Be greedy for God and experience Heaven every day. Ask yourself: what does it mean to live in the Spirit? And here’s why you’d want to.
I have been waiting to write this one post for the past two weeks and I’m still waiting. What it is I am waiting for is for it to stop. Or at least pause.
I’m expecting this sudden burst of fire from the heavens to stop pouring down on my life, on my church and my relationship with God— for things to slow down so I can catch up on all the things I want to write down and share. In this world, we are so used to things being temporary that we think God’s blessings fits in the same box. But this rain of fire from the Holy Spirit has been so strong and so overflowing in power, that I’ve been experiencing more and more new things that I want to write about: and things that continue to top the previous ones.
It all started about two weeks ago when one of the young people groups at my church (Amistad Cristiana Madrid), ‘Atmosféra’ had their monthly meetings. We met to share testimonies and pray for each other. The meeting is normally a two hour activity where we eat together and spend some time reconnecting in Christ. Only this time, it didn’t end at the scheduled 10 o’clock, we finished at 3:30 in the morning.
What happens on a night like that, you ask? Well, the fire of the Holy Spirit overwhelmed us in prayer, and prophesy took place in such a powerful way that the Lord came with visions, and words of wisdom and all forms of interpretation. But what I love is how connected we were. We would pray for a girl, and one person would say that they felt that God was saying she needed to trust Him more, and two other people would jump up with ‘me too’. Then someone else would expand on that point, and that would lead to something even deeper, and continue to flow until we would stop, look at each other in shock at what was happening and laugh at the power of God.
And after that night, it all changed.
What is the fire and how does it take place?
Firstly though, you may be wondering, what is this fire you’re talking about and how does it take place?
Well, in the Bible, we are told that the Holy Spirit first came after Jesus ascended back into Heaven and the way it did was by "what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:3-4). We are also confirmed of this fire beforehand, in Matthew, where it says: “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12).
So the Holy Spirit is compared to a fire—because it burns with power, and with the abilities it brings, which is then gifted to its carriers. These are called the gifts of the spirit, and as stated in the Bible, they are given for God to use in order to speak, for Him to bless and bring good to His people:
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)
As a long-standing Christian, I’ve experienced these gifts before. But what’s changed in the past few weeks is the fire. It’s come forth in prayer, in the gifts of the Spirit, in healing, in evangelism, in sermons and in worship.
Recently, I’ve had experiences of evangelising to a particular co-worker, praying and prophesying over my brothers and sisters in Christ, evangelising in the town of Segovia to people on the street, praying for the sick with the faith for instant healing, as well as freeing those that have been chained by this world and the devil.
Whoever said that being a Christian is boring has truly no idea what being saved actually means. There is a whole other world that we can experience, and there is excitement and adrenaline and a miraculous, supernatural power that is so unbelievably real that it’s this earthly world that then becomes a little harder to believe. Sometimes you feel like a superhero: truly able to do anything. Because through Christ, we are capable of all things (Phil 4:13).
But I’m not writing this to tell you how great my life has been (although praise you Jesus for all the recent victories!), but to share what it’s like when you truly live every day in the spirit. What it means is that God makes a miracle out of the ordinary, and the fact that something as simple as faith can hold us back from it is a ridiculous reason not to experience it. He brings a bright natural light where you only see an artificial one.
We think God means specific. But God is constant.
Sometimes, as Christians, I think we tend to think that God means specific. A specific time, moment, person, word and mentality. That’s true in one sense, but for the most part, God is constant. He’s everywhere and He wants to move and speak to the person next to you even when you’re tired. Even when you’ve had a really lousy day. And yes, even when you feel like you can’t connect with God for some reason. Your honesty may be just what that person needs to hear.
On the other hand, you don’t have to be afraid of always being on either: there are times and seasons of rest and God wants that for you just as much as you do, besides He Himself rested, and so did Jesus. Like everything else, it’s all based on balance. And remember, you can’t give if you have nothing in you yourself. We, ourselves, must be filled in order to pour into others. But again, even resting should be done in Him, and not forgetting about God for a couple of weeks.
I spoke to one of my students about God last week. And I felt and saw the Holy Spirit rise up an ordinary private English lesson into a place where heaven was looking down and the angels were preparing to sing glory to God. I had been praying for this man for some time, and something came over me that day. I felt like he needed to hear it, and the amazing part was that I didn’t even need to fight to open the conversation. It happened so naturally. In the end, he teared up with such joy and amazement at the one truth he’d been searching for his whole life.
We are messengers of God and when He has something to say to someone, no matter what it may cost us, we must say it.
This made me realise how much God fights for us. When He has chosen someone and has a destiny for them, He will go through so many lengths to make that known to them. Such blessing and anointing came over this man and what his soul was yearning for. It stopped his ongoing search for purpose.
We truly are messengers of God and when He has something to say to someone, no matter what it may cost us, we must say it. That person’s heart, hope and even life, is depending on that one statement of truth that lifts them out of the darkness. Pride is a thing of the past when it comes to being led by the Spirit. When you truly surrender, you disappear, you’re not what matters, God is. Do that and watch what He can do through you, for I am certain it is far more than you’ll ever achieve alone.
And you know the best part of all of this and something I remembered when I finally sat down to write this: there is never sufficiency with God. You will never find that you’ve experienced everything there is to experience or that you know God in and out and there’s nothing else to do. With Him, there is always more. And more. And more. You’ll also find that a beautiful yearning starts that you just continue to want more. More of Him in your life, more depth in your relationship with Him, more wisdom and knowledge of who He is and who we should be, and even more understanding of who we are in Him. With God, you can never be too greedy!
If you want to live a life led by the spirit, and if you haven’t received Christ as your Lord and Saviour, pray with me today and watch your life unravel to miracle after miracle. A life with so much contentment and joy, so much love and compassion, intense forgiveness and freedom, such growth and maturity that you and those around you will only see the perfection of Christ when you look in the mirror: and it is beautiful!
Pray with me:
Dear Lord Jesus, I come before you as I am, wanting to learn more about you and more about who I can be through you. I ask that you become my Lord and Saviour today. I believe that you came down to die for my sins and you rose again. I believe that I am free through the blood of Jesus and my sins have been washed away through Him. Therefore I ask that you come into my life today. Prayer for more of the Spirit:
Father, I pray that my life be led by the spirit. Grow my awareness of how you work and what you want to do. Tune my ear to hear your voice when it’s time to speak, and strengthen my mouth to stay shut when it’s time to be quiet. Let me know you more and connect with you like never before. Open my eyes to see more of you in others and in my daily life. Bless me with the gifts of the Spirit that I want you to use for your glory and your kingdom. In the name of Jesus, I receive all that you have for me.
Amen.