PENTECOST COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS TO GO!
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING
As we continue our 10-day countdown to Pentecost (that for us will end with a Facebook LIVE meeting May 29 at 7PM CDT) the above phrase came to me as a starting point for today's post. That phrase, many may know, is also the title of a very popular book for expectant moms. When we were having our babies that was the reference book, especially for Elizabeth, but for me as well. It was to tell or explain every stage of pregnancy, every symptom, everything that might possibly be going on, as well as helping to prepare for the actual birthing as well. I want to apply that to our waiting time on the Holy Spirit, but without being anywhere near as exhaustive. However, I want to answer some basic questions, perhaps mainly through my own testimony with the Holy Spirit.
MY STORY WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: 1967
I received what was called “the baptism in the Holy Spirit” when I was 8 years old. Interestingly enough that was 1967 when the “Jesus Movement” kicked off or kicked in high gear. I was in Iquitos, Peru —very far from California, but the same Holy Spirit was at work. I had been exposed to the realization that I need this “baptism” ever since I had been in first grade. After feeling like I had delayed forever in coming forward “to the altar" for the experience, I finally did. For me, it was not a profound experience, but I did know something good had happened to me. I was encouraged to let the Holy Spirit take my tongue—and so I released a dadadada type sound that continued to evolve over the days, weeks, and years. I let the Holy Spirit have control of my tongue and from then on had no idea ahead of time what sounds would come out, but I just yielded to whatever sounds would come out in that process. That was my first infilling of the Holy Spirit. I knew it had changed my life. I knew I had more authority over fear and demons in general. I knew my spirit man had been strengthened. Until being touched by the Holy Spirit in Toronto, Canada in 1995 I had no other significant infilling of the Holy Spirit. Yes, you can be filled many times.
Ephesians 5:18 “Do not be drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Perhaps, for more clarity, this verse when understood in its original language should read, “Instead BE BEING FILLED with the Holy Spirit.” Some are asking whether they need to focus on another Pentecost again as they already had a “baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues.” Here is your answer. BE BEING FILLED. The comparison Paul lays out here in Ephesians is also noteworthy. Drunkenness vs. Being Filled with the Holy Spirit. We already know that Peter said in Acts 2, “These people are not drunk as you suppose.” I suppose that they supposed that because they acted in some way as drunk people do. Unsteady walking, slurred speech, a not-all-there look in the eyes, maybe a little too loud, a little too much laughing, etc. I myself, have never been drunk, but I have observed a lot of both natural and spiritual drunkenness 🙂 The point is not to say this is the only way to receive a special filling of the Holy Spirit, but it for sure is at least ONE way of receiving an infilling of the Holy Spirit. Many religious believers (often mainline denominations) are theoretically okay with the Holy Spirit filling us—as long as it doesn’t actually look like anything really happened. They become offended if a person seems actually impacted by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. They don’t want speaking in tongues, drunkenness, shaking, crying or any evidence. It is like desiring the ability to put your finger in an electric outlet and insisting that the person who does so show no effects of the increased voltage in their bodies. Receiving Holy Spirit POWER often looks like receiving electric power. It is not theoretical power, it is real power. In Acts 3:6 when Peter and John healed the crippled man, he said, “What I HAVE, I give you.” Then in the name of Jesus, he commanded him to walk and he did. We need that kind of inherent power operational throughout the Body of Christ NOW and I believe it is coming. No longer just, “God if it is your will…” but rather “What I HAVE” I give you.
REFILLED IN TORONTO: 1995
I am forever grateful for the “Father’s Blessing” outpouring that came through the ministry of John and Carol Arnott in Toronto, Canada. Holy Spirit outpourings have always been controversial since the original one in Acts 2, because "new wine" rarely has proper receptacles (a new wineskin) for it. Whatever negatives you have heard about the “Toronto Blessing”, just know it was very authentic and real—and a life-changer for thousands, including me. It literally was like a “before and after” for my life. I had already had the 1967 experience, but this was another kind of “being filled.” Unlike most, I was not “slain in the spirit,” nor did I violently shake, nor did I break out in laughter. For me, if you looked from the outside you would have just seen me weep for about an hour and a half. In vision, I saw the Lord point out how the edges of my heart had gotten hardened through cynicism because of “craziness" I had seen in the Charismatic world. I mean true craziness. While in the ministry line at Toronto, the Lord put His index finger on the edges of my heart and immediately it all went back to flesh—so to speak. I melted and wept and wept. I wasn’t aware until later that I had also been filled with more power than I had ever had in my life. In a previous post I already shared about that, but it was an absolute life-changer for me—and for those I would reach.
I am telling my history with the Holy Spirit, as I think it can be helpful and instructive for many of you on many fronts. In my story you have some idea of “what to expect while you are expecting,” for those who feel you have never had this "baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Some of you have already reached out to me and said you have been so hungry for that original encounter with the Holy Spirit. I believe you will get that “original” encounter, but with it will come all the upgrades for such as time as this. It is sort of like iPhone upgrades. You don’t have to have the original model and go through all the various iPhones. You can go straight to iPhone 10 (or whatever the latest is) and get all of its capabilities. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is infinitely more valuable.
In tomorrow’s post I want to cover the question “Don’t we all receive the Holy Spirit when we get saved?” as well as, “What are all the signs that the Holy Spirit is filling you?” This will be important, because May 29th in our Facebook LIVE meeting (with James Goll, Rita Springer, as well as Elizabeth Enlow, Grace Enlow, and Justice Enlow, and maybe more) there is going to be a release of Holy Spirit POWER and I want you recognizing it. It may or may not be the incoming tsunami wave I saw—but that is what makes it so exciting—It just might be! It could be a preliminary wave or it could be, “THE BIG ONE,” but something is coming. If it is big enough there will be no need to address, “Was that sign I felt—IT?”, as you will definitively know. But my story is to assist you in preparing for it to be life-changing, no matter what it looks like. Tears, shaking, tongues, laughter, drunkenness, joy, etc. “You shall receive POWER—when the Holy Spirit is come upon you!”
Luke 11:13 “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him."