross, Peter rebuked Him because in his mind’s eye, Jesus was to be President and they will be in His cabinet. Jesus dying means they will have no hope of political positions. When the death of Jesus happened, Peter suggested that the disciples return to their former trade – fishing. What he was saying in essence, was that their political hope had been dashed. When Jesus resurrected, their hopes were restored; they were certain that they were destined to be commissioners and ministers.

Jesus was about to be taken up and the number one question on their minds was, “When are You going to restore the kingdom back to Jerusalem and deliver us from Caesar and the Roman empire?” While they wanted Jesus to mobilize for a political revolution, Jesus was saying to them, “Get ready for a personal revolution. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and your lives will not be the same again”. When you let the real power of heaven take over you, the government becomes a non-issue. When the real power of heaven takes over enough people in Nigeria, the government will straighten out. That power of heaven is going to come upon you today, in the name of Jesus.

Prayer: Father, because I have received Your Holy Spirit, I have received Your power so let the revolution by Your Spirit start in me today, in Jesus Name. Amen!