The Spirit comes in power.....

My post on Saturday, led me to go dig up some Scriptures about God's power and I was so compelled by  Don's wonderful comment I decided to share them in this post. I remember as a child and a youth being well versed in the stories of the Bible, especially the old testament. Now as an adult I can't ever remember thinking as a child that the same spirit that came in power on many in the Bible was for today or for me to experience as a believer. It's interesting though to me that those God used to accomplish his purpose had the "spirit of the Lord come on them in power." You can go dig through the Bible and find many accounts where this was the case. Samson, even Saul in, 1 Samuel 10:6..."the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will be a different person," and David, 1 Samuel 13:16, then  Elijah, Daniel, Micah. Those are some of the ones I found that said specifically, "the Spirit of the Lord came on them with power." You will find John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11 saying, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Many believers get baptized in water, but why not in the Holy Spirit? Why accept one and not the other? 
We also see that the Holy Spirit came on Mary in power. Acts 1:8....Jesus tells the disciples that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them....Phillip was taken away by the Spirit from one location to another location entirely!! (Acts 8)I didn't include all the many Scriptures that simply talk about God's power. I think most Christians are quick to believe and agree on His power. It's just that there is not a wide spread belief in the power of the Holy Spirit for the believer today. I never knew him personally, I simply lived in naivety due to the environment I grew up in, not just my home church but I also went to a Christian school and never heard about the Holy Spirit. Which to me is interesting, I now think it's a package deal...salvation, baptism of the Holy Spirit and like Don said, signs, wonders and miracles. Again, why is it that we accept salvation, and then get baptized in water,  but not baptized in the Holy Spirit? Hebrews 6, says baptisms, plural, meaning more than one kind of baptism. Salvation is for us, for our eternal redemption, which is a wonderful gift. But it's by the power of God's Spirit that we will be more transformed into His likeness and it's by the power of His Spirit that we will go forth and preach the gospel, and see the sick healed, and the oppressed set free, demons cast out. (Demons were not just for Bible times. Many people need to be set free from demonic oppression.) 
About a year ago my mom and I were talking about whether or not believers could have demons oppressing them. (She mentioned Mary Magdelene) So over the course of this year, I have been exploring this question, can Christians be oppressed by demonic influence? Absolutely! Anyway, I am getting off topic a bit, I do think is important to understand this though. I mean it is obvious people are sick and people need to get saved, but it is not obvious to many believers that they can be oppressed by evil spirits. All of which we have authority and power given to us to overcome, so we shouldn't fear this fact, just simply be aware of it so we can learn to deal with it, or that it may be a reason someone seems to be in bondage to "sin".
What I really want to do in this post is raise questions for people. For me, since coming to a full revelation of God's grace, His pure gospel, I have found myself searching and seeking to know God more and it has been kind of a natural progression for me to find out more about the Holy Spirit, who He is, His job in the life of a believer and to find out what baptism in the Holy Spirit means, then asking to be baptized in the Spirit, getting baptized speaking in tongues, learning to get set free from demonic oppression and now longing to walk in His kingdom authority healing the sick, seeing signs and wonders in my life and getting people saved. 

A form of godliness that denies the power.....

For quite some time I have had this phrase swirling through my mind....." a form of godliness that denies the power." (2 Tim. 3:5) This verse sums up most of my Christian experience. Christians, myself included, that seek godliness, but don't know or live in the power of God. The bible says .."avoid such people." Wow!!  It almost seems to say that there is no point to being a Christian, if we don't experience God's power.(my interpretation here, feel free to disagree) I mean should there even be a Christianity that is simply just learning how to be more holy and pursuing godly ways of doing things?  Without His power we simply are denying the truth of His word and the Gospel. When the Gospel is preached, truly truly, there should be evidence of people getting saved, healed - signs and wonders should follow the one true Gospel of the New Testament. Paul says to the Corinthians, when I came and proclaimed the mysteries of God, I didn't do it with lofty speech or wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:1-5)  I wonder what exactly he meant by "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"?  I simply can't ignore these kinds of verses any longer. Jesus also always preached and demonstrated in power God's love and desire to heal all who He touched. Everywhere He went, He taught and healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons and set the captives free.  Why is it that modern Christianity does not look like the Christianity of the Bible? Why are people so skeptical of the Lakeland Revival and the outpourings of the Spirit's power going on there? Do we not read our Bibles and believe the whole thing? For me, a lot of it has been naivety, a lot of it has been a wrong focus when I did study my bible and some was the teaching I received and believed to be true, that never once taught me about the power of God or understanding the Holy Spirit's job in the life of a believer. A lot of my own issues were fear of man or seeking approval of people. That truly was a fetter keeping me back from moving on in the things God truly has for my life. But, thankfully, the Spirit will lead us into all truth, as we seek to be led and are hungry for God and long to know Him at a deeper level. And He is truly doing this in my life!! Hebrews 2, talks about  Without His Holy Spirit working in us and through us we cannot generate genuine fruit. Real fruit comes from the inside out. Not from applying biblical standards and disciplining ourselves, etc, etc. - but is the priority of our whole life to be focused on our own walks or on the big picture, seeking first the kingdom of God, seeing the lost saved, the captives set free, the cripples walking, the blind eyes opened. This was Jesus main ministry!  

