Last Tuesday night, during our livestream, there was such an incredible sense of God’s presence… and everything broke.
It was a great success.
A couple issues with batteries, cables and technical glitches resulted in us stripping back our setup to one camera on a tripod and a feed without lyrics. But, a media team with time on its hands translates to worshippers laid out on the floor and basking in the beauty of Jesus.
Today I’m preparing to brief the team again for tonight’s stream and I’m believing for a Ephesians 5:18 outpouring in our worship. The Amplified version says:
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.”
One Scholar said it like this: “be being filled.”
I was listening to one of my favourite, old school, faith preachers this morning (Keith Moore) and he pointed out that the same believers that were filled with the Holy Spirit on Acts 2 were filled again in Acts 4. Being filled with the Holy Spirit isn’t a one time deal, it’s a lifestyle rooted in dependence on the Father and availability to the Holy Spirit.
I’m really looking forward to tonight, hoping that on the technical side everything goes well; but more than that, that the king shows up. Last week we feasted but still we’re getting hungrier!
The definition of infill (Merriam Webster) is: “material that fills in something (such as a hole or the spaces between a building’s structural members)”. Lord help us to open ourselves wide, that our hearts would become caverns that you might inhabit. Come and fill the cracks that appear in our hearts as we break them over Your feet and anoint You with our perfume. We welcome the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
I would like to share a deeply transformative experience that occurred after I had been away from church and faith for nearly twenty years. I was saved and baptized when I was 7 but that was a long time ago. I had stopped reading the Bible, praying or going to church for 20 years. So this was very unexpected for me. I had prayed for the first time in forever and asked God to intervene in my life and get my attention because I was spiritually dead. I had a house, a family and a business but there was something missing.
So I was at my great aunt’s funeral, which was nearing its end, I was sitting quietly at the back of the congregation. As I was reflecting on my own absence from faith over the years, I was unexpectedly touched by the Holy Spirit in a manner I had never anticipated or believed possible.
Suddenly, I felt a sensation like lightning striking my chest, followed by an overwhelming flood of divine unconditional love that surged through me. I can only describe it as liquid light, almost pouring over me like honey. Tears were pouring out of me like never before, feelings of pure peace and contentment and joy.
It felt like my heart would explode from love if it kept growing in strength. This was so intense that my wife had to assist me to the bathroom because I was unable to feel my body and needed to completely surrender. If it had been a normal church service I would’ve been at the altar. Despite my concerns about how others might view me at the funeral, I could not resist the power of what was happening to me, I was receiving what some call the baptism of the Holy Spirit, others say he just refills you with his spirit and that you received the baptism at conversion. Either way, this was the work of God.
Once in the bathroom, lying on the floor and fully surrendering to this experience, a vision began to unfold….I was enveloped by a brilliant, golden-white light, and I saw cathedral-like windows stretching endlessly upwards into the distance…the golden white light pouring into the room. Within this light, a throne appeared covered in jewels of all kinds. Nobody was sitting on it, as I remembered Jesus said no man had seen the father but him. And to the right of the throne was a lamb gazing at me. Above the throne, three golden crowns adorned with red jewels emerged, which I later was told by the Holy Spirit was the promises and inheritance God has made to me and my family. Our crowns of life.
The next morning, the Holy Spirit instructed me to share my testimony with every church in my county. I have been following this guidance, speaking to a few people at times and, at other times, addressing entire congregations. I still feel his presence daily as there are times there is a warm fuzzy fire like sensation in my chest when I need soothing or directing. Jesus referred to this as the living water springing forth from within. I have learned to pay attention to this as often it’s him getting my attention to something happening around me or guiding me.
This experience has served as a profound reminder of God’s presence and promises, despite my long absence from church and scripture. I share this testimony to highlight the transformative power of divine love and grace and to affirm that even after a significant period away from faith, God’s presence can reach us in the most unexpected and profound ways.