Better Than The Jedi Mind Trick!

I would be the first to confess that I am a day dreamer-always have been and always will be! My teachers used to tell my parents that I was a day dreamer when I was a kid in school. My world was in my head and it was safe there because I could control it.

Today's passage causes me to drift off and let my wander once again. I have always loved this passage and I am sad to see that many people don’t quite see it in the supernatural way that I do. Even as I read it again last week, I thought, "This is so cool." See if you agree with me.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." (Mark 14:12-15)

Our story tells us that it is time for the yearly celebration of the Passover or what is often called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Since Jesus was a Jew he most certainly was going to celebrate the Passover, and knowing this His disciples inquired as to how they could help Jesus find a place to celebrate this event. We will look at this more in depth over the next few weeks, but today I want to turn our attention to the instructions he gave to his disciples.

Jesus tells them how they were to find a place for the Passover and low and behold, it happens just as He said it would. At first glimpse it looks like the Jedi mind trick that Luke Skywalker used in Star Wars. It is an awesome display of power.

Most commentators like to state that the reason Jesus could tell them that they would find a man carrying a jar of water was because Jesus had set this all up ahead of time. Well, that sounds reasonable, unless you are a day dreamer like me and a believer in the ministry of the Holy Spirit!

I was sitting by myself recently when the voice in my head said clearly, "You are going to meet this certain person, and he is going to ask you to call him on Tuesday. I want you do what he asks." About and hour later I bumped into this very person, and in the conversation he said, "I want you to call me next week, call me on Monday. No, that won’t work, call me on Tuesday."

We often forget that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that spoke and influenced Jesus Christ also speaks and influences us! I believe with all my heart that Jesus did not set these details up the day before. I believe that the Holy Spirit told Jesus how to find a place for the Passover and Jesus relayed that information to His disciples. Praise the Lord.

This message had to be of the Lord when you look at how it was to come about. Jesus said to them that they were going to find a man carrying a water jar. What?! In the time of Jesus men never carried water and they never carried a water jar! That was women's work and to be more specific, poor women's work. So the disciples knew right away that they would not have a hard time spotting this man. It would be quite easy to spot a man carrying a water jar on his head because it was so out of place-it was not the norm.

Isn't that just like the Lord? When you read Scripture from cover to cover you see that God just seems to work beyond the accepted norm. Blowing trumpets to bring down a city, using 300 men instead of 32,000 men to fight the Midian army, using a baby born in a barn to save the world. Now He uses a man to do women's work. Yes, I can hear all of you women giving a loud "Amen" to that!

I will say it to you once again, listen for and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life. Test the Spirit so you can grow to KNOW that voice. I would heartily recommend Dallas Willard's wonderful book called Hearing God to help in this area. I did make that phone call on the Tuesday like I was asked and I was so glad that I did. I don't even know where that contact will lead, but I know the Holy Spirit told me it would happen and that I should make the call. I was obedient to His request which I cannot say that is always the case for me.

The fact that the Spirit asks us to do things out of the norm is probably why we don't always want to obey. We are afraid we will look foolish or that we might offend someone in the process of determining the Spirit's voice. However, joy comes from obedience and blessing comes from submission.

As a day dreamer I like Star Wars, but I love the Holy Spirit because He is reality!

Blessings to you,

Dan

Listen to Dan Owens latest podcast message "God - Slow To Anger" at www.danowens.podcastpeople.com

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