Angelina Marie LaBotte what do you see when you look out your window?
Sorry for the glare---its literally through my window!! Theres a bit more ocean you can see with the naked eye, hard to squeeze it all in one shot.
Angelina Marie LaBotte tell me, is the air as delicious as everyone says?
No. I don't know if I've heard that before..maybe on a different island/different city. Where I am at (Kailua-Kona) is down-slope of a active volcano--plenty far away I promise! But theres this thing called vog (like smog, fog..) and its hazy and overcast at least half the time. Which makes the sunshine that much sweeter!
Jennifer Salas most jaw dropping moment. GO!
Theres tooooo many!!!
The first week--we had orientation in the 24 hour prayer room....I was sitting down bc my feet were hurting (mehhh) and I was just in awe of being completely surrounded by about 100+ people all praising the Lord in Heaven! so hard...people were swaying, stomping lightly, arms up high, heart abandoned...and I was overcome by tears so fast I swear they were jumping out of my face: "If we can worship with this much love HERE, on EARTH, what the heck is it gonna be like in HEAVEN??!!" WHAT GREAT LOVE. PURE LOVE is what I felt.
During our "Pure Heart" weekend retreat April 28/29: In the midst of all the junk we face in this life, disappointments, incomplete relationships with mothers and fathers, betrayal, abuse--on any level and in any area of our personal lives like relationships, work, studied, friendships, entertainment....all these things, I had one of the biggest revelations by the Presense of the HOLY SPIRIT. He took me back to a few of the countless nights spent looking for all the right things in all the wrong places: boys/relationships. He told me there in that prayer time, "I never meant for you to find Me in a boy." (See me blog "Jesus Never Meant For That"
There are soo many others!
Tim Honeycutt What has your experience been with the Holy Spirit through this time?
OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD. Ok readers, prepare yourself. I say this because there will be a mixture in y'alls ability to related, understand, accept, freak out etc...I WAS BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
I'm working on a blog to post that outlines it all, so keep an eye out for that soon.
Everyone experiences the presence of the Holy Spirit differently; DO NOT COMPARE YOUR LIFE TO MINE (unless you can already relate, thats chill).
I have physically felt in my body His presence:
First experience, I was starting to feel lighter and didn't notice it too much until a staffer whose fingertips were on my forehead were too much a force for me to stand and I was caught by other staff and layer on the floor.
Then I was overcome by laughter, that was probably the most enjoyable (who wouldn't want to bust out in the Lord's laughter--He laughs really hard, like ab-work out hard)
Later that same day I got up to praise God and just intercede in prayer and enjoy the incredible works of God happening right before my eyes. I was praying and friends came over to call out my prayer language, something you get sometime after your baptism in the Holy Spirit. I wanted more, thats for sure: more laughing, more physical acknowledgement of His presence...anything!! So I'm standing up trying not to bend into the power of the Holy Spirit--I was starting to crouch down bc my abs were tired from laughing! But I didn't want to lose touch with the hands that were praying for me...So i'm laughing and crying (i'm emotional) and trying to use my voice all at the same time. I'm so joyful and just can't operate under so many tantalizing elements. Andrew, a staffer, calls out to me, "I know you have it, I want to hear it, let me hear it." So I muster up something and begin to speak in tongues!
Ok, I know these things are essentially rare in Christian culture today, so if anyone is skeptical, leery, judgmental...all these things I accept--I understand. 7 days ago I would have been all of the above. I'd love to chat further to answer your questions the best I can or even just to tell ya more about it!!
Sandy Blakely Duke What are you learning about yourself?
Oh man, this question is soo open-ended: I could mention 100's of things!
The most encompassing is this: everything I am, everything I'm not was all by God's design. (Darlene Cunningham's phrase, co-founder of YWAM). I have memories along my life from as early as second grade that God is calling back to my attention that remind me I've been who I am all my life. Every piece of that has been on purpose, for God's ultimate and worthy plans for His Kingdom and even my pleasure. It may have been something to be estranged by, which I definitely experienced a lot of--never recognizing much of my quirks in anyone else and wondering if I was normal. If you ever ask yourself, "Am I normal, is this right/ok?" The answer is Yes. God is going to do works through you that only you can do, because of the DNA He gave you.
It's not instant and constant confidence I have in this, there are still insecurities and forgetfulness that lack the above revelation, but its there and I'm working to press into it and live by it soon.
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