Tag: Holy Spirit Anointing

Categories
GOD'S STORY

GOD’S STORY pt 36 Rivers!

Water Water Water flows…

Genesis 2:11-12 says, “The name of the first [river] is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.”

I’ve just been listening to this song: Let it Rain and if you believe the LORD sets up our circumstances to speak to us, then He’s talking to me about rain, waterfall, rivers…. I become thirsty and joyful just thinking about this!

Next, I think of the verse from Psalm 119:136,

“Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law.” This is so tragic.

Preparing the Bride for GOD’s Story

How do we prepare as the Bride of Christ? One aspect is to learn GOD’S STORY. He created us in His image…. Piece by piece, and peace by peace, we learn to walk as He has walked. And we learn His perspective. 

Water, Rivers, Oceans…

I believe the LORD loves water which offers refreshing: it is purity and clarity, it sustains life and washes away death. 

I believe the LORD knew where man would wander before He even created him. And yet, He created him nevertheless. 

I believe the LORD knew we would need refreshing and cleansing. So He built in the system physically and morally even before our immortality was established and then lost.

I believe the LORD knew He would rescue us: we would need it and He would offer it. The water is symbolic of this rescue just as much as it is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

The River Water in Eden

Rivers are fresh water which flow naturally, unhindered, offering life wherever they flow.

The Pishon River went round the whole land, even where there was gold and jewels. How beautiful the scene must have been!

GOD’s Creation is Beautiful

There was and is perfection in everything GOD has created. The beauty and life of Creation are beyond words to share adequately. The detail is profound. We can only imagine… I am overwhelmed in the imagining of it!

He provides in His word enough detail to enable us to imagine it all. He provides guidance through this Word: to keep the Law and then to walk in His fulfilment of it through Jesus. And throughout Biblical history there are those who mourn the weaknesses of humanity, calling us back to our centre: to our Creator. All of this is through the leadership of our GOD of love.

Today’s text

There will be theologians and Biblical historians who are much more learned and sophisticated than am I. They would guide as to the significance of this first of four rivers, the River Pishon. They would be able to illuminate for us the significance of Havilah, of the gold, the bdellium and the onyx stone. And praise GOD for these people.

However, I simply want to take in (and to share with you) the splendour, the detail, and the life-quenching power of this river and its surrounding environment. This says to me profoundly, GOD is our Provider and He will always provide for our needs: sustenance, beauty, and peace. He shares this truth with us through the poetry of Creation itself. In turn, this even encourages us to be poetic, to express our thanksgiving fully, freely, creatively.

Hallelujah! Let it Rain! GOD is with us and will never leave us nor forsake us.

Shalom and GOD Bless…

Categories
Preparing the Bride of Jesus Christ

Working in partnership

We are meant to be partners with GOD. God working in partnership with us is His heart and it is the means to transforming society, bringing mankind back to Him.

How to partnership with Yehovah GOD

Writing from GOD’s perspective as I have been attempting to do for the past several weeks, I can’t possibly assume I know what He’s thinking or wanting to share; and yet, He reveals things to us through His Word and through His Spirit that complement one another and encourage us. GOD lives and breathes in and through us to the degree we allow, through our obedience, surrender, engagement and worship. We are saved individually, but also for the purpose of bringing others to Him. He is a good GOD, the righteous and generous father of mankind, giving good gifts to His children and desiring that none should perish.

“GO and make disciples of all nations…” said Jesus in Matthew 28.

A leaf from GOD’s STORY

So, this piece is not a part of GOD’s STORY per se, but about our relationship with Him and the depth and breadth He can draw us to Him.

Why did GOD create mankind? 

GOD created mankind for relationship — with Him, as well as with one another. 

Reading Genesis 1, He reveals Himself as 3 persons with 3 identities, aspects, personalities in the One Person of GOD. He is 1. Creator who creates. 2. The Word who speaks 3. The Spirit who hovers over the waters from the beginning. GOD spoke and creation happened. He was and is and will be GOD: “In the beginning, GOD”. 

As GOD is Creator, Word and Spirit – He is one GOD revealed in three persons, He is and always has been in relationship. Likewise, when He created Adam in His image, He did so for relationship. And then, He said it was “not good” that man was alone and He created woman. More relationship. 

