I recently (as in a few months ago) had a conversation with a good friend that changed my life...and I'm not even sure he knew how influential it was! Let me clarify, changed my life as in how I view God.
To explain the impact of this conversation, I must go back two summers. I was an intern at an amazing church in Kansas City and was working alongside two beautiful women whom I will always be connected with because of the events of that summer. I would like to tell you everything that happened that summer but that would probably be an entire post by itself. So, unfortunately, I may be really vague with the promise that if you were to ask me about it, I would tell you more in depth the events of that summer. To put it simply, we encountered the spiritual world together, and since have been on a journey to discover what we experienced. All three of us have grappled with it in different ways and have come to different conclusions, but in my search for explanation over the last two years, nothing has even come close to the hour conversation I had with my friend.
I will summarize some things that happened that summer: went to IHOP (International House of Prayer) in the middle of the Awakening services: witnessed people talking in tongues, shaking uncontrollably, and healings taking place. Prayed through the church I lived at: was frozen to a table I was sitting on while praying, had to be held up so as not to pass out for being faint with the Spirit, and had black shadows flee from a room/hallway we were praying over/in. Like I said I would love to explain more of that summer to you, because from that synopsis, y'all probably think I'm crazy, so please don't hesitate to ask me more about it. I, as well, thought that what I experienced and witnessed was crazy at times. So fast forward my journey....
Most of us grew up in an environment that focus' on the Father and the Son of the Trinity and happens to mostly ignore the Holy Spirit and it's power. We tend to only experience or want to experience God in so far as we can comprehend, and the Spirit is usually outside that realm of comprehension. However, we are told in Matthew that it is better for Jesus to leave so that the Holy Spirit can enter us. Stop and reread the last sentence and try to take in the impact of that statement....Do we fully believe that? Do we fully believe how much power the Spirit has?
What could this power look like in our lives? Could it be someone laughing uncontrollably to experience joy? Could it be someone shaking uncontrollably to experience what it's like to just let go? Could it be someone speaking in tongues in order to talk to their God? Could it be people receiving prophesies about others? Could it be that our God wants us to experience him FULLY (or at least want to) in every way he has given us. Why can't God work in ways like this?!
To further risk you thinking I'm crazy, I'm going to continue by telling you about a church my friend told me about in California. Bethel Church has feathers that appear out of no where, places that animals with feathers wouldn't even be. They experience gold dust floating upward (not falling, but floating upward) during services. They believe these and many other experiences to be the Shekinah (greek word) glory of God in heaven meeting the earth. Why can't we believe that God would give us his Shekinah glory on earth?!
After this summer and experiencing many more spiritual ways of God the last few months that is too much to put on just one post, I know that I personally even tend to put God in a box. To not take him at his word of how powerful his Spirit, who lives INSIDE of us, can be. So why not start stepping out of our box, our comfort zone, and experience everything God has for us!!
I'll leave you with this quote a fellow EDGEr posted today: Q: "What do you think Jesus would have to say to our generation if He was talking with us right now?" A: "Are you satisfied with too little of me?"
PS. this blog post has been a long time coming....I really am bad at keeping up with this....
