In the same way that the Holy Spirit guided the children of Israel through the wilderness, so He guides you today. To stay within the will of God, simply follow the Holy Spirit. The power of the glory of God was so overwhelming that the priests were unable to stand in it.
The presence of the Holy Spirit also manifested in the form of a cloud at the transfiguration of Jesus. Listen to Him. He surrounds you and reveals the glory of God. He rests on His new tabernacle, you. The cloud can be symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, many Christians are afraid of losing their salvation. For now, at least in this book, I will avoid the debate about whether or not one can lose his or her salvation. Often, I receive very specific questions from very fearful people who are wondering if they have done something to lose their salvation.
Did I lose my salvation? Am I still saved? They obsess over the details about their own specific errors and ignore the principles of truth that apply to all. They long for a specific assurance that what they have done in particular has not disqualified them from the family of God. So, dear reader, please read this carefully: salvation is quite simple. Jesus did the work, and He just asks that you believe in His accomplishment.
Of course, we must live righteously thereafter, but not in order to gain salvation. Still, even knowing this information about the simplicity of salvation, many Christians live their lives in misery. They carry the weight of their sins and live in fear.
Again, I must emphasize that I believe in holy living, and I believe that there are consequences to sin. Perfection is a process. Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit to help us defeat the religious paradigms that can so easily infect the mind. I daresay that convincing you of your new identity is one of His most important works. Yes, Jesus paid the price in full for your salvation when He gave His life upon the cross. The day of redemption is a certain reality for you and me because we have the Holy Spirit.
And He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything He has promised us 2 Corinthians Because we have the Holy Spirit, we can be assured that we belong to God, and because we belong to God, we can be assured of all He has promised to give us and do for us through Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is your mark and guarantee. In Jewish wedding culture, the father of the groom would usually be the one who picked the bride for his son.
After the father of the groom found whom he believed to be the choice bride, he would approach the bride and her family. There would be a written marriage agreement made. After the written agreement was finished, it was customary for the father of the groom to give a gift to the father of the bride.
That gift acted as a deposit for the bride. Once that deposit was made, the intent to marry would become official. The Jewish wedding traditions, like many of the Jewish traditions, mirror the spiritual realm.
Just as the father of the groom selects the bride, so God the Father has chosen to give the Church to His Son. While here upon the earth, we receive many things from the Lord. And many people, when they get to Heaven, will be saddened to discover what they could have experienced while here on earth.
Still, not everything that God has promised us concerning our salvation can be experienced here and now. For example, the new glorified bodies we will receive cannot now be obtained.
For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory Ephesians KJV.
The seal represents the certainty that we receive from the Holy Spirit. Despite what our emotions tell us, despite what the lies of the enemy tell us, despite what our own human reasoning tells us, we know that we belong to God because of the Holy Spirit, the seal of the promise of salvation.
The seal can be symbolic of the Holy Spirit. I must have been fourteen years old the first time I went to see Pastor Benny Hinn minister in person. Before that, I had read a few of his books and watched him on television. My grandfather was the one who drove me to the arena. For weeks, I had looked forward to the service.
I recall Pastor Benny on his television program saying that something special was going to happen at that particular service, and I believed it.
In fact, I just knew it. I was filled with faith and expectation. A sensitive family matter had delayed us by a couple hours. So, by the time we arrived, the service was already in progress.
Still, when we pulled up to the venue, there were hundreds of people outside, shuffling in to find seats. Mind you, we still had to park. I began to wonder if we would even be able to find seats. As soon as we parked, I got out of the car and began to move toward the arena entrance. My hurried steps created a noticeable distance between me and my grandfather.
I stopped so that the gap would close. Eventually, we got out of the parking garage, moved beyond some disgruntled protestors, and made our way into the arena foyer. There just so happened to be a couple of seats available for us on that level. When we sat down, Pastor Benny had already been ministering. I recall him talking about a Muslim family that had encountered Jesus in a supernatural way.
