187. Tongues of Fire

 

There is a call from the Lord to come higher, to go deeper and to let go of the things of this world. To take up our cross and follow Him, wholeheartedly, passionately and with a spirit so on fire it can’t help but ignite other matches along the way. Today’s Christianity is far from that of the Acts church years ago. As we approach Pentecost this weekend, I can’t help but feel the heart cry of the Lord to relive the church of Acts. For the body of Christ to rise up and come together as one. For the gifts of the Spirit to flow freely through the congregations all over the world. Jesus laid down His life for us to have the Holy Spirit. For us to go from under the law to into relationship. For the comforter, the Spirit of Truth, to guide us in all things. John 14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 16:13 - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. When Jesus conquered the grave, He came back and gave the disciples clear instructions on how to walk this out. Yet many Christians today are bound, not only by their own limitations that they put on Christ but by their pastors who refuse to preach the full gospel. The disciples were all in one place, in one accord as tongues of fire rested upon them. In Acts 2:17-18 we see that 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. It doesn’t say that in the last days He will pour His spirit out on the pastors, preachers or mega church leaders. It says clearly that these gifts are for the everyday believer. We lose sight of this. 

 We focus on the man of God hearing from the Lord for us and we never spend the time we need in the secret place to hear for ourselves. I can assure you that the Lord will speak to you about your own life, your own decisions and your own walk with Him before He will speak to someone else about you. You just have to listen. I feel a call to awaken the lukewarm churches of America. To warn of the trials and persecution to come. A call to cry out for Repentance, Baptism and Holy Spirit fire to fall upon the sons and daughters of the Lord. There’s a modern-day John the Baptist movement that is rising up in the body of Christ. We fail to teach about repentance and turning away from sin. We want our offering plates full, we want return customers and crucifying the flesh to walk in the Spirit will often times require you to step out of your comfort zones. People don’t like what they don’t understand. Repentance is freedom. When we repent, it’s not an apology so we can sin again and fall under grace, it’s a turning away from Sins. It’s a 180 turn from the life we have been living. When Jesus was there with the woman caught in the act of adultery, she was laid naked at his feet. Fully exposed. His instruction to her wasn’t something like “it’s ok, you’re forgiven go live your best life.” We see Him respond to her with mercy, grace, forgiveness and a call to repent. John 8:10-11 we see 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. We can’t neglect that the Lord’s instruction to each and every one of us is simple, Go and sin no more  We as a church have failed to teach the importance of repentance, baptism and the understanding of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. We want everyone to have a ministry degree, go through classes and confirmations before we even let them speak. Was this the case with the demoniac in the cemetery? Can we not see clearly in scripture that this man, bound and tormented with demons was used mightily by Jesus to spread the gospel mere hours after his deliverance? We see this in Luke 8 vs 35 through 39. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasene asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So, he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.  Can we not see that a true encounter with the Living God is all we need? One encounter with Jesus turned that man’s life around. He went from naked and chained in a cemetery, to becoming an evangelist, going back and declaring what the Lord had done for him. Our testimonies are so powerful. The way we live our lives is key. We may be the only representation of the Gospel that our neighbors, coworkers, children, or the general public see. Are we living out the Gospel that Jesus died for us to live? Are we doing what was instructed of us in Mark 16? Looking at vs 17-20, 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Are we preaching the gospel, or are we preaching false grace, mercy and acceptance without the full message of repentance? Is what we are preaching sending others to a lukewarm place where hell is a possible outcome? Do we push the gifts of the spirit out of the church in fear of what we don’t fully understand? How many churches today pray in tongues? How many churches today see healing as a regular occurrence? What about deliverance? Do we let others sit in the pews of our church’s week after week, year after year, while they struggle with familiar spirits and generation curses that don’t just go away because someone sits in church? I can tell you from my own experience with deliverance that it was a night and day change in my mind, my physical body and my emotional intelligence. I can tell you from experience that praying in tongues is the real deal. I can assure you that the words that come out of our mouth’s prophecy either life or death over our lives and situations. I can scream it from the rooftops that I have prayed for 150 or more people over the last 3 years, and I have seen everything from physical healing, deliverance from demonic manifestations, words of knowledge, wisdom, and praying in tongues all glorifying the Lord, yet the average every day Christian that sits in Church on Sunday, will never experience a true encounter with the Living God. I remember visiting an alcohol rehab clinic in Tela Honduras in January 2020. None of the men there spoke any English. We began to pray for everyone to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This young man, who knew no English at all, began praising the Lord in the English language. Not only was he praising the Lord but when we finished praying, he was able to fully understand the English language. He could understand what we were saying and respond to us in English. We were all blown away, especially this young man. (I have video clips I can share to back this testimony up). These are the things that the Lord is STILL doing. These Pentecostal fire encounters are still happening today. The woman you’re shunning out of your church, may be the one that prays for your healing. That man you ignore because he’s begging on the streets is one encounter away from evangelizing his entire town.  I plead with church leaders as a Christian woman, who was a single unwed mother going to a church. A church where no one taught us how to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, about the gifts of the spirit and how they operate or about the fruits of the spirit and what we are to desire in our Christian walk with the Lord. I speak as a Christian woman who was in Church for nearly 5 years and was depressed, anxious, suicidal, angry, hurt, betrayed and miserable. I thought that there was something wrong with me. I didn’t understand the lives of all these happy smiley-faced Christians that were “blessed and highly favored”. It took an encounter with the living God as I was about to hang myself in December 2018. He led me to get baptized in August 2019, and then to a deliverance minister in October of 2019, and by January 2020, I was in Tela Honduras on my first mission trip praying for the sick and seeing them recover. I was casting out demons and watching other people experience the same freedom that I had experienced only months earlier. I had no theology degree, I hadn’t memorized scripture, but I had the Holy Spirit inside of me. I had my testimony of what the Lord had done for me, like a female version of the demoniac, I was set free, I was unchained, and I couldn’t stop declaring the goodness of the Lord. 

So, I encourage you, each and every one of you, to share what the Lord has done for you. To speak the testimony that you have, to fully embrace the entirety of scripture and to desire the presence of the Lord more than anything else. To embrace Pentecost, desiring the tongues of fire resting upon you. To be a wonder and a sign of the glory of the Lord. To carry with you a sweet conviction and a desire for righteousness. To earnestly desire the gifts of the spirit as 1 Corinthians 21:31 states 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. I plead to you, to spend time seeking the Lord for yourself. Not the message from your pastor, or your favorite celebrity preacher, but the message that the Lord has on His heart for YOU. There is so much more to the gospel than sitting in Church on Sunday, watching the clock, waiting to get out of there and get to all you can eat soup, salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden. He is leaving the 99 in search of the 1. You are His one. Stop running from what you don’t understand and instead ask for wisdom, discernment, and for the Holy Spirit. It’s what Christ died for. Let’s make our lives, the lives He died to give us. He’s waiting for you in the secret place. He always has been.