I would like to share something wonderful and unforgettable that took place this past weekend. I hope that you will take the time to read what I have to say, because it is something that our present generation really needs to get a grasp upon; Not because I am saying it, but because it is truth. It is what God wants. This post will be long, but it will be worth your time. If you can't read it all now, come back and read when you can finish the post.
On Course youth conference this past week was amazing. The services were awesome. The preaching convicted and challenged me and the Lord stirred a desire in my heart to "take up the mantle." This isn't for the weak and the lazy, but for those who are hungry enough to fight for the kingdom of God and the things of God. Friday night, Bro. Jonathan Dudley preached on "A Revival of the Name," and talked with conviction about the power of the Name of Jesus. Keep that in mind!
Though I was blessed at the conference tremendously, I still didn't feel like I had gotten exactly where I wanted to be. Our friends (Eric & Alyssa Nix) were out here with their parents visiting and attended the conference with us. Paul and I took them to Fresno after the conference where their dad was going to be preaching the next day, and we met up with a small group of young people to have a good ol' jamm session. There were about 10 of us there at North Calvary in Fresno. I couldn't help but feel in my spirit and think in the back of my mind, "what if we just started worshipping God right here?" So many times when we go to fellowship, we keep it strictly at that. But this time, I felt like God wanted to do more. However, I held back. Sometimes it's a bit awkward wanting to be the first one to say something or start praying. Will everyone else pray, too? Will they not be willing to "break up the party" so to speak? We as humans tend to second guess ourselves and hold back. But you know, it really doesn't take much to start a fire. Just one little spark could set fields ablaze!
We were singing "Jesus I love You, I love You," and I felt it even stronger. God wanted to do something. Suddenly there was a huge crash and the jamm session came to a halt. We looked up to realize that the middle shelf under the pulpit had fallen. On it was a glass tray and pitcher of water, anointing oil, and some other things. The glass from the tray and pitcher was everywhere! The water from the pitcher had spilled out and began running off the bottom self of the pulpit... right into an electrical outlet that was on the floor. We quickly picked up the bigger pieces of glass and some of the guys went and turned off all the breakers/electricity so that we could get the outlet taken care of without someone being electrocuted.
I looked at where the shelf had been and wondered how in the world it fell like that. Everything that had been holding the shelf up was perfectly in place. There was no indication that there was a problem with the brackets and supports. The shelf simply shouldn't have fallen. Nobody was near it when it fell. It somehow seemed to have jumped right out of it's spot itself and turned over to break everything. We thought it strange and jokingly blamed the devil, but in the back of my mind, I wondered!
A while later the problem was fixed, the lights came back on, and we turned the sound back on along with the instruments. I remember turning to Alyssa and saying, "lets go up there and have a worship service!" She said, "ok!" Before we even went up, I noticed my brother already beginning to pray, along with AJ who was on the piano. We went up and started singing with AJ and I reached out and began to worship God. So did Alyssa. So did everyone else, right there in the middle of our little "jamm session." The glory of God fell upon this small group of young people simply because we were hungry for more.
We began to weep, pray, and talk in tongues. What a renewing! There was such a strong presence of God; I could feel the Spirit doing a great work in our midst. God was meeting with us - His eye was upon us. What was supposed to be a fun little jamm session turned into about 2 hours of intense prayer, travail, weeping, shouting and dancing, and the gifts of the spirit in operation. A Word of God went forth and He began to tell us that if we would humble ourselves and submit to Him, "The fire will fall." The place broke with some of the loudest, most intense prayer I have probably ever heard from that small of a group of people. The place was truly shaken. We had a time of testimony afterwards and after each young person spoke, the Holy Ghost would fall again. It was one of those places in the presence of God that you just didn't want to leave. My brother told everyone that the shelf falling and shutting every thing down was no accident. The devil knew God wanted to move and he tried to stop it from happening. Of course we know that plan failed! We began to talk about how God is wanting to restore faith, healing, and miracles in our generation. WE have to be the ones to pick up the mantle and get a hold of this for ourselves. We can't always ride on the coat tails of our elders and let them do all the work. We must follow them as they follow Christ, but the responsibility is now being passed down to our generation. Are you willing to be a part of what God is trying to do in these last days? Are you willing to be a conduit which God's power is able to flow through? Are you surrendered fully? I don't know about you, but I have been working on myself and I want to make absolutely sure that I don't miss out on what God is doing. I want to be right in the middle of His plan! What a scary thing to miss the very will and plan of God. As the song says, "Lord, whatever You're doing in this season, please don't do it without me!"
Don't be intimidated to speak up when you feel God wants to move! You can get together with your friends and pray during a time of fellowship. What would happen if some young men would put down the video games for a bit and reach out to God? What would happen if someone young ladies stopped what they were doing and called upon the Lord out of a sincere hunger and desire for more of Him? Some of the biggest fires are started from just one little spark. YOU can be the spark plug in your youth group and in your local church! Revival is in the young people! Don't be intimidated by your peers. If they laugh at you or do not care to be a part of what God is doing, then God has better friends for you anyhow. Stay with those who hunger! Allow God to use you to start a Holy Ghost fire in your local assembly.
(I have testimonies of at least 3 miracles that God did within the past 2 days. I will share on the next post!)
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 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.