An hour or two passed—heavenly worship, deep teaching of the Word, awe-inspiring miracles. As it came to a close, the atmosphere in the arena shifted. But it seemed as though the air was charged with power. On both sides of the platform there was a staircase. People were being ushered up those staircases to receive prayer from Pastor Benny. There was no way I was getting to that staircase. I paused for a moment to try to figure out how I could get on the platform, and in that moment of pause, I realized that my body was vibrating.
I thought I was cold but soon realized that what I was feeling was the power of God. The platform was high enough to level with my neck. So I just stood there, looking at the people receiving from the Lord, my body still trembling. I could literally feel a current moving across the floor of the platform. It was as if there was a river on that stage. I looked up onto the platform and noticed a couple of ushers. Somehow, I made eye contact with one of the ushers, and he just reached out his hand.
As I got onto the platform, I felt the power of God intensify. Not only was my whole body shaking—it was going numb. The ushers moved me forward. I looked ahead and saw Pastor Benny making his way back toward my side of the platform. His nose was red, and he was praying in tongues. I closed my eyes and focused on receiving from the Lord.
The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and was looking up at the arena ceiling. Then I looked down to see my legs shaking under the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, I was off of the floor and looking straight forward again—I was being picked up by the ushers. As they escorted me off the stage, I felt refreshed.
I felt like someone had dunked me in a cold river. I looked around to see other people on the floor shaking. Something special happened for me that day. I received an impartation from the river of God. Something changed in my ministry from that day forward.
The demands of living, paired with a waning prayer life, can produce a dryness of the soul. Sometimes we wander into dry places because we tend to neglect spiritual matters.
You may find yourself in places that are dry, like the desert. In the spiritual desert, you become tired, frustrated, weak, and apathetic. Responsibilities and needs, like the intense heat from the beaming sun, drain you of vitality. Life can sometimes be like a desert, but the Holy Spirit is always like a river. Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into His glory.
John The presence of the Holy Spirit brings life. His nearness is refreshing and restores the vitality of your soul. Because the waters flow from your spirit within, you never have to worry about emptying your source. The Holy Spirit is not only represented by refreshing rivers of living water; He is also represented by rain side note: this is also why the cloud is a symbol of the Holy Spirit; the cloud brings the rain. The prophet Joel prophesied the coming of rain.
The mentioning of the Spirit and rain together creates this clear symbolic parallel—the Holy Spirit is the rain of Heaven. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
Water cleanses, quenches, refreshes, and gives life. The Holy Spirit cleanses your soul, quenches your spiritual thirst, and refreshes your being. Wherever the rivers and rain of the Holy Spirit touch, there is life.
But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. He is the rain of Heaven, and He is the living river that flows from within. Water can be symbolic for the Holy Spirit. One of the first videos I ever posted on YouTube featured footage from a service that I held in the state of Pennsylvania. The service was a youth and young adult service, and it was one of the first in which I ever ministered. In the video, you can see the power of the Holy Spirit touching spiritually hungry teens and young adults.
Another time, I was praying over someone who battled with severe depression. She told me that it had been years since she laughed—truly laughed. She truly was receiving joy. In fact, the joy she was experiencing was so powerful that the people in the congregation began to laugh. They were simply laughing. The presence of the Holy Spirit brought joy, and that joy brought laughter. It was that simple. They received the wine of Heaven. You too might have seen the abuse—people acting belligerent and wacky.
Sure, there are those who become wacky, bizarre, and disorderly. However, there are also genuine moves of the Holy Spirit in which people become so filled with joy that they cannot help but laugh. In the Book of Ephesians, Paul the apostle instructs the Church to avoid drunkenness and instead to experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit:. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit Ephesians The believer does not need wine to experience joy.
Wine can only give unfulfilling counterfeits of what the Holy Spirit offers. The Holy Spirit is the wine of Heaven. Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Of course, the Holy Spirit does not come to make us senseless and silly; He makes us sharp and bold.
Many have abused those verses in Acts to defend bizarre and ungodly behavior. I believe in the joy and power of the Holy Spirit, but much of what we see on display today is just the flesh. So what was it that made the onlookers assume that the believers were drunk? They were behaving abnormally. They were speaking and moving in a way that was different.
