Christians walk in the shadow of Jesus. |
(Art by William Holman Hunt, 1870)
“Would you like to join us in a weekly prayer meeting?” The elderly Catholic pastor and a young Baptist pastor prayed with us. Pentecostals and Catholics and Christian brothers and sisters from other denominations all over town joined us. Pete Wasco, a Pentecostal farmer who lost one arm in a farm accident, was one prayer warrior. He repaired lawn mowers with his good arm. We arranged chairs in a circle and prayed with our interfaith group on Monday nights. Together, we grew in Christ.
"The wind blows wherever it pleases.
“You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8 NIV).
We learned how willing the Holy Spirit wants to flow among the different denominations! Mary and I held a deep appreciation for the Holy Spirit's unlimited love among the different churches. Because of Him, we felt free to respond to ministry wherever we were invited. You can't put God in a box.
I can not express how beautifully Mary played anointed music on the available piano or organ. Or she sang with her auto harp and led worship in the Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, or Methodist churches and in neighborhood prayer meetings. She played the modern charismatic songs and the traditional hymns of Christianity. Through her anointing, the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit immediately flowed over us in worship.
We assisted the local Full Gospel Businessmen's meeting. Mary designed a huge red and white wall banner of the Last Supper to hang behind their head table. We also prayed with our dear friends Abe and Naomi, Charismatic Mennonites, at Grace Chapel. Beautiful it is, to watch the Holy Spirit work in his Love.
Mary remembers one special night as the Holy Spirit spilled over in to our home. I offered to pray for her heartfelt concerns. At first she resisted, feeling a hesitancy with our husband-wife relationship.
"So I asked you to lay hands on me
and pray over me," Mary said.
"I told God: 'Okay, just because Bill's my husband, I'm not going to resist his gift. Whatever you want to do, that's fine'. As you placed hands on my head, the anointing of God immediately came over me so powerfully I collapsed to the floor.
“For sure I was out. I lay on the living room rug for some forty-five minutes. When I fell backwards, the Holy Spirit told me to stop resisting him and to yield. As I lay there, I saw myself looking up at Jesus on the cross. I felt his blood from the cross dripping on my forehead. The Holy Spirit gave me a scripture.
'I have been crucified with Christ...
“and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20 NIV).
"I just knew the experience of Jesus being the sacrifice for my sins. Then in the Spirit, I was lifted up onto the cross. I was on the cross with him, like in Jesus on the cross. I experienced what Jesus experienced when the Father looked away from him. It was the moment when Jesus took sin for me. And I felt forsaken, the darkness, the emptiness there, when Jesus died.
"At the same time, I can't tell you how this is. In my spirit I experienced the dynamite light explosion of the Resurrection, that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. That blackness felt like death, but then I experienced the light explosion!
“I experienced his Resurrection.
That's all I can say.
"It was an identification with Christ on the cross, of his blood covering me, of what Christ really did when he died for me. He took my sin upon his cross. He experienced death so I wouldn't have to. He did it for me. The power of the Holy Spirit that raised Christ up, raised me up. I felt that."
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (Rom 8:11 NIV).
Mary fell to the rug-covered floor under the anointing. She rose with the experience of the overwhelming power of the Holy Spirit. She rose with an understanding of Christ's sacrifice on his blood-soaked cross for her. She rose with an understanding of the light of his Resurrection Victory for the World.
– Bill & Mary Hunt
What do you need from God?
In our House of Prayer, we will join and pray for you, no matter what your faith is.
Pray for the Freedom of the people of Iran from their Tyrants. Dictators who use violence are afraid of their own subjects. Prayer is the greatest Power on Earth.
For more information click: Holy Spirit
2 comments:
Hi Bill,
Here I am, Starry. Thank you for writing to me, giving me strength and encouragement!!
Nobody has stolen my Heavenly joy.
The thing is that someone has shut off the light of his loving eyes, the life of a living being, somebody whom I began to love...
I feel guilty, because I said the wrong things to the wrong person. Anyway, I have been threatened. I can't tolerate this sort of behaviour by the Online Community. I don't call them Christians, since their practice is barbaric. If you wish to give me your Email, I shall be pleased to write to you, and give you mine. God bless you, Bill!!
Thank you for the compliment about me being a sunrise!! My heart is bleeding at this point. I am saddened to know that I have caused pain, and the lost of a living being for something that I have said to the wrong person.
Anyway, I have other blogs as well, so that I may go in with them. I'll see about that.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
In God's Garden,
Starry.
Bill, without the Holy Spirit the church can do nothing. But sometimes we still try! Thank you for your daily inspiration.....I am always glad I stopped by your place! Lori
Post a Comment