Hi Friends,

I hope all is well with you and your loved ones.  We have just begun the month of February, and for us in New Jersey it is COLD!  But in a few months from now, we will see the blossoms of spring and be able to take walks in nature once again.

I am writing today about a very important topic - the supernatural power of God in the believer, and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. 

The Lord gave me a vision that I would like to share with you.

The Vision 

The Stuffed Lamb

I saw a very old, very worn stuffed white lamb.  That was it - nothing else.  But it means something to me.  

When I was visiting my sister’s church, I arrived with her about an hour or so before the service.  She told me that she usually prayed over the seats in the sanctuary, which I was in the habit of doing myself.  So we began, she at one end of the church and I at the other.  She completed before I did, so she left me to finish while she practiced with the worship team.  I continued to pray over the seats and was nearly finished, when someone came up from behind me and touched me.  Since I was praying in the Spirit, I shook and fell to the floor between the chairs.  She thought she had scared me, so my sister came over and with both surprise and disgust in her voice, she said to me, “Get up!  You are scaring everyone!”  She thought that I was purposefully making a scene.  The church was neither pentecostal nor charismatic, so they had no idea what had just happened.  Of course I did my best to pick myself up off the floor.  I took my belongings from the back of the room and headed out the door, in utter embarrassment, vowing never to return.

I had come in her car, so I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood, and called my husband to pick me up.  While I waited, I prayed and the Lord gave me this vision of the lamb.

In a way, I saw the lamb as myself: old, tired and worn.  This was not the first time that I had experienced embarrassment, and condemnation from people in church who do not understand.  But I try to move on, and shake off these feelings of “Here we go again!”  But frankly, it is hard to put it behind me.  I do not hold it against anyone, because I must say as Jesus did, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.”  In this case they just simply have never experienced the power and presence of the Lord as intercessors do.  The woman did nothing wrong, all she did was touch me, when I was in the Spirit.

Later as I prayed, I saw the lamb in the vision as representing the Lord, the Lamb of God. 

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”   Isaiah 53:3-6

Jesus was a man of sorrows, rejected by the very people he came to save.  He bore the cross, and died a terrible death, to pay the price for our sins, reconcile us to the Father, and give us eternal life with him.  Jesus said:

If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.  If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.  John 15:18-20

In my situation, I rarely have trouble with the world, for most of my interactions with people are  in the church.  I do not expect those in the world to understand or embrace the Lord and his Word. However, “cancel culture” has infiltrated church culture. Believers can be quite resistant to anything that is outside the realm of their experience.  Unfortunately, not all believers spend time with God privately or studying the word of God for themselves. When presented with a new or unfamiliar teaching we should be like the Bereans who would “carefully search the scriptures,” to make a determination as to what is the truth. (Acts 17:11) The American church is highly opinionated and emotionally charged to readily label as “heresy,” things outside of their personal or corporate experience.

In the Book of Acts, in the Bible, there is a story of such an occurrence:

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they replied.

Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.  And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  There were about twelve men in all.  Acts 19:1-7

Paul laid his hands of these twelve men and prayed for them to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit so that they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  We have churches that believe in cessationism, the belief that the gifts of God are not for today, that they were only for the first century church.  But thousands upon thousands of born again Spirit filled believers are living proof to the contrary.  Miracles, signs and wonders are for the church today. 

In the case of Jesus’ own disciples, they had previously received the Spirit of God when Jesus breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This was the regenerative experience of being born again, which happened after his resurrection. But only a short while later, just before his ascension, they were told to wait in Jerusalem “until they were clothed with power from on high.” This was the promised Baptism in the Holy Spirit that would be a baptism not of water, but of power and fire.

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  Acts 14:4-5

And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  Luke 24:49

It is the Holy Spirit’s power that anoints the believer to do the work of God with signs following the preaching of the gospel.  It is the signs and the miracles that bring credence and validation to the gospel.  Paul knew this to be true and expressed it so well:

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.  1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Yes!  This is why the gifts of the Spirit are so important.  It was the miracles that caused people to put their trust in Jesus.  For he brought a message that challenged many people.  And Jesus’ teachings were only received by those who had ears to hear and eyes to see.

Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.  Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  This is why I speak to them in parables:

‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled:

‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.  For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.  For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.  Matthew 13:10-17

The churches today that teach that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased, base their belief primarily on this passage of scripture:

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  1 Corinthians 13:8

This is a prophecy of Paul speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He did not say that it was God’s will for prophecy and tongues to cease, but that at some point they would.  It is not God who revoked his command to wait upon him for the infilling and Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  No, quite the contrary. It is man’s willfulness, his desire to call the shots, and go his own way that caused the tongues to cease.  It was unbelief in the church and a departure from their first love that stilled the voice of God.   The Lord wants to speak to his church, after all he fills us with his Spirit and places in our hearts the desire to walk and talk with him.  The Lord enjoyed Enoch so much that he took him directly to heaven. The Lord wants to communicate with his children. His desire is that we would be one as he and the Father are one. He said,

I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me. John 17:22-23

How can you believe that Jesus loves you if there is no communication. Doesn’t a parent long to have his child speak to him? To hear his first words? How can we claim to know God if we have never heard his voice? How can you say you love him if there is no intimacy? He showed his love for us by dying on the cross and freeing us from the law of sin and death. But this was not so that we would ignore him or merely give him lip service, and go our own way. No, it is so that we would express our love to him by our willingness to devote ourselves to knowing him. Here is Paul’s passionate plea to the Philippians to KNOW him!

