“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel: which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room…” (Acts 1:8-12 KJV)
One of the problems with attempting to extract another application of a familiar text is that it’s a familiar text. We all know the apostles had received instructions to go into the Upper Room and wait for the baptism of the Holy Ghost; We even know that a sound came from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house, and that they were in fact baptized as promised…It’s a well-known text…
So what are we after here?
Verse 11 “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?”
Go with me for a moment. Verse 9 says that after Christ spoke to them He was received by a cloud and taken out of their sight. And yet the men continued to stand there looking. Gazing. The Lord was out of sight, no trace of Him (at that moment) but He had left them with His word or instructions on what to do next – go to the Upper Room and wait. Yet they continued to stand still at the place where the Lord declared the promise instead of moving forward to obtain it. Which brings me to where I want to be, how much time have you spent gazing at your last encounter with Him? How long do you plan on letting yesterdays experiences capture your attention? The Bible says that after this encounter they were only A SABBATH’S DAY (less than ½ a mile) away from THE PROMISE. They were less than 24 hours away from the fulfillment of everything He had said.
So let’s talk about you? Could it be that THE PROMISE is really within your reach? Could it be that if you “get ye up and go ye northward” that victory is just up the street? SAINTS, KEEP GOING! THE SAME JESUS THAT PROMISED IS ABLE TO DO IT, IF YOU KEEP GOING! STAY IN THE PRESS! Don’t let yesterday’s experiences distract you from how close you are! WE ARE CLOSER TODAY THAN WE’VE EVER BEEN! IT’S ALL IN YOUR REACH!