For one to encounter the Lord, preparation is a must. Thus John the Baptist came from the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness. So that Jesus might be manifested to all Israel, he came baptizing in the water and declaring to all people, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’
After John’s arrest, Jesus came proclaiming “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” Heaven, the Kingdom of God is a prepared place for a prepared people. So to enter in, to encounter God, one must be PREPARED
Preparation at BHF For our Face to Face Encounters with Jesus
Today I will share the preparation that one of our church members went through before encountering the Lord. In the next article, I will share the preparation we went through as a church before hearing the audible voice of God corporately.
Blazing Holy Fire Church had encounters with the Lord which lasted for over 1 year. The first person to have the encounters was the youngest in our midst. She was at the time in high school and she even went through preparation without knowing she would encounter the Lord.
In the Springs of 2013, this young lady had just gone through inner healing and deliverance. The pastor and the deliverance team spent a few nights ministering healing and deliverance to her. During this time, great things happened. For the first time, this young woman found freedom from many strongholds and abuses; where there used to be unbelief, faith arose.
To show her gratitude to the Lord for such an incredible deliverance, peace and joy, she dedicated herself to the Lord unreservedly. She decided to wake up every morning 2 hours before preparing for school to tell God how thankful she was and to pray. She used all those two hours to pray powerfully and as she prayed, she would be lost in God’s presence. She became a faithful follower of Christ. 2-3 months into this faithful time of prayer, the Lord began to open her eyes, first to see angels, demons and the spiritual realm. Days in and days out, she began to see more and even was taken to the outskirt of hell (the Lord can take people there for the purpose that we will share in our next newsletter). Then she began to see more and more. Every time we came together in prayer, the Lord opened her eyes to see more. One day in pray, she saw the beautiful sandaled feet of Jesus. Then more was shown her and one night, when hell was shown to her at its worst and she screamed a lot seeing humans falling into the pit of hell, that very same day, when hell was at its worst, she saw the beautiful face of Jesus fully and saw His majestic beauty from head to toes; it was that very same day the Lord took her to the throne room in heaven.
From the throne room, she was given a message by Abba Papa, the message was to the church and she received individual letters for everyone of the 12 prayer warriors telling everyone to prepare for the Lord. From that night on, the Lord revealed Himself to 12 prayers warriors of the church for a period of over 1 year. In the beginning, the Lord would appear when we started to pray at 7pm, but later on, as we fell more in love with Jesus and longing for Him, the Lord started showing up early than the appointed times of prayer. From then on, more visits began to take place in our midst, and we heard and saw great and mighty things.
PREPARATION IN THE TIMES PAST
· To encounter God on Mount Sinai, the call to the children of Israel was very clear: “Be consecrated. Be prepared for on the third day the LORD will come down in your midst.” Exodus 19
· Before going up to the mountain to receive new tablets with the commandments, God made it clear to Moses, “Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop.” Exodus 34:2
· Then Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." Joshua 3
· “And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5
Through John the Baptist, God made a promise to His people that He will baptize those who believe with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11).
The promise is given but people must believe in the promise and then prepare to receive it. It seems to humans that often times the promises of God take forever to take place. We need to understand that God is beyond time, and that God’s time is something that we humans can not fully understand while in this body! So we must wait patiently with faith and hope, for God never fail to fulfill His promises.
The Lord knows us best and He never fails to remind us that He would fulfill what He said He would. It is in this way that in John 14, Jesus reminded His disciples of the promise again “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.” He yet again, reminded them of the Holy Spirit promise in John 16.
The time came for Jesus’ suffering to come and even die, thought it seemed hopeless to many, God had not forgotten the promise He made. Everything was on a divine calendar and everything had to go as pre-planned!
In Luke 24, as the time drew closer, the Lord told the disciples that they must prepare: “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49 Here is a great promise, but it comes with conditions. They must wait in the city, anyone who is not obedient will not inherit the promise.
CONSECRATION AND WAITING A MUST FOR THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
To consecrate means to set someone or something apart as holy, as sacred unto God for His service. It is God who consecrates His people but God also uses human being to act on His behalf. In Exodus 19, God told Moses, “Consecrate the people”. God may also ask people to consecrate themselves individually or corporately.
A. Consecration and Cleansing by the Washing of the Water: In Genesis 19:10 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their garments.” Moses began the ritual of consecrating the people by asking them to wash with water. In the New Testament, John the Baptist came baptizing in the water for those who believed in the Gospel - REPENTANCE. Water cleanses and here it symbolizes the cleansing that takes place as people repent of their sins. Though these were outward actions, it is a shadow of what truly takes place inwardly: We are washed and cleansed by the Word of God. The water here symbolizes The Word of God. “You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you” John 15:3. The word of God cleanses us.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” Eph 5:26-27
When we are cleansed, then God is ready to anoint us and share His revelations with us. “but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John 1:31
B. Consecration by the Anointing (Oil): The anointing by oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. After we are cleansed by the water [have repented] and cleansed by the Word, the Father begin to anoint us. You must read the Word of God. You must apply the Word of God. The Father anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). Jesus pours out His anointing upon His obedient children who diligently seek Him and desires the gifts of the Holy Spirit. “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:32
C. By the Blood of Jesus
When we genuinely repent and confess our sins, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins and from all unrighteousness. “Come now, and let us debate your case,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They shall become as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18; Hebrews 13:12
D. Other things that consecrate us is God’s glory and prayer!
WAITING
“I am sending you what my Father promised. Wait here in the city until you receive power from heaven." Luke 24:49
The disciples waited devoting themselves to the Word of God, to partaking communion, in prayer and praise. The Bible tells us that the disciples along with the women were continually devoting themselves to prayer, to the Word of God, communing with God and to the fellowship and the breaking of bread.
Are you longing for God this Pentecost? Are you looking forward to the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire? If so, begin by putting in action what we talked about. And also do not forget to register for Intensive Mentoring to Prepare for this Pentecost by Pastor Coleman. https://www.theblazingholyfire.com/event-info/pentecost-great-fire-revival-2
This is part 1, part 2 is coming next week. Please remember to register to our website www.TheBlazingHolyFire.com to be the first to receive the message the Lord gives us and to read our newsletter, articles and other helpful resources.