Last night Todd Bentley preached a wonderful message at the revival. He has come under much criticism and last night shared that people want to know why he wasn't preaching the gospel. He went on to share that the gospel is not just preaching a message, but it demonstrates the power! The same "method", that Jesus Christ and Paul the apostle used. He preached the on the Lord's prayer and gave a compelling message( which unfortunately I did not take notes and eventually fell asleep before hearing the whole thing), that we should pray thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. On earth as it is in heaven. What is it like in heaven? Well go look in your Bibles and study up on what heaven is like, and then you will know what to pray for. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, it is for now. We do not have to wait for the whole shebang until we die and go to be with our Lord. God wants us to bring heaven down to earth and invade it for His Kingdom and for His glory!! 

Another thing, what does salvation mean anyway, does it simply mean you are forgiven of your sins, which that in itself is amazing?! Salvation in the Greek is sozo, which means healing, provision, wholeness and preservation. By His stripes we are healed. Not just from the power of sin, but from sickness and poverty and emotional deprivation! Folks this salvation we have is far more amazing than we realize. I want to live in it! No longer do I simply want to pursue a form of godliness that denies the power of God in my life!!  

Bringing in the New Year!!!!

Wow, what a year! I can't believe I am alive and well.......
You see this year for me started out horribly......dark and desperate.....and because of God's Awesome Love and Grace I am living in freedom, joy and peace...what a way to end the year, huh.....
Anyway, I am grateful that God never gave up on me or on my marriage and that ultimately he longed to see me happy and alive in Him....he is so faithful!!! I am also grateful for the many faithful saints who prayed for me and for my marriage and all our complicated circumstances of this past year.......you know who you are.....so I thank you for your committment and willingness to lift us up -! And may God bless you richly in 2008 and may you be more amazed by Him and His Grace this year than ever before!!!!

I see for 2008 a greater dimension and sense of hope- an increase of lives transformed and changed by pure grace a mighty wave of the Power of God coming to pour out his love....The Lord brought to my heart a reminder that we are His Bride, (those in Christ) we are getting ready for the Greatest Wedding of All time, and that in this time of preparation there is great joy and anticipation...as you come closer and closer to any wedding you sense greater joy and excitement, do you not??? so I felt the Lord wanted me to encourage those who are His Bride to anticipate and to enjoy all the preparations for the great Wedding Feast, the consumation of Christ and His Bride....what a glorious day that will be......and we get to take part now in the intricate details and plans for the Wedding Day itself....isn't that so great!!

Bringing in the New Year!!!!

Wow, what a year! I can't believe I am alive and well.......
You see this year for me started out horribly......dark and desperate.....and because of God's Awesome Love and Grace I am living in freedom, joy and peace...what a way to end the year, huh.....
Anyway, I am grateful that God never gave up on me or on my marriage and that ultimately he longed to see me happy and alive in Him....he is so faithful!!! I am also grateful for the many faithful saints who prayed for me and for my marriage and all our complicated circumstances of this past year.......you know who you are.....so I thank you for your committment and willingness to lift us up -! And may God bless you richly in 2008 and may you be more amazed by Him and His Grace this year than ever before!!!!

I see for 2008 a greater dimension and sense of hope- an increase of lives transformed and changed by pure grace a mighty wave of the Power of God coming to pour out his love....The Lord brought to my heart a reminder that we are His Bride, (those in Christ) we are getting ready for the Greatest Wedding of All time, and that in this time of preparation there is great joy and anticipation...as you come closer and closer to any wedding you sense greater joy and excitement, do you not??? so I felt the Lord wanted me to encourage those who are His Bride to anticipate and to enjoy all the preparations for the great Wedding Feast, the consumation of Christ and His Bride....what a glorious day that will be......and we get to take part now in the intricate details and plans for the Wedding Day itself....isn't that so great!!