the Spirit ..and sum wonderful gifts... (part 1)

I want to share a something I always loved!!

I was going to talk about  Joel 2:  28- 32, which is a beautiful verse talking about our wonderful generation and God's plan for us, but I'd much rather love to talk about spiritual gifts. I love the topic. I always have. Ever since I was introduced to the idea that God did not leave us when Jesus was sent into heaven, but promised to, and did send a helper, I have been totally in love with it. I loved the Idea that God gives his children gifts, gifts that give them power, ability to do his work. Trust me, its a totally awesome world and I'm about to take you on a dive into it with me [But I'll only dive as deep as my oxygen tanks will allow ;)].

So as I said, when Jesus was leaving earth, he promised to send the Holy Spirit. He described what the Spirit was to do and the Spirit came and did just that. But who exactly was the Spirit and what was his purpose: The one thing I know for sure is that he has a personality. He's not an "it", His name is the Holy Spirit and the Bible describes him as having a personality. I know some people describe him as an "active force," but that can't be right, or the disciples would not have had the experiences they had with him. He would not have talked to them or led them the way he did and still does now.

Another thing is that people don't think he's still around, or even if he is, he doesn't do as much as he used to in the time of the early Christians.. Cummon! The Spirit, Gone? How in the world would we survive! He's still as active as ever, even more. I'm glad I put the reference tho Joel at the beginning of this post. "The last days" means now and "all people" means everyone! Peter reiterates this message in Acts,  telling us that the Promise of the Spirit is still for us today. Isn't that lovely news. If you don't think so, read on and allow me to convince you. I'll tell you the wonderful things the Holy Spirit does.

Before we delve into that though, I ought to tell you some stuff. The Holy Spirit comes on you by baptism. Its often referred to as the baptism of Fire and many people preached about it. It's the baptism that Jesus gave as opposed to the baptism that John gave with water. And its a Fantastic thing to experience. Lemme tell you my experience with this baptism:

I was not more than 10 years old when I started yearning for this baptism. I was very clueless about it. I had just seen the really cool things that happened to people who had The Holy Spirit living actively in them, especially that God used his spirit to pray in them in a tongue that no one else understood. It fascinated me! Most of these experiences were at a prayer meeting I used to attend on the weekends. Seeing these people made me want him even more; you could say I was driven by jealously. It thought me a lesson though. It thought me that to get the Holy Spirit, there has to be a longing. You have to want him and desire him, invite him in, or he ain't coming. I don't think God will randomly choose someone walking in the middle of the street and choose to baptize them against their will. And guess what, I'm not the only  one who says this, Paul asks us to desire these gifts too.

So there I was yearning for the Spirit and sadly not receiving it. Everyday I met someone who had the power of the Spirit in them, I got more jealous. It got to a point that it seemed my only prayer was that the Lord will give me what happened at Pentecost. He will fill me with fire!! I waited a long time, more than a year, waiting for the day that God will finally answer. I sometimes thought he didn't like me much because I was almost always the only one who couldn't speak in another tongue at the prayer meeting. But these thought me valuable lessons later on. 1: There are several things that the Holy Spirit gives after the baptism of fire, its not always the Gift of speaking in tongues. Though its very common, its not the only gift. 2: Waiting on God is a painful thing, but it is so worth it! I'll tell you why:


I 'm sure it was a longer time frame, but I'll stick to saying it was over a year after my yearning began that God answered "Yes." That day, I was on my way as usual, in our prayer meeting's leader's car, going for the meeting when he said "You kraa, you haven't been baptized with the Holy Spirit, have you?" My heart leaped; I was so excited. That day, we were the only ones who were not at least 30 minutes late for the meeting.SO we had a lot of time to talk. he told me a lot about the Spirit that I did not know despite my intense curiosity. I felt that I had grown, a lot. I was now ready. He lay his hands and prayed a while, but nothing happened. He asked me what was wrong. Again, heart leaped. I was thinking of all the things I could have possibly done wrong that disqualified me. But then I let them go.

Here's what I did, I told God that it was my time. I'd waited too long ad he had to touch me now. It was by force!! And he did. I call it Indescribable Joy. And truly I haven't been able to describe it since. I had the feeling the whole week and I get it anytime I think about THS (The Holy Spirit) in me. It's wonderful.

Since I got THS, its been a great ride. Yeah, I don't always go where he leads or do what he says, but God's been true to the promise. And just like the disciples got the courage to face a crowd for the first time, only after their baptism, I also received the power to do Gods work in my life. When I choose to listen, he does one hell of a good job with me, and now I've fallen in love with him.

So whats the point of all this. Well, first, I want to create a hunger and a thirst in all ya'll for THS.Trust me, It would be the best thing you ever wanted. I want you to see one person's journey to the baptism of fire, and embark on your own. And I also want you to pick up those lessons I try to put in there. I'm only human, so I may not be always right, but these are just my thoughts on how THS works.

I'll write more to you about the gifts that THS brings, if grace permits, and you'll delve even deeper into the wonderful world of my love, THS!

Until next time... I leave you grace to walk in royal stepz...