And so it is with us, we who are born again, we who speak of a relationship with GOD, we who have faith and follow Him through His Word and by His Spirit — we are in relationship with Him.

In Partnership

But I choose to go a step further today to say: Yes, we have relationship, fellowship… and also partnership with Him.

I read a book recently which offered good teaching for young people about following GOD. I won’t quote it but I mention it to say this: It has solid information but it lacks one thing: It does not teach about partnership through Holy Spirit.

The book taught that since Word became flesh and that word has been written down, everything Jesus had/has to say to us is in the Bible; by following that Word, and using sound judgment, we walk the Christian life. This is true but it is leaving out a vital point: through Holy Spirit we have fellowship with GOD and the opportunity for complete partnership with Him. 

The Father wants relationship with us. He is relational; it’s a part of His identity. Even following the Bible with the best will and passion in the world, we are still walking in the flesh, which is still finite and, I purport, still limits our engagement with GOD. 

Only through the power and presence of Holy Spirit manifesting in our lives are we walking in complete partnership: yielding our flesh to His Spirit with each step that we take.

This does not mean we cannot tie a shoe without asking GOD. As the book rightly suggests, GOD is Sovereign and in that, He gives us freedom and room to choose, to think, to delegate, to “live and move and have our being” while He is also fulfilling His plans and purposes. 

But our walk can be so much more than applying the Bible to our lives. Applying the Bible is good! but it is still not the fullness of what GOD asks and what He offers. Rather, He offers and seeks intimacy that comes with constant fellowship — conversation with Him, seeking Him out, allowing Him to fill us with His supernatural presence and power through the person of Holy Spirit.

John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.” Acts 17:28 says, “for in Him we live and move and have our being”

Faith is Trusting in GOD

First and foremost, we commit our lives to faith in Jesus, as son of GOD, as the one who died and rose again. We trust Him with our salvation and with our lives, both here on earth and in heaven after our physical presence on earth ends. We believe and we trust. But there is more…

Rigidity without Holy Spirit

There is a danger in following the Bible totally fastidiously:  that danger is to become rigid in our thinking, becoming religious or even self righteous. Without the Word we have no compass. But with only the Word we can become legalistic, dictatorial. Alternatively, our attempting to follow the Holy Spirit can become whimsical, irrational, or can even lead us toward error in our thinking without the Bible support. If, for example, we think “GOD said to do X” when X is clearly contradictory to the Word, it cannot be true. We do need both the Word and the Spirit to walk with Jesus in the way He has always intended.

The Word keeps us on a righteous path. The Spirit keeps us surrendered to GOD. 

Jesus said he did only what the Father told him to do (John 5:19). His Spirit will never contradict. We need to know the Word so we recognise the voice and the will of Jesus. But Jesus left earth in order for Holy Spirit to come, and we need that Helper to help: to lead, guide, teach, correct us. Father, Son and Holy Spirit will always have the same message, though they may express themselves to us differently. We need all three in our lives. We need Holy Spirit in order to grow in our intimacy with GOD, in order to become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), in order to fellowship with GOD and with one another to the capacity GOD has for us.

There is nothing trivial with GOD!

Some might say that GOD isn’t interested in what we should eat for dinner, or whether we should wear these shoes or those, take this job or that, marry this Christian or that one. But I disagree. 

“As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:13) He is watchful, He is engaged, He is interested.

Jesus adored and encouraged the children to come to him. Likewise, the Father relishes our time with Him. It is narrow for us to think He isn’t interested or that what is trivial to us is also trivial to Him. That is looking at ourselves as equal to GOD, as “adults”… but we are neither equal nor adult to Him.

1 John speaks of children, young men and fathers. And yes, we in the faith, mature. And Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians of teaching “meat” versus “milk” to the believers. We do grow in maturity as re are ready to hear.

But GOD does not limit our access to Him nor our prayers. Yes, He wants us to move and respond freely and as we grow, in a mature way. But this takes time and experience. We learn the Word and we discover Holy Spirit: both Jesus and Spirit of GOD are equal and of equal importance to grow us into the people GOD has created us to be. 

In one sense, we will always be His children.

