Upper Room: To Know You

We are living in a time when people are obsessed with finding themselves. For Christians, it can be tempting to dismiss the desire to find oneself as merely a fad. However, this longing is rooted in something we see time and again in the Bible—a desire for one’s God-given identity. Unfortunately, many seek in self, media, and idolatry, that which can only be discovered in God’s Upper Room. 

More than a historical or biblical site, the Upper Room is a symbol of a transformative spiritual encounter. It is a sacred space where individuals meet with God and are transformed through intimacy. If you want to meet your true self, you must experience the reality of the Upper Room. 

Today, I want to reintroduce the Upper Room encounter to you, encouraging you to see beyond the Bible “story” to the reality at work.

In the Old Testament, we see a shadow of what it means to encounter God and have one’s identity revealed when Saul went out seeking lost donkeys in 1 Samuel 9. After meeting Samuel, the man of God, Saul’s path was realigned towards kingship, and he began to prophesy and step into his destiny. Yet, we don’t see the finished form of an encounter till the New Testament. In Acts 2, we see Peter, who once denied Jesus, stand boldly before thousands to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. This came after Peter spent an extended period in total surrender, praying and tarrying in the Upper Room with other apostles. In the Upper Room, God rebirthed the disciples into a new creation. Indeed, as we surrender ourselves in this space, we undergo metamorphosis and our motives are not just realigned, but our identities are transformed into God’s grand plan.

The Birth of a Move

First comes your identity in God, and then comes exploits. Unfortunately, many in our world are hungry for fame, power, and exploits at any cost. Yet, daily, the rise and fall of men shows us the danger of putting your identity in anything else. Have you ever wondered why the apostles remained in the Upper Room for days before Pentecost? Well, the answer lies not in the amount of time but in the posture. They had committed themselves to staying as long as it would take for the fulfilment of Christ’s promise; therefore, they remained, praying and fellowshipping in one accord. The divine outpouring seen at Pentecost was not merely an external event but an inner working of the Spirit. If we seek the external first, we’ll miss the true move of God.

The Upper Room is a place of waiting, a period of tarrying before stepping into exploits. God instructs us to wait in the Upper Room, underlining the significance of patience and preparation in spiritual growth. What God wants to birth within us begins here, growing from a mustard seed into an unstoppable movement. That’s why the Upper Room is not a place where we go to seek miracles; rather, it’s a sanctuary of spiritual intimacy where God shapes us into the miracle our generation needs. In His divine Presence, God reveals the purpose and vision coded within our spirit; He unearths the extraordinary within the ordinary.

The Power of the One

Another transformative element of the Upper Room is unity. In Acts, we see the once scattered and argumentative disciples become united in the Spirit. This is because unity is vital to what God wants to accomplish through us. Even outside God, we see what happens when people come together united in purpose. In Genesis 11, as the people built the Tower of Babel against God’s instruction, God said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” They came together outside God. So, imagine what happens when people come together inside God.

We saw the results at Pentecost—an overflow of God’s power and might. Yet, the posture the disciples adopted was not a one-time event but an ongoing process. In Acts 4:31, the Bible says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.” Thus, we see that they stayed united with God and one another. We see the contrast in King Saul, whose kingship was cut short because he stopped seeking God and instead focused on people, power, and politics. 

Dear Friend, you will only find and secure your true identity in God. What God starts in the Upper Room, He continues through the same model of waiting on Him and praying that we may receive His power. It is His pattern for the Upper Room encounter to precede the Outpouring. 

Do you want to find yourself?

– Commit to consistently fellowshipping and tarrying before the Lord. This is the key to experiencing intimacy and transformation that makes a lasting, divine impact on our world. 

– Learn to return to God in the Upper Room daily. There, He will build your life on the eternal Word, not on fleeting trends.

Shalom,

Stream To Know You.
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