Hearing from Him

As I was driving to meet with some friends to pray together, this song played on the radio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YLXWANhvI – which I’d heard many times before, but never paid attention to the words. At one point, the words became crystal clear to me and seemed to be spoken straight to my heart.
I arrived at my friend’s house, and there was a good time of sharing and prayer.  Much of what my friends had for me in reply to what I shared seemed pertinent to the section of the song that stood out so strongly to me. I shared that perhaps the Lord spoke something to me on the drive over which tied in to what was being revealed. They asked what, and I explained about the song, and I sang the section that the Lord highlighted for me:

“..got a couple dents in my fender - a couple rips in my jeans. Try and fit the pieces together, but PERFECTION is my enemy. On my own I'm so clumsy, but on Your shoulders I can see, I'm FREE to be me.”

At that point, a friend reached behind her and grabbed a sheet of paper. On her drive over (1 hour and 45 minutes in traffic!), she had heard the same song, and the Lord impressed on her that the words were meant for me (that specific section that I had just sung!). There it was – scribbled on her paper (quite scribbled, because she wrote it while driving – ha!!)... the exact section of the song! How amazing to have the Lord confirm His encouragement to me. He is incredibly kind. : )

I'm a child in this journey, but I'm so glad that my ears are opening and I'm learning to recognize His voice. I hope this story speaks to you in some way!  He is VERY real - He is CRAZY about you - and He does speak and move in powerful ways.

Speaking His Love

I have experienced the Spirit of God come over someone about 5 times in the last 16 years, mainly through my loving husband, either while he was praying or worshipping/singing. It has been different every time. An overwhelming empathy comes over him, where he actually feels the person’s pain. On two occasions I was the only witness. Knowing my husband so well, I knew that it was only God anointing him in that way. On other occasions, there were other witnesses where an instance similar to Numbers 11:17 occurred, where God took the Spirit that was on the leader and put it on the followers. For example, once there were about 8 of us praying in a home, when the Spirit fell upon us. There was a sense of incredible peace upon everyone - a heavy anointing. We sat in awe silently for 5 minutes after. The experience was so unbelievable, that not a word has been spoken about it since. Looking back, it strikes me as sad how people do not know how to react when they are not used to His presence. I felt like, "Wow! What just happened? Now what do we do?"

I had only ever felt the anointing of the Spirit with my husband present, so I sort of relied on his ability to "tap into it." And when you feel it, you want so much to live there forever, to never let it go. And when it is gone, you are in total awe of what just happened. Intellectually, I knew that the Spirit could manifest in any form or fashion, whenever or wherever He wanted. But I didn't really accept that in my heart until I had an experience without my husband present beside me. This occurred in February '08 when I went to receive a prophetic word about myself from God from a prayer team at Calvary Community Church. This was a special session that I signed up for after attending one of their Ministry Team Training conferences.

As I entered a room with 4 people whom I had never met before, I thought they would tell me "OK, let's be quiet for a minute and listen to God, to see what He has to say". Well, I had no sooner sat myself in the chair than the first woman began to speak. She spoke of an explosion of force. Then the man beside her described the force being like a drag racing car taking off on the start line. The wheels spin off of the pavement, burn out, then take off in full force as their tires make contact. As he was describing this, the look on his face was quizzical. I felt that he was wondering if I wouldn't understand what he was talking about. He was getting a picture of a drag race car, but would a woman know anything about that? I just nodded my head, purposefully not giving him much feedback because I didn't want to react to what he was saying.

The woman who had spoken first also gave the last comment. She said, "I notice you are wearing white socks. You are conservative. God wants you to know you should wear colored socks." I almost fell out of my chair at this point. No one in the entire world knew, except myself, that I had been phasing colored socks out of my sock drawer for six months. I had only white, black, and khaki left, and intended to get rid of the remaining khaki ones.