The Holy Spirit is compared with wine, not because He brings foolishness and chaos, but because He brings boldness and joy. Just as people receive wine in celebration, so are we to receive the Holy Spirit with gladness. His presence, like wine, marks the occasion. Wine represents the joy, prosperity, and boldness brought about by the Holy Spirit. It too can be symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Symbolism is a powerful way that God speaks to us through His Word.
He fills the Scripture, and knowing His symbols will help you find Him. The Holy Spirit creates and brings new beginnings. Genesis is the very first verse of the Bible that mentions the Holy Spirit. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters Genesis We find Him in the creation narrative. He is the ancient Spirit of God, the breath at the beginning. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth Psalm KJV.
In this case, I imagine a dove, one of the symbols of the Person of the Holy Spirit. Like a dove, the Holy Spirit brooded, fluttered, and hovered over the surface of the waters. The Holy Spirit brooded over the face of the deep to incubate creation.
The Scripture tells us that all of creation was brought forth from the Word of God. Everything is under the command of His Word. Even the laws of the physical universe must obey Him. After all, it was His voice that put them into place. The Holy Spirit incubated the very commands of the Father; He brooded over that Word and caused it to become creation. The potential of all that would be—every star, every mind, every possibility—was incubated by the Holy Spirit.
He fluttered over the Word of God. In the beginning, God the Father spoke the Word over the face of the deep, where the Holy Spirit hovered. Stemming from the disobedience of Adam and Eve, sin eventually grew among humanity.
So God, for the sake of His own righteousness and the future of the human race, had to begin anew. He chose to utterly destroy all life on earth, except for a select few who demonstrated righteous living in the sight of God. Noah, his family, and small groups of each kind of animal were all spared from the flood that God used to cleanse the earth. God instructed Noah to build an ark within which the chosen few were to take refuge from the destructive waters.
Eventually, the flood waters began to recede. Noah and all who were aboard the ark waited patiently for the waters to recede enough for dry land to appear. Later, in an attempt to find dry ground, Noah used the birds aboard the ark. After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat and released a raven.
The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak.
Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. Here again we see the dove involved in a beginning. Creation was beginning again, and the dove is seen participating in the inception of a new genesis. Seeking the place fit for a new beginning, Noah released the dove from the ark. The dove flew about in search of the new creation—the land where all things could begin again.
The third time that the dove was released from the ark, it disappeared. It was never again seen. It flew away in search of the place to begin a new creation. It was never described as returning to the ark, because it found dry land.
Now think of the powerful symbolism here. The Holy Spirit brooded over the face of the deep at the beginning. Creation falls. God desires to begin again. Then, we see a dove flying away from the ark in search of a place to begin again. It sought to land in the place of the new creation. Genesis does not record the dove landing on dry land.
From the perspective of the biblical narrative, we never see the dove landing. That is, we never see it landing until much, much later.
Announcing the dawn of the new creation, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. After His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. So the Holy Spirit brooded over creation in the Book of Genesis. We see that He is present at the beginning of the Old Testament. In the beginning, the Holy Spirit brooded over the face of the deep, announcing the creation of all things.
Then the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, signaling to the world that God was once again creating. His resting upon the Master was the hailing of the new creation—not a creation of the material but a new creation of the spiritual within the hearts of people. The new creation, the transformative miracle of salvation at work within the hearts of men, is revealed when the Word of the Gospel is met with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
Together, the Word and the Spirit equal creation. Dear reader, this is a powerful truth. Wherever you have the Word and the Spirit, you have creation.
Jesus, the Word made flesh, was filled with the Spirit. He could multiply food, fortify the limbs of the lame, restore sight to blind eyes, and even raise the dead. He wants to create in you. He wants to craft your being into the image of Jesus. He wants to create in you and for you. He broods over every promise of God. He broods over every prayer you utter.