 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:8-11

He gave us the Holy Spirit so that we would have the power to overcome our own flesh and the temptations of the world.  How can we do God’s will unless we know him?  Of course we can read the Word, but that is only the beginning.

Remember what the Lord said to the foolish virgins, who claimed to be his.  They were not ready to meet the bridegroom and enter into the wedding feast for they had no oil for their lamps.  I believe that the oil represents the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Bridegroom said to those who came after the door was already shut.  He said, “I do not know you.” So the door remained shut.  “To know” in the Biblical sense is to have an intimate relationship with him.  If we cannot hear his voice, then how can we say we are his?

Jesus warns us that not everyone who claims to know him really does.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”  Matthew 7:21-23   

Even though I am thoroughly convinced that everyone should pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they are not necessary for salvation.  It is knowing the Lord and having a true and genuine relationship with him that counts.  It is being born again and having the abiding presence of God living within us that gives us the assurance of eternal life with Him. Jesus said, 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  John 10:27-28

The Lord communicates in many ways. Some receive visions, others receive dreams, but at some point we should hear the still quiet voice of God speaking to us directly. Sometimes it can be audible. Sometimes the message is a word of knowledge, sometimes it is a gentle rebuke or correction, sometimes it comes as an encouragement, or command. But whenever you hear the voice of God it is important to be obedient to do what he commands. So I hope you will seek the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, for with it comes with the power to witness, to overcome temptation, and to move in the other gifts: having faith for miracles, signs and wonders, and to be used by him to advance the kingdom of God.  The gift of tongues is also our prayer language which allows us to pray the perfect will of the Father.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.   And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.  Romans 8:26-27

Why would we not want the Holy Spirit in greater measure? It is the Spirit of God that reveals truth to us and empowers us for his work.  And the gifts are precisely for the equipping of the church. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians to encourage them to desire the greater gifts:

Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?  But eagerly desire the greater gifts.  1 Corinthians 12:27-31

If this seems to be too much, perhaps we should question our faith. Are we like the lazy servant with one talent that buried it in the ground? Do we only want to do our duty, whatever we think is “good enough?” What did Jesus say to the lukewarm church at Laodicea and to the Church at Ephesus who left their first love?

 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place....Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:4-7

“ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked….Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.  Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:15-22

There are different gifts of the Spirit but the initial evidence of having received the Baptism is the gift of tongues.  Every time in the Bible without exception, the gift of tongues was the first gift to manifest.  The other gifts are given as the Spirit chooses. 

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.  1 Corinthians 12:7-11

As we are given gifts, we are also given opportunities to use those gifts.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.  1 Corinthians 2:6-16

So to those who have never heard of these spiritual gifts, and those who have never considered it possible,  I want to tell you that miracles, signs and wonders are to accompany the preaching of the gospel. They are to follow those who believe.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18

These signs are given so that those who see them will leave their doubts and fears behind and simply walk in faith. 

I must also mention that there are false signs and wonders that people who operate in the occult can produce with the help of the demonic realm.  In Moses’ day, Pharaoh’s magicians could duplicate some of the signs that Moses’ did, so that Pharaoh was not fully convinced to release the Hebrew slaves. However, once the Lord unleashed his wrath with the plagues over Egypt, Pharaoh’s magicians could do nothing.

Because the occult has infiltrated every part of society, beginning with children’s entertainment, and manifesting its presence in education, the health industry, in businesses, social media, and adult entertainment, we must be aware of this mixture as it comes into the church. We must have the gift of spiritual discernment in operation within the body of Christ. When people are unaware or deny the presence of demonic influences, they become vulnerable.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6

The gift of discerning of spirits, allows us to distinguish the source of the power behind the miracle, or the prophetic message. We should ask, “Does this manifestation or sign come from the Spirit of God, from the imagination, or does it come from a demonic source?”     

If we are moving with the Spirit of God we should see miracles and healings regularly.  When we pray for the sick, we should expect to see miraculous healing.  It takes faith to believe God’s word, and trust that God will do what he has promised.  Our biggest enemy is the devil who places thoughts in our minds such as: doubt, fear and unbelief. These are hindrances that occur when we entertain the negative thoughts rather than taking them captive, and focusing on the promises of God in his Word. When we encounter some type of hindrance, we should take authority over it in the name of Jesus, and bind up the doubt, fear and unbelief.  Then we should pray in the Spirit and in agreement with another believer, as the Bible instructs:

 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  James 5:14-16

I hope you seek the gifts and the greater infilling of the Holy Spirit, for it is an empowerment like nothing else.  That is why Jesus said, “Wait in Jerusalem until you are clothed with POWER from on high!”  The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God’s provision for his power to overcome darkness and to build his kingdom. All is for the glory of God!  And yes — Let’s seek the Lord to know him! Let’s be a friend of God!

Please share this with others and may God bless you in your walk with him!  Listen for his voice!