and again

Returning to that list of 10 life changing moments....

#7
Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Wow. I experienced new life when I gave myself to God and began attending a new church. After 2 years there, I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and it was very life changing. I went forward at the altar call on a Sunday night and ended up staying there, praising God for about an hour. There were only about 10 of us left...everyone else had gone home. But someone was playing piano and 3 or 4 of us were standing and praying, praising God and committing ourselves to Him. 3 or 4 more, including our Pastor, were praying over us. I remember my pastor asking "Jennifer, what is it you want?" I told him that I just wanted to give God a hug. God was my daddy and I just wanted to climb in His lap and hold Him tight. My pastor kind of laughed, shook his head, and said "Well then DO it!" So I prayed, and in my heart, I hugged God. I just praised Him out loud and before I was aware of the transition, they weren't my words anymore.

I just want to pause and insert here that I know this must sound hokey at the least and sacreligious to some. But I know it's real and I know it is a scriptural gift from God, as mentioned in Acts 1:4-8 and again as an ongoing gift in Acts 11:15-17 (and many other places, but these sum it up succinctly.) Hope I don't freak anyone out, but I've got to be honest about this one. Continuing...

I had always thought that praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit was supposed to be a climactic event....you pray and pray and lead up to it and then it was supposed to hit you and be some spiritual orgasmic event. Well, it wasn't. I was standing in God's presence and praising Him before the baptism. Standing in God's presence is an exciting, wonderful place to be. I didn't immediately recognize that I was speaking in tongues, it just eased over. But then I was and it was awesome. It was a very cool night. I've been in a lot of pentecostal services, but none again like this. The joy of the Lord filled that place in such a real and palpable way. I was laughing in the Spirit and I couldn't help it. I was tingling with joy.

The cool part was that it didn't end. The service ended, but my tingles didn't. I went home and felt God. I went to school and to work and I felt God. I got overwhelmed and stressed and ran off to the bathroom to pray and instantly felt God. I tingled. The difference from before and after baptism was the relationship. The personal-ness. The purposeful-ness. My very life became God's. My purpose for breathing was to worship God. I was walking in His will and the realness of the Holy Spirit...as if someone were holding my hand constantly...was a confirmation. It's not just a momentous occasion, it is a life changing, continuous experience.

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