Get intoxicated!

Leonard Sweet writes, “Is yours a low-profile, don't-rock-the-boat, show-up-on-Sunday kind of faith? Or are you a "fan" for the Lord? We have no trouble at all dealing with the crazies, the over-the-top, the out-of-control behaviors that die-hard sports fans exhibit. Paint yourself blue and go bare-chested in the end zone in December? Sure!
Wear floppy ears and bark like a dog? Why not! Stand in line and camp on the street for days to get those play-off tickets? You bet!
Take a "sick day," buy an airplane ticket, lose pay and travel for hours just to see the big game? No problem!”

Now what if Christ needed you to do something even moderately off-center for him? Could you do it?

In Acts 2 the 'birthday' of the Church is recorded. We call it Pentecost since it happened on the Jewish feast of '50 days' (Pentecost). After days of waiting in prayer, God's Spirit filled those men and women powerfully. They apparently acted strangely, spilling into the streets talking loudly with words of praise for their Risen Lord. Their behavior caused some bystanders to marvel that they were drunk at only 9 in the morning! It doesn't seem from the story in that chapter that Peter's first thought was to keep the little band of Believers under control. He pointed to their overflow of ecstasy as an evidence of being 'intoxicated' with the Spirit of God.

Peter told those looking on: "I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence." (Acts 2:25-28, NLT) (a loose quote of Psalm 16) He said this was Jesus' rejoicing song at His Resurrection and it is OUR rejoicing song because of our ETERNAL LIFE. It a good thing to be an uninhibited fan of the Lord, because He has done such amazing things for us!

Disciple, we need to get intoxicated with the joy of the Lord! The Bible says, "Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit!" (Ephesians 5:18, NLT) The implied fact is that just like wine loosens inhibitions, but in a destructive way, the Spirit of God will take away our concerns and cares, too. He will allow us to forget ourselves and release songs of praises, shouts of celebration; ecstatic utterances in the Spirit that express our 'fanatic' love for our Lord Jesus. "God, give us a new Pentecost."

Let’s not just try to be strange! Weirdness for its own sake is just a way to grab attention for ourselves. It causes others to step away from us. There are those individuals who just express their own quirks and claim it is God acting in them. Their bizarre behaviors have nothing to do with the joy of the Holy Spirit. We must not those unbalanced individuals to become our focus. We should not be so concerned about controlling their excesses of worship that we rob ourselves of the joyful expressions of true worshippers. Joy that makes a person forget himself is infectious. It draws others in! We cannot help but laugh with the one who celebrates great blessings. We cannot help but be lifted up by the one who is full of God's Spirit.

Invite the Holy Spirit to fill your heart and mind - and when He does- let the laughter roll and the tears flow. Worship is more than thinking right thoughts or grasping profound truth. It is emotional! On Pentecost, the Believers were filled with the Spirit and were so ‘out of control’ that they were accused of being drunk. Let’s get intoxicated - on the Spirit, and pray that His life and love will move us to glorify God!
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I want the joy of the Lord to come down;
want the joy of the Lord to fall now;
want the joy of the Lord in my life!

I want the joy of the Lord to lift me;
want the joy of the Lord to change me;
want the joy of the Lord in my life!

It’s time I started dancing over all these graves.
It’s time I gave you, O my God, the highest praise!
It’s time to lift my voice:
Oh, and beg for this blessing to fall!

Joy of the Lord
Rita Springer
©2002 Kindred Music

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