On Course youth conference this past week was amazing. The services were awesome. The preaching convicted and challenged me and the Lord stirred a desire in my heart to "take up the mantle." This isn't for the weak and the lazy, but for those who are hungry enough to fight for the kingdom of God and the things of God. Friday night, Bro. Jonathan Dudley preached on "A Revival of the Name," and talked with conviction about the power of the Name of Jesus. Keep that in mind!
Though I was blessed at the conference tremendously, I still didn't feel like I had gotten exactly where I wanted to be. Our friends (Eric & Alyssa Nix) were out here with their parents visiting and attended the conference with us. Paul and I took them to Fresno after the conference where their dad was going to be preaching the next day, and we met up with a small group of young people to have a good ol' jamm session. There were about 10 of us there at North Calvary in Fresno. I couldn't help but feel in my spirit and think in the back of my mind, "what if we just started worshipping God right here?" So many times when we go to fellowship, we keep it strictly at that. But this time, I felt like God wanted to do more. However, I held back. Sometimes it's a bit awkward wanting to be the first one to say something or start praying. Will everyone else pray, too? Will they not be willing to "break up the party" so to speak? We as humans tend to second guess ourselves and hold back. But you know, it really doesn't take much to start a fire. Just one little spark could set fields ablaze!
We were singing "Jesus I love You, I love You," and I felt it even stronger. God wanted to do something. Suddenly there was a huge crash and the jamm session came to a halt. We looked up to realize that the middle shelf under the pulpit had fallen. On it was a glass tray and pitcher of water, anointing oil, and some other things. The glass from the tray and pitcher was everywhere! The water from the pitcher had spilled out and began running off the bottom self of the pulpit... right into an electrical outlet that was on the floor. We quickly picked up the bigger pieces of glass and some of the guys went and turned off all the breakers/electricity so that we could get the outlet taken care of without someone being electrocuted.
I looked at where the shelf had been and wondered how in the world it fell like that. Everything that had been holding the shelf up was perfectly in place. There was no indication that there was a problem with the brackets and supports. The shelf simply shouldn't have fallen. Nobody was near it when it fell. It somehow seemed to have jumped right out of it's spot itself and turned over to break everything. We thought it strange and jokingly blamed the devil, but in the back of my mind, I wondered!
A while later the problem was fixed, the lights came back on, and we turned the sound back on along with the instruments. I remember turning to Alyssa and saying, "lets go up there and have a worship service!" She said, "ok!" Before we even went up, I noticed my brother already beginning to pray, along with AJ who was on the piano. We went up and started singing with AJ and I reached out and began to worship God. So did Alyssa. So did everyone else, right there in the middle of our little "jamm session." The glory of God fell upon this small group of young people simply because we were hungry for more.
We began to weep, pray, and talk in tongues. What a renewing! There was such a strong presence of God; I could feel the Spirit doing a great work in our midst. God was meeting with us - His eye was upon us. What was supposed to be a fun little jamm session turned into about 2 hours of intense prayer, travail, weeping, shouting and dancing, and the gifts of the spirit in operation. A Word of God went forth and He began to tell us that if we would humble ourselves and submit to Him, "The fire will fall." The place broke with some of the loudest, most intense prayer I have probably ever heard from that small of a group of people. The place was truly shaken. We had a time of testimony afterwards and after each young person spoke, the Holy Ghost would fall again. It was one of those places in the presence of God that you just didn't want to leave. My brother told everyone that the shelf falling and shutting every thing down was no accident. The devil knew God wanted to move and he tried to stop it from happening. Of course we know that plan failed! We began to talk about how God is wanting to restore faith, healing, and miracles in our generation. WE have to be the ones to pick up the mantle and get a hold of this for ourselves. We can't always ride on the coat tails of our elders and let them do all the work. We must follow them as they follow Christ, but the responsibility is now being passed down to our generation. Are you willing to be a part of what God is trying to do in these last days? Are you willing to be a conduit which God's power is able to flow through? Are you surrendered fully? I don't know about you, but I have been working on myself and I want to make absolutely sure that I don't miss out on what God is doing. I want to be right in the middle of His plan! What a scary thing to miss the very will and plan of God. As the song says, "Lord, whatever You're doing in this season, please don't do it without me!"
Don't be intimidated to speak up when you feel God wants to move! You can get together with your friends and pray during a time of fellowship. What would happen if some young men would put down the video games for a bit and reach out to God? What would happen if someone young ladies stopped what they were doing and called upon the Lord out of a sincere hunger and desire for more of Him? Some of the biggest fires are started from just one little spark. YOU can be the spark plug in your youth group and in your local church! Revival is in the young people! Don't be intimidated by your peers. If they laugh at you or do not care to be a part of what God is doing, then God has better friends for you anyhow. Stay with those who hunger! Allow God to use you to start a Holy Ghost fire in your local assembly.
(I have testimonies of at least 3 miracles that God did within the past 2 days. I will share on the next post!)
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 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.
5 comments:
Tremendous testimony! I well remember times like that...they are life-changing. So glad my nephew and niece got to be a part of it, too!
I truly know we were all changed and will never forget what happened. It is still with me today. Times like those also bind friends together.
I know I already texted you, but AWESOME!!! I wish I could have been a part of this!!!
Powerful Jen! These are the most unforgettable experiences. They forever imprint us and become part of our spiritual DNA. So thankful for your hunger for God!!
Matt, Mary, and Kendra - Amen and Amen! I am so thankful for this and for what God has been doing. I really feel like we are so close to the coming of the Lord and that He wants to move mightily before He returns. I am determined to be a part of whatever He chooses to do!
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