These people also were unaware that my father is a drag racer. My childhood was spent on many drag strips in the Southern part of the United States. In a sense, the drag strip was my church. I knew exactly what the man on the prayer team was talking about. When the tires of a drag racing car make contact, that's when the power happens. For about six months, I'd been feeling like my wheels were spinning regarding what my role was as support to my husband in his business, and my role as mother to my children. I'd been praying for direction. With the picture of drag racing that the Lord provided, I knew that God knew me intimately and He would take care of me. He was speaking my language to me. TO ME, personally in a way that I would understand! This was HUGE for me. So huge, that I couldn't grasp it and take it all in. I just had to sob with joy! It was absolutely amazing.

God was speaking His love to me through prophecy. Now I had experienced it myself. And now, by the way, I wear colored socks!

-Jenifer

Shocked by the Voice of God

From gracEmail, by Edward Fudge:

"Sure, God spoke to Noah, Isaac and Phillip," we sometimes think. "But he would never speak to me." Little wonder that when he does speak directly today, it is often a shocking experience. At my request, gracEmail subscriber Jack Outhier has reluctantly but kindly given me permission to relate his shocking encounter with the voice of God -- and the good fruit that resulted from it. Jack's email address is jack.outhier@LegacySolutionsLLC.com

* * *

"I was driving alone. Suddenly, within my spirit, I felt moved to turn at an upcoming intersection to go 'speak' to a couple who lived nearby. I knew who they were but did not know them and had no idea what I would say. I struggled for a mile as I approached the intersection, my logic arguing with the Spirit’s leading. I sped past the intersection at about 70 m.p.h. when the next instant a voice boomed into the silence of my vehicle, 'I SAID TURN!' It was a loud and forceful demand that shocked me into slamming on my brakes and pulling off the road. I turned around and took the road He had first 'nudged' me to take.

"Pulling into the couple's driveway, I was totally confused, scared and at an absolute loss of what to say. To my relief, no one answered the door and I headed back to my car. Then, as if a rubber band were pulling me, I was drawn around to the back of the house where I found them working in the garden. They were probably as confused as I was to see me walking back there. They knew who I was, but we had no common ties, had never visited and I now lived 100 miles away,

"We never even shook hands. I just began to speak, revealing things to them that I did not know and could not have known. That scared me to death and turned their faces white with shock. It was my voice but they were not my words. I spoke of their addiction to alcohol and drugs, naming places they frequented which I had never heard of. I named a man whose name I had never heard, with whom the wife was having an affair, and charged the husband with other sins. My 'speaking' went for about ten minutes while all the blood seemed to drain from their faces. When the words stopped coming out of my mouth I had no idea what to say next. I felt terrible for what I had said and simply departed, leaving them arguing, crying, screaming and denying as I drove away. For the next hour I drove in stunned silence. I dared not tell my own church what had transpired and had no one else to discuss this with.

"The next week the woman checked herself into treatment for chemical abuse and the man divorced her while she was in the hospital. Five years later this lady remarried and asked me to perform her wedding. During that interval she had given her heart and life to the Lord and I had baptized her into Christ. She had daughters who all led their husbands to Christ and are raising their children in the Lord. Last year the mom told me that 26 people are joyously walking a Christian walk today because of the voice I heard that day on the highway."

For more about the Christian grace-gift of prophecy, click here.

Copyright 2008 by Edward Fudge for Jack Outhier.
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Anointed by the Spirit

The past five Ministry Team Training Conferences (November 2006 through February 2008) at the Calvary Community Church in Houston have been a great blessing in my life. It has strengthened my relationship with God and deepened my love for Him.

In November 2004, I found out I had six blockages (some 95%) in my coronary arteries and had by-pass heart surgery. This scare made me want to be closer to God. For the next two years, I started praying daily and studied God’s Word often, but still I felt I did not have a deep personal relationship with Him.

At the invitation of my daughter Rebecca, I attended my first Ministry Team Training in November 2006. I was encouraged by the stories of God’s Holy Spirit being active in people’s lives today, healing them, and giving them prophetic words of encouragement. The first words given to me during a Prophetic Ministry session rang amazingly true. One person said when he prayed for me, he saw me standing in the woods near a stream and the Lord came to me and asked "What can I do for you, Joseph?". I said I just love being near Him in the beauty of the outdoors. The Lord said "I know that, but still what can I do for you?" The picture revealed to that person by the Holy Spirit was so true. I have always loved the beauty of the woods and waters, and often praised God there for His wonderful creation.

