Thirty years ago, Jan and I lived in Berlin, Germany. We were assigned to help coordinate the missions ministries of the Foursquare Church in Eastern Europe. As we continued in our assignment, we were invited to speak and teach across other European nations.

After a year in that assignment, the Lord told me to read the book of Acts. I followed the Lord’s instructions and read Acts. When I was done with my first reading, the Lord said, “Read it again.” I heard that ‘read it again’ instruction for a year, repeatedly reading Acts. During that year, I repeatedly and in a variety of settings taught the truths revealed within its pages. 

I finally asked the Lord why He had me read through Acts so many times, even in my morning devotions. The Lord’s answer was two-fold: to teach those listening to my messages the reason why an experience with the Spirit was critical to fulfilling His mandate to reach all nations, to remind me personally of the power we carry as believers, and to never neglect that truth. 

On the Day of Pentecost, a multinational assembly of people who were present experienced the power of God’s Spirit. They exclaimed, “We all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! They stood there amazed and perplexed. ‘What can this mean?’ they asked each other” (Acts 2:11-12).

What happened on the Day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, “‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below” (vs. 17-19). The Day of Pentecost was not intended to be a one-day experience of wonderment. It is to be repeated again and again across history by the followers of Jesus.

There was a single and significant reason for the original outpouring of the Spirit and all subsequent outpourings. As Peter addressed the people that day, he said, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know” (vs. 22). They knew this because they saw firsthand what an outpouring of the Spirit looked like.

The Lord used my repetitive assignment to read Acts to rebirth and release in me a deeper level of the gift of prophecy. That rebirthing was based on my understanding of what happened in Acts 2 and through the rest of the book. It affirmed for me that God’s Kingdom is expanded not by religious professionalism, but by a personal experience with the Spirit’s power.

Today, we will need the power of God’s Spirit – the endorsement of Jesus – to break through the spiritual barriers that are before us that keep people from hearing the message of the Gospel in their own language. Only a supernatural outpouring of God’s Spirit can accomplish such a task. Anything less is just that, less than God intended.