Predestination v Arminianism

I think the debate between predestination — where everything is pre-ordained, and arminianism — where GOD gives us freedom to effect the outcome of our lives, is futile, because both purport a one way or other way view. 

I think the truth is in between, a both/and reality. GOD is sovereign. And yet, we must wrestle against flesh and blood to grow into His likeness. 

The Hebrew people were completely able to recognise competing truths. I think we gentiles need to be able to do the same.

Sovereignty and Partnership

Recognising GOD as sovereign does not mean we are puppets. Realising the active influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives does not mean we can foul up the predestination of GOD. Rather, we trust in GOD’s righteous and powerful sovereignty even in the midst of our attempts and failures at following His voice today through Holy Spirit.

GOD wants partners. GOD wants us to grow to full maturity. GOD wants to engage with us. And in my experience, I grew more though Holy Spirit than without. I failed more often too. But here I am, more surrendered, more intimate, more in line with the character of GOD as revealed in His list of Holy Spirit fruits (Galatians 5) , than I ever would have become with the Word alone.

I have studied the Word voraciously. But that alone was not enough to curb my impulsivity, my fleshly temperament, my ego. I needed Holy Spirit actively in my life to ensure my dependence and eventual maturity in GOD. 

Flesh v Spirit: obedience, wonder, worship, surrender, grace

We cannot walk in the flesh forever. Ultimately and sooner-is-better-than-later, we need to walk by the spirit in us. How?

“I die daily.” 

“I am crucified with Christ.” 

We must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Centuries ago, priests seeking to be more like Jesus literally flagellated themselves to try to defeat the sinful flesh. In the 1800’s many preached hell and damnation, not erroneously but without love, and alienated for generations those who would be lost; today Christians still have a rotten reputation for hypocrisy and judgementalism rather than for the lovingkindness of Jesus.

Seek Jesus, Seek Holy Spirit, Seek the Father

The Word of GOD is wonderful. It needs no editing, no addendum, no apology. However, Jesus was openly declared at his baptism by the voice of GOD and the presence of Holy Spirit. Only then did his ministry begin. Likewise, we need Holy Spirit to live our lives as Jesus teaches us. 

If we resist Holy Spirit out of fear, suspicion or pride, we miss an essential part of GOD and forfeit the power and presence He wants us to have. 

We learn to worship the LORD in Spirit and in Truth!

“Not my might, nor my power but by My Spirit says the LORD of hosts.” (Zachariah 4:6)

As we ponder the Spirit of GOD, to the degree we allow Him to be active in our lives, we will determine our growth in character and our depth of relationship… that’s what I’ve experienced and that’s what I believe.

Going forward, I press on to the upward call of GOD in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13) and pray for the same for all of us. How we manage is up to the LORD and may we all surrender fully into this so that He can have His way entirely in our lives.

Shalom and GOD BLESS you!

Categories
Preparing the Bride of Jesus Christ

The Need for GOD’s Anointing of the Holy Spirit

Is Christian Revival around the corner? I sure hope so… But if it is, we’ll need plenty of help to manage it.

Revival and the Holy Spirit

Are we in need for GOD’s Anointing of the Holy Spirit? Why wouldn’t we be?!

Jesus said, ‘I go that the helper may come’ (John 14:26). How does the Helper help? By anointing us for service, giving us power through His presence: to move hearts toward GOD and to pull down strongholds.

If we want revival — and most of us who follow Jesus do, in some measure at least — we must allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and follow His lead.

There are those in the church who say that the supernatural gifts of GOD are passed. Some suggest, ‘We have the Word now, so we don’t need the supernatural.’ I say rather bluntly, this is a cop out. I think it is borne of the fact that the speakers don’t personally see the manifestation of miracles and therefore they reckon they don’t exist. They might quote, “… pass away but my Word shall not pass away…” (Matthew 24:35) But that scripture is taken out of context. Jesus, as the Word of GOD, was resurrection life that will never pass away. But He left the earth so that He could send His Spirit to fill each of us. It is by the Spirit that I have been transformed: through GOD-given faith and His conviction. I experience transformation and demonstrate it because of His supernatural attendance to me and His infilling within me.