During the next three Ministry Team Training and Prophetic Ministry sessions in 2007, I received more insight into the will of God for my life. In these sessions and also at home, at church, and in Bible studies, I became closer to God and developed a deep love for Him. I felt the Holy Spirit slowly making changes in me.

The Ministry Team Training in October 2007 was amazing for me. I was in Jeff McGee’s class on Deliverance and Anointing of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the class at 3:30 PM, the class stood in a large circle in the classroom while Jeff slowly prayed for the Holy Spirit to come. I kept my mind still and waited on the Lord. I just occasionally prayed "Come, Holy Spirit". I felt a tingling in my fingers and a heaviness in my body. I prayed "Increase your power, Holy Spirit." After a few minutes, I had to sit in a chair behind me because of the heaviness. For thirty minutes as I sat slumped back in that chair, I had the most intense feeling of peace and love throughout my body that I had ever felt in my entire life!

At 4:10 PM, still feeling heavy with the peace and love of the Holy Spirit, I went downstairs with Jeff. I waited on the back row as all the classes came down, and as Steve and the other pastors started organizing teams to pray for healing. I joined a team to pray for a man who had hurt his right shoulder and elbow. The leader prayed first, then the second team member, then me. I placed my left hand on the man’s shoulder and my right hand on his elbow. I humbly prayed only a few words - for the Holy Spirit to heal the man and take away his pain, and to do it to glorify God. I blessed the work of the Lord and then waited on the Spirit for a minute or two in silence. After I prayed thanks to God and removed my hands, all four of us discussed our prayer session. Although I really was expecting a healing, I was still amazed when the man told us that when I placed my hands on his shoulder and elbow and started praying, he felt a tingling and then warmth at those two spots, and then his pain was gone! I knew that God had anointed me with His Holy Spirit in the classroom, and then used me just like a "mailman" to deliver His healing to that man.

~ Joseph
jgs106@juno.com

Calvary Community Church

I wanted to post a brief description of Calvary Community Church, since it is being referenced in some of the posts on this blog.

Calvary Community Church has been used by the Lord to bless many believers in the Houston area and beyond. They have a very interesting history. Calvary started as a Southern Baptist Church. In the 1980’s, the pastor was feeling burnt out, and went through a season of seeking and crying out to the Lord. The Holy Spirit surprised Calvary with an intense time of manifesting Himself powerfully. They experienced healings, gifts of knowledge, and discernment between spirits, among other manifestations. Since they originally believed that the Holy Spirit no longer worked as He did in New Testament times, they were challenged to go back to the Bible and re-evaluate what they believed, in light of their experiences.

Calvary has been building up and encouraging fellow Christians for years through their Ministry Team Training conferences that they hold every few months. The first session, Foundations for Power Ministry, led by Steve Meeks, is a great day of hearing the incredible history of what God did at Calvary as well as being challenged by what the Bible says about how the Holy Spirit works. By learning how the Holy Spirit works, believers are challenged to live as disciples by actively ministering to, healing, and teaching others.

Calvary went through a season of the Holy Spirit being poured out very frequently. Steve likened it to God 'advertising' for the kingdom to come. He can do what He wants when He wants to. They continue to be obedient in ministering to others, leaving the work to the Holy Spirit - and He does as He desires.

The teachings at the Ministry Team Training's are Biblically grounded, and there is plenty of opportunity to ask questions. After the conference, there is the option of being ministered to through one of their prophecy teams. Their prophecy teams consist of two to four people, who pray and listen for a word from the Lord to share. It is encouraging to receive a word from the Lord that is meant only for you (and validating to realize that it has to be from the Lord because these people know nothing about you, but the message is very personal). It is comforting to be reminded that God is still present, powerful and intimately involved in our lives.