He broods over every declaration that God has made concerning you. In faith, now, turn to Him. He dwells within you, longing to bring about the new creation, longing to manifest the will of the Father in your life, longing to create on your behalf. Let Him create again and form the image of Jesus in you. It will no longer be Abram. The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter Hei, can represent the breath of God. It was the letter added to the name Abram, causing it to become Abraham.
The Holy Spirit gives, reveals, protects, and fulfills dreams. When I was eleven years old, the Lord showed me my future. He showed me that I would be in the healing ministry. He showed me that I would use media and books to reach people. He showed me that I was to emphasize evangelism. He even showed me details like what television networks I would air my programs on, what key Christian leaders I would meet, and how I was to structure the ministry itself. But, by the Spirit, I did catch a glimpse of my future in ministry.
So deep within I knew that the Lord wanted me to leverage media and television for the sake of the Gospel. In , I stepped out in faith and announced that my ministry was beginning a funding campaign to create a television production studio. At that point, I had already made some connections with certain television networks, but airtime was by no means a guarantee. So it was faith—it was all faith. All I really had was a God-given dream and a ministry infrastructure that He told me how to build.
During the campaign, I grew frustrated at the pace of our fundraising. Many people would make commitments and then disappear, never fulfilling their commitments. I did everything I knew to do.
My team and I raised funds. We organized. We mailed letters, sent e-mails, and posted social media statuses. But our campaign fund hardly grew.
I felt as though I was pressing my hands up against a giant boulder. I knew that if I could just get the thing moving, the momentum would pick up. Some people mocked me. Even pastors I looked up to came out against me. All I knew is that God had spoken to me.
I just knew it. It was during those discouraging months that I went to Northern California to minister at a small church in a relatively small city. The pastor of that church was also a business owner—and a very successful one at that. He was known for being a generous giver to the Gospel. I ministered at his Sunday morning service. During that service, I had done only what I had always done. I simply ministered the Word to the believers, preached the Gospel to the lost, and ministered healing to the sick.
But during that service, there was a special moment that occurred. With hands lifted and voices raised, the congregation and I just sang to the Lord. Again, I must emphasize that I did nothing different than what I normally do when I minister. All over the building, people were weeping. I opened my eyes to see how the Lord was touching His people, and when I did, I saw the pastor.
He had tears streaming down his face. He was being profoundly moved by the Holy Spirit. There was a connection being made between the pastor and our ministry that day. His heart was so moved that months later, he wrote a check to our ministry that was enough to fund the building of our first production studio. Again, I did nothing out of the ordinary. It was all God. God connected us.
It was just God. All I had was a dream from the Lord, and He brought it to pass. When I think of dreams and dreamers, I think of Joseph. The Scripture tells us that Joseph had the Holy Spirit. He began with just a couple of dreams from the Lord. Now Joseph was favored over his brothers by his father, Jacob. Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age.
So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe Genesis The hatred of his brothers should have discouraged Joseph from sharing his divine dream with the family, but Joseph shared the dream anyway. One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine! They all understood its meaning—that Joseph would rule over his brothers.
Already filled with disdain for Joseph, the brothers were agitated by the sharing of such an audacious dream. They hated him more for it. Again, Joseph had a dream. This time, it was about him ruling over not just his brothers, but his mother and father also. Originally planning to kill Joseph, the brothers changed their minds and instead sold Joseph into slavery after ripping away his colorful coat. Joseph found himself in the service of a man named Potiphar, but circumstances led him to become unjustly imprisoned.
While in prison, Joseph accurately interpreted the dreams of two fellow inmates, a baker and a cup-bearer who both served Pharaoh directly. In exchange for interpreting the dreams, Joseph asked one thing:. And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place Genesis But when the cup-bearer was restored to his position three days later, he had forgotten to mention Joseph to Pharaoh. Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River Genesis In that dream, Pharaoh saw seven healthy cows come out of the river, and then he saw seven scrawny cows come out of the river behind them.
The scrawny cows ate the healthy cows. Pharaoh awoke and fell asleep again. Then Pharaoh had a second dream in which he saw seven heads of well-grown wheat appear on a stalk. Seven unhealthy heads of wheat then came and swallowed up the well- grown ones. Those dreams so intensely troubled Pharaoh that he searched for someone who could interpret them. So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.
