The Move of the Spirit

By Michael Wells
Posted Thursday, April 8, 2004

Acts 2:1-2, When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Pentecost is worth enjoying. There was a time in the Church when Whitsunday (the coming of the Spirit) was celebrated more than Christmas (Christ among us). He is just as much in us as He is among us. In fact, what makes a person Pentecostal is the belief that He is residing within. Believing in gifts and miracles does not make one Pentecostal. Pentecost gives a deathblow to religion and takes Christianity completely out of the realm of religion. The move of the Spirit was not generated from within but from without. In the same way today if there were a move of the Spirit, it would be initiated by the Spirit. The proof that an expression is not initiated by the flesh is that those who have the experience will not point others back to the experience, but will point them to the One who gives the experience. To say a particular expression is of the Spirit and then to point people to the expression is proof that it is not of God. In religion, the experience becomes the focal point and the experience is fought for. In Pentecost, Jesus is the issue; people are pointed to Him, where they will get what they need. Personally, I never understood how there could be a move of the Spirit, and yet for me to have it, I had to work and move my flesh. If He came to the original recipients without the initiation of man, then why can’t He come to me without my initiation? Why must I be convinced, be in the right place, and believe a certain thing? Can’t we all just look to Jesus and let the Spirit initiate what He wants?