Encouragement

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Your “Upper Room” (Luke 22:11-14)

“Then you shall say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.” So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.”

These few verses of Scripture are from Luke’s account of the crucifixion and the hours prior to it. These accounts in the Gospels are normally studied during this time of the year, as we approach Passover, Good Friday and Easter. However, this eWord is not just a seasonal one, as God says to you and me today “There make ready”!

Jesus had His last meal with his disciples in the “upper room” of the home of a friend. What does the upper room signify to us? It is symbolic of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit. We know that 120 disciples of Jesus were meeting and praying in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell upon them in Acts 2. It is also symbolic of higher things, the things of heaven, and the realms of the Spirit. (Upper room.) Today, the Lord is calling us to the “Upper Room”. He is inviting us to make a place ready in our hearts (and in our homes) where we will regularly meet with Him in worship and prayer. It is that place where we open our lives and our hearts to the moving of the sweet Holy Spirit, and we step into new levels of worship and prayer, as the 120 disciples did.

“When the hour had come”, Jesus sat down with His disciples in the upper room and shared the meal with them. People share food together when they are in relationship with each other. Today, Jesus invites us to sit down at the table with Him and be His friends. On that last night, He said to His disciples that He would not call them “servants” any more but would call them “friends”. He is our glorious and wonderful Lord and King, but He truly longs to fellowship with us and to have us hear the beating of His heart. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15). Jesus wants us to know and love Him for who He is. He wants to share His heart with us and we can only do that when we decide to spend time in His presence and step into fellowship with Him.

Make your upper room ready! Many people seek the power of God and the manifestations of His presence in their life and ministry, but it all starts in the “upper room”. It starts with a heart to heart relationship and the fellowship that comes from it. It comes from sharing secrets and daily intimacy with the person of Jesus. Everything else flows from being in His presence. In chapter 4 of the book of Acts, the Jewish leaders were amazed at the eloquence and boldness of the disciples, and the fact that outstanding miracles were following them. In Verse 13 of Chapter 4, we read: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus.” They had spent time in the presence of Jesus! There was power released in the Upper Room in Acts 2, but it had been preceded by many days of fervent and faithful prayer. The disciples had learned to fellowship with Jesus and they carried His fragrance with them wherever they went. The same is possible for you and me!

Dear friend, during a time when people are remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus, let us get rid of some of the fruitless things that take our time, and commit to building our Upper Room. The room where Jesus and His men partook of this last meal was a large, furnished room. If you take the decision to spend time daily with Jesus and you keep to your commitment, The Lord will expand your borders, increase your anointing, and make provision of whatever you need. You will begin to see and feel His presence and blessing in your life!

Jesus has much He wants to share with you and this is only possible when you purpose to seek Him and spend regular time alone with Him. Make your upper room ready. God has higher ground and exciting spiritual adventures in store!

Minoli Haththotuwa, 31 March 2014
www.risingonwings.org

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