When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant Genesis It was then that the cup-bearer remembered Joseph. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted.
Joseph was released from prison, and he gave Pharaoh the interpretation of the troubling dreams. The dreams both meant the same thing: in the land of Egypt, there would be seven years of abundance and then seven years of famine. God had given Pharaoh a warning so that preparations could be made. Pharaoh received the prophetic interpretation and appointed Joseph as second in command of all of Egypt so that he could help facilitate the preparations for the famine.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the dreamer. God feels and fulfills His desires through us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit presents the dream to you and works to bring it to pass. You only need to participate in His work through faithfulness and obedience. The Holy Spirit will touch the hearts that need to be touched in order to bring the dream to pass. Just let Him work. For me, He touched the heart of a businessman.
For Joseph, He touched the heart of Pharaoh. The same Holy Spirit who rested upon Joseph lives within you. Let the dream be awakened in you, for the Spirit of God will surely bring it to pass. Chapter 3. The Holy Spirit has and gives a passion for lost souls.
Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. The enslavement of the Israelites is a prophetic picture of humanity in sin. The human race wallows under the oppressive darkness of sin.
Sin strips all of its prisoners of dignity, divinity, and destiny. And we serve a God who can hear those cries. Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law when he came to encounter the Holy Spirit. One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. I must go see it. A voice speaks from the fire. Then, God declares His ability to see and hear the suffering of His people:. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Moses then discovers that God had chosen him to be used as the instrument of deliverance.
The fire of Heaven, the Holy Spirit, burns for the salvation of the oppressed. He can hear their cries. There is no one on earth more passionate about the winning of the lost than the Holy Spirit. He desires to break the chains of sin from every soul. He is the Spirit of evangelism.
What happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon you? The same thing that happened to Moses when he encountered the fire of God. The same thing that happened to the early Church that spread from Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. They became witnesses. They became vessels of deliverance. A sign that you have experienced a true encounter with the Holy Spirit is a passion to win souls.
Up until that time, he had spent decades in the mundane. All it takes is one touch from the Lord, a single moment with the Holy Spirit, to set your heart ablaze for the lost. When you spend time with the Holy Spirit, His heart becomes your heart, His desires become your desires. You begin to see what He sees. You begin to hear what He hears. Whenever I find myself in a crowded place, I look around at all the people moving in and out of my line of sight. I wonder where they are going and whether or not they know the Lord.
My heart bends toward them, and I can hear their cries. Can you hear the cry of the lost? Can you hear the cry of the drug- addicted, longing to be free from self-hatred and bondage? Can you hear the cry of the suicidal, the self-righteous, the fearful, the perverted, and the prideful?
Can you hear the cry of a sin- bound people? The Holy Spirit can. And when you come near to Him, your being also will be set aflame with a passionate love for the lost soul.
You will burn with a holy dedication. You will become burdened with divine compassion. Your heart will ache with spiritual anguish. Everything in you will live to see just one more soul set free. The Holy Spirit is the fire of evangelism. In my teen years, I so longed to be used by the Lord that I made the decision to separate myself from worldly cares. Whatever it takes, Lord, use me. Whatever it costs, Lord, use my life. I just want Your presence and power.
Remind me that I asked for this. Crush me as much as You need to, but Lord, whatever it takes, anoint me as much as I can possibly be anointed. When the pressing comes, I remember that the power of God comes with a price.
Your salvation is free, but the anointing will cost you everything. The price of the anointing is simply surrender. You want to know the key to power, honestly and truly? You have to die to self. Power is found in the death of the flesh. Kathryn Kuhlman died a long time ago. I know the day. I know the hour. I can go to the spot where Kathryn Kuhlman died. The anointing is the power of God at work through you, and as you already know, the anointing oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
The anointing oil, a symbol for the Holy Spirit and His power, came with a price. So what went into making the anointing oil?