Others who accept the Holy Spirit presence but resist the power, say undignified behaviour is manifested and therefore such cannot be a move of GOD. I say Jesus accepted the undignified, preferring their behaviour to the pride and superficial dignity of His contemporary pharisees. I was once accused of being a pharisee. Me? But I love the LORD! was my immediate response. And yet, over time I realised the religious spirit of the pharisees had affected me. My recognition and rejection of it was instrumental in my maturity and freedom.

Holy Spirit – active today

What I testify is this: The Holy Spirit is the LORD within us who enables us to surrender our lives; He gives us leadership showing us how to engage with Him and with others about Him. He is the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, the prophet and the apostle within (Ephesians 4:11) And He enables the fruits of love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience and self control (Galatians 5:22-23) to grow and supersede our own will and natural inclination to rebel. And it is through Him that miracles are manifested (1 Corinthians 12:8-9). He is the power and the presence of GOD, without whom we have neither His power nor His presence. He has not changed any more than has the Father or Jesus. GOD does not change.

Vocabulary that promotes the undignified

“Hallal” means praise! We are called to join in a manifestation of high praise, ‘flashing forth light like!’ Cymbals crash! King David danced with joy to his LORD, practically naked. GOD is to be revered but He does not control us. He brings liberty. Dignified or noisy, this is the celebration of GOD.

Jesus’ word about the Helper

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

For centuries, the power of GOD was squashed with religion. Protestants have blamed the Catholic faith, and it may largely be true that the manifestations of the Spirit were full-on during the early church but were largely wiped out by organised religion. But the chains have fallen off! And so should there be room again for the Spirit, so that we can “live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

We need the anointing

Recently, I was in a worship service and tears began to flow as we ministered to the LORD, not only in song but in spiritual warfare, praying for the nation. This began with the steadfast commitment of the worship leader to sing to the LORD but also to pursue Him. In so doing, the anointing came and remained. A call from the congregation for prayer came and then the engagement: spiritual warfare through a unified force amongst the brethren of believers, to bring GOD’s kingdom onto earth “as it is in heaven”. I don’t believe this could have been done without the anointing. But with the anointing, there was faith and a unified voice in worship and prayer. All the glory goes to Him through our passionate pleas to Him.

Abandon

GOD is full of grace and love. We are to revere Him. But we do not have to be religious. Rather we are called to be “like little children” (Matthew 19); children are not self-conscious.

Decorum matters between one another, as does common sense and respect. But sometimes, as the LORD’s presence manifests, so too does the demonic. This is not to be shunned nor embraced, but to be recognised, deliverance* to be undertaken, and freedom to be received (*to protect all involved, deliverance should only be undertaken under specific conditions and by those trained and experienced).

Sometimes there is joy and dancing: David danced; it pleased the LORD! (and led to the barrenness of David’s wife because she mocked him)

The Spirit is unpredictable. The Spirit is free. He does not give us licence to be irreverent but irreverence is not the same as lacking dignity. Sometimes, we need to be met with unpredictable abandon to be set free.

I pray that those who are reading this have either met with the Holy Spirit and have been baptised and anointed by Him, or will pursue Him with their whole heart until they are. The Spirit is no less GOD than is the Father or the Son. There is power from the Creator. There is power in the Word. And there is also power through the Spirit. Embracing Him is what Jesus calls us to do. And we ignore this at our peril.

Implosion of the World

While science is fast becoming debunked by those who preach “whatever we feel is real” and religion in Western society has all but passed away, common sense, fact and reality are becoming as rarely inspected as history. This is the time for Faith to arise. Let us not copy what has gone before: a narrow religiosity that has the imitation of Truth but not the power of it. Let us endorse and whole-heartedly embrace the full Gospel: that we are saved by Faith in Jesus, both for our eternal future but also for our present. Jesus saves, delivers, restores. He is found both in Word and in Deed. And we ignore either at society’s peril.

GOD bless you. In Jesus’ name. May you receive the power and presence of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua, our Messiah, by His Holy Spirit. Amen.

Categories
Reflections and Poetry

Following the Holy Spirit: a poem

Following the Holy Spirit

I urge you into my life

If you will come.

I’m useless without you

I urge you to come.

I lay myself bare

If you will come;

Soul at the ready

Broken and barren

I urge you to come.

I wait patiently

Hoping you will come.

