As Christians, we talk a lot about great moves we see in the lives of different men of God. One of which is the Azusa Street Revival.

In 1906, a preacher, William Seymour, began holding prayer meetings in a small house on Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles. He had received a fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit and what the Spirit could do through ordinary people. What followed was the Azusa Street Revival, in which people from every background, race, and social class began prophesying, speaking in tongues, and seeing healings that could not be medically explained. Just like in modern times, newspapers mocked it, and some theologians disputed it, but the people who were there left as different people. This great movement was a catalyst for many modern Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

You need to ask yourself today, what made such a man so powerful that such a great movement could happen through him? He understood the charismatic and walked in accordance with the spirit of God that dwelt in him.

As you give yourself to the study of God’s word and consistently to prayer, this should also stir up the reality that you have been called to live in a certain way. There is a type of man that you have been called to be. The word charismatic comes from the Greek “charis”, which means “grace”. It describes a person upon whom something has been freely given. This is the gift of the Spirit that you have received after you believed.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not operate the way He does today. He came upon specific people for specific assignments and for specific seasons. The Spirit would come, and the Spirit could leave. But we see God’s promise in Joel 2:28-29
New King James Version
28 And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

Joel proclaimed God’s message and God’s plan was that all men, young or old, would receive His spirit and by that spirit function in the charismatic: prophesying, seeing visions, and much more. This prophecy wasn’t for special categories of people; this was God’s wish for all men. This was God’s promise, and in the New Testament, we see Him put things in order through Christ.

Luke 24:49
New King James Version
49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

Acts 1:8 also says
New King James Version
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Jesus tells His disciples here that He will send the promise of His Father, which is the holy spirit upon them, the Spirit that was promised to all men. The power of the holy spirit was promised as a reality of the believer.
Mark 16 goes further to show all that the believer can do:

Mark 16:17-18
New King James Version
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

This is your reality!
You have received the spirit of God because you believe in the redemptive work of Christ and have accepted the gospel, and these are things that you are called to express by the Spirit.
And as much as this is something to rejoice over, are you really living as one who understands this identity? Are you living in the full expression of the spirit inside of you?
Do you really believe that you can cast out demons? Do you believe that you can lay hands on the sick and they will recover? Do you understand your identity in Christ?

Don’t be a believer that lives an average or ordinary life; that’s not the life Christ would have you live. And it is very crucial that you understand your identity because how you see yourself really determines how you carry what God has given you. If you do not see the gift of the spirit as an important part of your reality, then you will always treat it as something optional or something unimportant; you will always see it as something for special occasions or “specially gifted people”. And flowing in the charismatic isn’t optional; it is a part of who you are as a believer.

From now on, take full advantage of what you have been given. It is not an optional thing for you to discern spaces, it is not an optional thing for you to prophesy, it is not an optional thing for you to lay hands on those oppressed of the devil, it is not optional for you to heal the sick.

Do not be found lacking in the charismatic. It will be to your utmost disadvantage if you take up ignorance or if you are passive about this. It would be a sad thing to reach the end of your life having carried something that can change your environment and you never fully used. Remember that everything you need has been deposited in you, don’t put it to waste. Step into your reality.

Prayer Point
Father, I thank you for the gifts of your spirit. I understand the man that you have called me out to be, and I step into the full expression of your spirit inside me.