The Bible clearly tells us:. Also get one gallon of olive oil. He is the costly anointing oil. Myrrh Myrrh is a gum-like substance that exudes from the bark of a shrub or a small tree.
It was used for medicinal purposes and purification. Myrrh represents purity. The greater the purity within your life, the greater the power upon your life. Make no mistake: the purity in your life matters. Although the effects do not show for quite a while, eventually those who practice ungodliness are exposed.
Yes, the anointing comes from the Holy Spirit, but your lifestyle matters. The greater the purity, the greater the miracles. The greater the purity, the heavier the glory. Purity clears the flesh out of the way and allows the Holy Spirit to flow through you. Cinnamon Cinnamon represents sweetness.
Nothing will destroy the anointing on your life quite like bitterness. What does bitterness have to do with lack of power? Think of the encounter that Peter and John had with a bitter sorcerer. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that He may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. What was it that caused Peter to call the man bitter? Why was he so harsh in dealing with the sorcerer? He so desired to have what Peter and John had that he was willing to pay for it.
Of course not. He wanted it for himself. He wanted it so that he could gain riches, status, and praise. Bitterness is manifested in jealousy, and jealousy is manifested in competition. But sweetness is found when your motives are pure and your heart is free of carnal competition. If ever there was a crucial ingredient to the anointing oil, it would be this sweetness. Unfortunately, bitterness finds its way into ministries. Ministers compete with ministers over social media followers, book sales, television ratings, church attendance, and pseudo-spiritual quotes.
Dear God, no wonder the anointing is hard to find! Our preachers have turned into sorcerers. Bitterness is counter-Kingdom, and competition is anti-Christ. I pray that God would slay the ambitions of an egocentric generation. Let us obtain the sweetness of godly motives and do away with the bitterness of jealousy, ambition, ego, competition, and pretense. God will not anoint the bitter. When Jesus received a bitter drink, He refused it even though it was mingled with myrrh purity.
Bitterness is so contrary to true ministry that Jesus will reject the bitter one, even if that one has moral purity. Sweetness, which is the absence of bitter jealousy and competition, allows the Holy Spirit to flow through you.
Calamus Calamus is an Eastern plant, the Acorus calamus Linnaeus. Its stalk is cut, dried, and made into powder. That powder was used in some of the most expensive perfumes. Calamus represents the fragrance of worship. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.
But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing 2 Corinthians It is the awareness of the presence of God that makes one able to receive from it and sense it. That moment-to-moment awareness attracts divine appointments, divine favor, and divine connections.
There is a fragrance around the people who worship the Lord continually. I learned early on that God favors those who worship Him. As a teenager in ministry, I would walk around and worship the Lord literally everywhere I went.
Worship is of utmost importance. Worship allows the Holy Spirit to flow through you. Cassia The cassia plant had branches which held moisture. Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do Psalm Before God will use you, He will test you.
Before God will reveal you, He will hide you. The anointing on your life, like the womb of a mother, will hide you in your development so that you live to see your birth.
Roots take time to grow. The process takes patience. The deeper the roots, the more fruitful the plant. To rush the process is to take away from the future quality of your ministry. When it comes to the long term, nothing will slow you down like a quick fix. Take the time to grow your roots deep into prayer and the Word. When roots find their way into the ground, they have to go into isolated, dark places.
That may be where you feel like you are right now. It means your roots are going deep. The deeper the roots go, the darker it becomes around them. Process is a part of the preparation of the anointing. Process allows the Holy Spirit to flow through you. Olive Oil To extract the oil from the olive, one must crush the olive. And before that, the olive must be shaken from the olive tree. The olive falls from the tree, its place of security and sustenance.
Then pressure is applied to it, causing it to be crushed and to yield its oil. This is what God does to us. Before He can use you, He must shake you from what is familiar and then crush you. He must disrupt all that makes you feel secure in order for you to see Him as your true source. Then He must press you until your image is marred, making way for the image of Jesus.
It is the crushing, the pressure, that produces the oil. Trials and challenges, unwelcome as they may be, are your spiritual trainers. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing James When we are pressed by the pressures of life and ministry, we yield power, for God has made a deep deposit within you.