You don’t disappoint

When I’m still:

Then you come.

Thank you Lord Jesus

For He has come.

The Spirit is willing

You left, so He’d come.

I yearn for this flesh

To exit the stage

Make room for the Spirit

Then You do come.

He’s simple, divine, 

Wholesome and pure —

So what is the fuss?

Why so many defer?

I build my life,

To tear it down

For mine is yours now

Refined by Your love;

I beckon the Spirit

You willingly come

Whenever I ask

Taking time to be still.

The noise of the music

The rush of our fear

Can push out the Spirit

Not bring Him near.

So let’s be still and wait

If He will come;

I believe it can happen

When the Body is One.

Categories
Preparing the Bride of Jesus Christ

Greater Dependency

by Gary Gay

The Holy Spirit said, “Greater Dependency, you can’t mess this up, you’re not big enough to mess it up.”

Promotions are here and they come with greater dependency on the Father. He has already given us greater faith; it has already been downloaded in us.  Don’t try and feel it, we just have to step out on it, otherwise we can’t see it or know it. It is now! 

We will love this new thing. It brings us much closer to Him. It is a greater level of relationship and intimacy with Him. 

Gary Gay 10-24-2021 

Categories
Reflections and Poetry

Spiritual Anointing: a poetic reflection

He saturates by His Spirit

soaking my soul in His power

I shimmer, I shake

as His tidal pours through me

with a current of Love

He electrifies me

excited, awestruck

between fear and bliss

I am stirred.

Quaking with torrent bubbling

I am washed; intense waves of affection

and my soul surrenders

bears its toll

it’s beautiful exhaustion

flooding the moment

as a wave of peace

washes over me.

Categories
Reflections and Poetry

Living under the Anointing of the Holy Spirit

It’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Snow may have covered the ground until recently, but beneath the snow lay seeds, waiting to germinate, to release new life that will grow toward the sun. Likewise, we who are in Christ have new life which offers freshness, excitement and challenge with the opportunity to grow closer to the Son.

As spring approaches, I reflect on something I’ve experienced which I long to share as I discover how to apply it to my everyday life.

I’ve experienced the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I aspire to live under that anointing, walking as the New Man. I want that anointing so that I can “live and move and have my being” in the LORD.

“… and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24)

The Anointing

It was a deep experience I’ll never forget. For four days, I was living under a sense of Shalom (God’s deep peace which passes all understanding), and moved as though I was living in a warm vat of olive oil. My voice was calmer, my movements slower, my heart full of love, with my mind clear and untroubled.

Have you experienced the presence of God like this? Or like a soft breeze or a hint of oil on your face? His anointing is delicate, sweet, real, and perhaps fleeting, but it tells me I am nearer to God than usual. His anointing draws me into surrender, peace, intimacy and quiet.

Particular scriptures pop into my thoughts as I linger with the Lord. I identify a new significance to their meaning. For example, being “in the world and not of it” means more than choosing God’s morality and closeness with brothers and sisters in the Lord. The scripture also means living in a completely different realm, where a totally different mindset reigns: Grace and the knowledge of Gods’s superior understanding and, perhaps, His revelation supersede logic and methodology. “Living by faith” means more than not taking a salary; it means trusting God for every need, without asking others to fulfil them.

Under the anointing, I am cloaked in God’s presence. I long to remain beneath “the shadow of His wings.” The intangible presence of God is thick enough to cut with a knife and I don’t want to treat it lightly. While I’ve been aware and unaware of the anointing before, this time I understand better and value it more and I pray that I remain under the anointing forever. I want every decision, every bite of food, every song or activity to be an act of intimacy, of grace and of adoration to Him.

How do I know it’s God? I know because the fruit of the Spirit is revealed through me with much more peace, love and joy of Christ.

Have you ever experienced the presence of God like that? Oh Lord, give all of us a taste of your presence, and fill us to the brim that we might draw near to you, perfectly and permanently. Is this madness? Is it eccentric or prophetic? I think Jesus, and after him His disciples, lived in a different realm to where we live. Even we who are in Christ need to put off this earthly existence, where “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28, NIV) takes on a new meaning. Living under the influence of the Holy Spirit is where I want to be all the time

The Challenge

I yearn for more of God: A deeper connection with Him and a greater understanding of what it means to have my life surrendered to Him. “Oh, Lord, teach me more about praying Your prayers (rather than my own) and make me more like you, full of Your love, joy and peace” (Galatians 5:22-23) so that I can do all things through you and not on my own.

