By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
I am not a good shopper. But I am a top-notch browser, and sometimes, I come across a real gem.
Several years ago, I was at a store shopping for T-shirts. Now, it is hard enough trying to decide for myself, but I was also buying for a friend of mine. I was reading the messages on the shirts when I became aware of another customer nearby.
We exchanged pleasantries and I continued my search but we kept bumping into
each other.
Well, a conversation soon opened up and within minutes she was sharing an
awesome testimony with me about a missionary that had spoken at her church. The man said he used to call on evil spirits and practiced
witchcraft.
He said one day a woman approached him because her husband had left
her for someone else and she wanted a curse placed on him.
Now the missionary said he went to the ex-husband’s house late one night
intending on doing him harm and as he approached, he saw a bright light coming from inside. It was way too bright for a regular light bulb and as he got closer, he could not identify any man-made light source that he knew of that could produce such a brilliance.
He tried to peek in the window, but the light blinded him so that he was unable to even look inside. Shielding his eyes in pain, he quickly retreated back into the darkness, frightened and bewildered.
Later he found out that that same evening at the husband’s home
there were two other visitors there before him. They were missionaries sharing the Gospel about the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ with the ex-husband.
Not long after, the man intent on doing harm also heard the message of God’s saving grace through Christ. And he chose to place his faith in Jesus to receive salvation and was born again in the Spirit.
The women in the store said the man delivering his testimony stood still on
the platform and paused, then looking intently at the congregation he continued, “SAINT’S! You MUST all know how bright God’s light is inside of each of us and how powerful this is!!”
(“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt. 13:43
“His (Jesus) face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” Matt. 17:2)
Now friends, in this column I am declaring the same truth.
Children of God! We must realize Who is living inside of us.
We consist of three parts: spirit, soul and body. When we are born again in
Christ Jesus, it is our spirit that is changed. Our soul, mind, will and emotions stay the same and must be renewed by the word of God to our new identity as part of the body of Christ, and our physical body will follow whatever direction our mind goes. Then if we choose to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, God fills the temple with His Holy Spirit. We become immersed in His Holy Spirit.
THIS IS HUGE!!!!
Our Heavenly Father is not just out there, somewhere up in heaven, or in some far away place, only coming down to earth every now and then when He feels like it to perform a random miracle or wreck havoc on the earth (as some mistakenly suppose). He is good, He is great and He is an awesome Father God and is not withholding or keeping anything back from those who will believe! He is also a consuming fire who is rich in love and mercy.
We need to quit focusing on our frail emotions, or weaknesses in the body and concentrate on the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us.
I first heard this message several years ago when I was diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis. God put a Bible teacher in my path who said, “take your thumb out of your mouth, quit feeling sorry for yourself and magnifying your problems, and start believing and acting on the word of God. Tell you how BIG your GOD is!”
It shocked me at first and I was so tempted to be offended because I WAS
consumed with self-pity, but I was just desperate enough to not harden my heart so I could listen.
Now I had been born again for many years but I also prayed and received
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The word of God came alive to me and soon a righteous anger rose up on the inside of me at the devil. I was angry that I had been deceived and kept in the dark because I was unaware that Jesus had already healed my body, finances, emotions and relationships. And here I was getting beat to a pulp. I was still getting sick, defeated by every little hurt feeling or financial deficit when God was living on the inside of me the whole time.
I was not angry at people, just the Sovereignty of God teachings that ARE
NOT Biblical! He is not responsible for everything that happens to us.
He is the Creator of the Universe and all that is in it but God gave us
dominion and authority over all the earth. He is our Lord and HAS supplied all
of our needs but He can only work through us in proportion to our faith and
belief.
God actually said we can speak to our mountains and tell them to move, we should resist the devil and he will flee, life and death are in the power of our tongue, we are the head and not the tail, above ONLY and not beneath, and that we are MORE than conquerors through Him who loved us.
To name just a few of the hundreds of verses.
I will say this again, that without the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, you can not experience this same power.
I would not be writing this column today if I had not pressed on in the word of
God and received the Baptism of His Holy Spirit after I was born again.
So, with this new understanding, I refused to identify with that disease. Instead I started reading about who I am in Christ, building up my faith in His word and chose to believe God instead. I started walking out by faith and along with God’s grace, love and power working on the inside of me, I quit believing a lie and received complete healing.
God makes it so easy to receive from Him, we make it hard or nearly impossible with our own unbelief. We need to take our authority over our circumstances, step out of our comfort zones and quit speaking and acting like “mere humans.” We are called to live supernatural lives in Christ Jesus.
It’s time to grow up and start weaning ourselves off of worldly pacifiers and
latch onto the truth of God’s word. Start walking by faith, quit running to the
internet, doctors/medicine cabinet, government for EVERY need.
That way of life is expected for unbelievers because they don’t have the life of God flowing inside of them!! Some people might choose to be offended by what I’m saying. Again, this is not my intention.
And if I have ever offended you by my personal opinions, I genuinely apologize to you and repent, but if you are offended by the Word of God written in context to His true nature and if this upsets your own beliefs or church doctrines, then you should repent. Your problem is not with me or this column, it is between you and God.
So, please “don’t hit the dimmer switch” on the Holy Spirit in you.
We are the light of the world, and people need to see His light in us!!
I love you too much not to keep sharing these truths.
1 Cor. 3:3,16, 6:9-11, Eph. 1:3, 2:6,8, Gen. Chpt. 1; Deut. 28:13; Luke 9:11,
10:9-11, 19, 11:2, 20, 12:32, 17:21, 24:49; Prov. 4:18, 18:21; 1 Peter 5:8;
Isaiah 60:19; James 4:7, Mark 11:23′ 1 Thess. 5:23′ Matt. 5:3, 13:43; Rom. 8:9,
11; Col. 1:27, Titus 2:15)Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