If the Holy Spirit resides within you, then when you are pressed, His essence flows out of you. But again, you must be crushed if you are to yield such power.
For that to happen, one must be crushed. Think of the olive. And that oil, mixed with the other ingredients, becomes the precious anointing oil. Pressing allows the Holy Spirit to flow through you. The Precious Oil He is the One who empowers you unto every mighty work. He is the One who flows through you, transforming you and everyone you will ever influence. Like precious oil, He marks those who have been set aside for the purposes of God. He rests upon you.
He is the precious oil. And when you allow yourself to be crushed to the point where you yield, He flows out of you. He is your purity. He is your sweetness. He is the fragrance that exudes from you, as you worship. Through both the blessed and the trying times of life, let God work His process. When God processes you, the precious oil drips over into your life. That oil is the Person of the Holy Spirit. He wants to empower husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, business people, employees, and students.
God gave him specific instructions on the crafting of the Ark of the Covenant, the gold lampstands, the incense altar, and the other furnishings of the tabernacle. Moses was even given instructions on how to craft the garments of the priests.
But to actually craft these things, God appointed certain men. They were men who were filled with the Holy Spirit. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze.
He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. The scripture says," open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" Psalm v There are wondrous things to behold when you pray in the language of the Holy Spirit.
Until you see them, and persistently pray in this language, you can't possess these wonders. No Christian can fully enjoy his Christian race without prayers. And no prayer can be more effective than the prayer done in the language of the Holy Ghost. Everyone I know, who have a solid 5 ministry or a sound Christian walk, have been those who deeply engage this prayer language.
So open your heart as I take you to the place of understanding, and increase your desire to delve deep in the language of the spirit realm, which is the pass you need to the miraculous, the ticket for signs and wonders and a wonderful experience into the spirit world. It draws from the broad array of spiritual and theological literature that John Wesley considered most significant for growth in Christian discipleship. In this volume, author Paul Chilcote utilizes the same method or approach of his earlier devotional work, Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit.
A hymn by Charles Wesley accompanies each prayer, and a passage of Scripture frames the topic for each devotional reading. The prayers help readers ponder themes like the desire of the heart, liberty in Christ, thirst for God, resurrection joy, and unbounded love. These devotions engage head and heart and seek to shape the lives of those who pray in the spirit of Christ.
A book that will bring growth and knowledge about prayer, and invite him to live with greater intimacy with God. Written by Charles Spurgeon, important preacher Christian. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. Spurgeon produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition.
His oratory skills held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle and many Christians have discovered Spurgeon's messages to be among the best in Christian literature.
As you spend time praying and reading the Bible, you will be empowered to share in wisdom and authority the Good News with others. Jesus came for one reason: to save the lost. Salvation covers all of our needs - physical, mental, spiritual, and material. When you are faithful to stand in the gap and witness for God, He will move in response to your faithfulness. Jesus will do anything you believe Him to do - anything that does not violate His Word!
Let Him do something for you and for those around you in need. Be a faithful witness and unleash God's power in your life and theirs.
A lost and dying world is waiting for someone to bring them deliverance. Be that someone! Score: 4. Three exhaustive indices — an English to Greek index, a Greek to English index, and a Scripture Index — are also included, making Sparkling Gems a highly effective reference tool for your own personal study library.
Order your copy today! God Life Author : Ernest J. Do you desire a stronger faith, a water-walking faith? Do you aspire to have the mind of Christ and make decisions with the wisdom of God? Then, God-life is the book for you. Eight life-changing sections will lead you with biblical truths to become what God saved you to be. God-life is for today's Christian seeking to live a Christ-like life in the 2lst Century.
It is a superb book for individual or small group study. Ernest Kelley has hit the nail on the head. Understanding the meaning of the new birth God-Life will clearly and compellingly chart the course for that journey. Draper, Jr. I was inspired, challenged, and greatly encouraged I commend Ernest J. Kelley graduated from Southwestern and Golden Gate seminaries.
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