And with this blessing of anointing and the awareness that life is meant to be lived under it, how do I apply this practically in my life? How will I allow this discovery to change my day-to-day existence?

I plan to step out further in business. As a creative, to focus on business is like walking on water for me—new, flimsy, uncomfortable—but to take God’s lead on business decisions is a leap of faith. If God is for me, who can be against me (Romans 8:31)?

This is a way out of my comfort zone, I’ll have to rely on Him.

What will be your new challenge?

Have you prayed? Have you heard God’s call? My prayer for all of us is this: “May we be surrendered, fully inspired and led by God, to grow in our endeavours and to have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).

Categories
Examining Biblical Scripture

Does the Church need the Holy Spirit at Christmas?

It is Christmas! It is the day that so many of us around the world have marked to celebrate that Love came down to earth, to set us free from the despair in our own sinful lives.

Nothing can minimize the huge blessing that was the arrival of baby Jesus, nor does the amazing significance of his death and resurrection have any equal. Jesus came from on high and was baptized into ministry at the age of thirty. He did only the will of his Father, and all that he did, he did through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Does the Church need the Holy Spirit at Christmas? The Need for God’s Holy Spirit Anointing is evident at this time in our history. The Church needs the Holy Spirit at Christmas and every day.

In Bill Johnson’s book, Dreaming with God, he makes it abundantly clear we need the Holy Spirit to fill us, in order to live the life the LORD has for us. And Geoff Shattock of WorkTalk Weekly says, “your work consists of these same energy consuming characteristics, and you will need the same Spirit to equip you. Please don’t be tempted to believe that you can work in any meaningful way without the sense of the Spirit being upon you, anointing you and sending you” (post date: 8th September, 2014)

For far too long, far too many believers have been walking out their lives in their own strength and power. But we see in God’s word that Jesus was equipped for service through the power of the Holy Spirit:

Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 read:

“The Spirit of the LORD God is upon Me, because He has anointed Me…” (NKJV)

With the call and responsibility as Believers in these times, can we afford to think the Spirit is no longer available, is dormant or is only a connection point at the moment of salvation? No, the Spirit is active in and through you, and is available to the level of your faith, study, and willingness to receive. He is the power and the presence of Father God. He rested upon prophet after prophet in Old Testament times and filled many a believer in the New Testament church. We need him now, in these challenging and surprising times, no less than at any other time in history.

We need an awakening, an activating, an infilling of the Holy Spirit throughout the Body of Christ, as it was with the Apostles, as it was in the New Testament church. We need the Spirit of God actively working in us in order to function effectively for God’s Kingdom in these End Times.

Recently, I moved country, and the process hasn’t been easy. God’s adventures are never dull; there are so many blessings I’ve experienced through the people I’ve met and the challenges I’ve faced since the beginning of the process to move from Canada to Spain. But I have failed many times, particularly as a parent in these last few weeks, and I know I am only as ‘good’ as the Spirit who dwells within me.

How do we receive Holy Spirit’s power? We seek, ask and pray. What do we do to safeguard ourselves from the occult? Know the Word and the fellowship of other believers. How can we trust it is God working in us, rather than Satan? We shall know by the fruit our actions produce. The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, Patience, Faith and Self-Control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Ready: Seek deep intimacy with the Father. Ask Him for a baptism of His Holy Spirit, because the power of God resides inside you, and is meant for leading, guiding and equipping you in your walk through life.

Set: As you ask in Faith to receive God’s Holy Spirit power, wait. As a Believer, the Spirit is already within you. Ask God to make you abundantly aware of His presence within and around you. Pray for His protection if you feel fearful, and trust He hears your prayer.

Go: Do you recognize your need? Do you experience God meeting you? In the power of the Holy Spirit, follow God’s lead to live, to witness and to minister to others to whom God will lead you.

In subsequent weeks I plan to dig into more depth about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

May this special day marked on the calendar be the beginning of deeper intimacy with the Father and His Son, through the Holy Spirit. Amen.