Hey family! So honored to be able to update y’all with everything that has happened during week 4! It has honestly been such an edifying week and the Lord has met us so beautifully each and every single day. So many of us were marked and The Lord continues to blow my mind throughout this CRX experience. It honestly has been so humbling and I just continue to be reminded that I really know nothing lol. But how good is God that He desires to dwell amongst us as humans? Who is man that God ALMIGHTY is mindful of him? He just continues to wreck me in the best ways as I remain undone at the goodness of God. I pray in Jesus name that the Lord has been drawing us all deeper in Him. That as He calls us by name that we would not be distracted by things of this world, but we would have the response of Abraham who when He is called, He replies ‘Yes before you even ask’.
This week was Holy Spirit week and I was so excited and expectant. Holy Spirit delights in the Son! He loves to reveal the Son unto us and unfortunately, I think a lot of the time, we as the church can tend to forget about Him. The Holy Spirit is a part of the God Head! He is apart of the Trinity! He is not merely a force or a feeling. He is so much greater than just a wind, or a fire.. He is GOD! He has feelings, He has emotions. He has a personality. He is our advocate. Our helper. Our comforter. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And to those that believe.. He lives inside of us!
Day 1:
On Day 1 we had an introduction of who Holy Spirit is.. If you desire to deep dive into the scriptures in regards to what we talked about.. these are some of the scriptures we looked at:
John 16:7,
John 14:1-3,
John 14:15-21,23,
John 17:5,
Mark 1:9-11,
Genesis 1:2,
John 17:21-23.
We walked through the Old Testament scriptures as well and we looked at the many places where the Holy Spirit was present and foreshadowing the coming of the Son in books like Isaiah, Genesis, 2 Samuel etc..
We looked at the Person of the Holy Spirit and how He can be:
Insulted, grieved, lied to, blasphemed, grieved.
And something that honestly was a life-changing epiphany in regards to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was that:
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit = is a wide eyed, hardened attitude that occurs overtime. It is the state of one’s heart who is hardened to the Holy Spirit completely in which there is no concern, no conviction, and no repentance! This is why this is the only unforgivable sin because an individual who is living in the state of blaspheming of the Holy Spirit does not feel a need to repent!
This was just one aspect of the topic, but it was so life changing to gain clarity on it because I have encountered so many believers that have been struggling because they believe that in some way or fashion that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. This has led to much fear and torment, but I thank the Lord that He (who is Jesus) is perfecting us in love so that we may not fear!
Later on in the day we looked at certain scriptures that would give understanding on how we as believers should be living in response to having the Holy Spirit which also was really powerful. We talked about the importance of being led by the Spirit which then as a result bear forth fruit of the Holy Spirit.
In Black Voices Track we dived into unbelief and how to surrender fully to the Lord in order to truly walk in the calling of love that the Lord has invited us into.
Day 2:
On Tuesday, we got into the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and Tongues.
This was again super edifying as I have seen so much controversy in regards to tongues and context.
We looked at the book of Acts, 1 Corinthians, James etc and talked about the gift that tongues is which allows us to prophesy, pray and connect with other groups of people which in turn hear the goodness of God in their own native language.
If you would want to learn more about this, feel free to shoot me an email back! Maybe I will make a separate post about this!
Day 3:
Wednesdays are our days for outreach but we still have class in the mornings! This day we had teachings on how to hear God, and Spiritual Gifts. It was super edifying as well as encouraging because a lot of the things stated were super practical but like still scriptural and Spirit led.
Some of the ways the Lord speaks to us is through:
A) Written Word: The Bible
B) Inner witness: an inner knowing
C) Impressions: feeling a pull, thoughts
D) Dreams: symbolic, instruction
E) Visions: while awake, images in your minds eye
F) Trances: very rare, Acts 9:10, Ezekiel 8:3
G) Audible Voice: also rare, heard with physical ear
H) Inner audible voice: Loud or small still voice, internally heard
I) Angels: throughout the word, normally a message, has to align with the Word! Also should not pursue this, if it happens, it happens. Must test by the Spirit, and community.
J) People: The Lord loves to use people to connect, send prophetic words.
K) Peace/ Inner Convictions: peace with decisions or lack of peace can be indicator that the Lord is not on it.
L) Timing/Divine Appointments: Coincidences do not exist when walking with the Lord!
Evangelism Outreach:
This week evangelism outreach was super good and honestly I learned so much during this session.
I think sometimes as Christians we can be so focused on getting the message across that we forget to actually love on the individual we are talking to. We can get so caught up in stats rather than genuinely sparking up a conversation and spreading the gospel without actually having a burden for the individuals soul.
I realized that I had a tendency to kind of just spread the gospel, invite people into life with Jesus without allowing it to be conversational. A friend I was evangelizing with so kindly called me higher and gave some good advice which led to a conversation in which we saw a sister in the Lord, rededicate her life to the Lord. She also happened to be a pastor kid and explained that she had kind of veered away from the church because of church hurt and trauma but the Lord so kindly met her in the midst of the conversation. It was so beautiful and amazing to witness the power of what love can really do.
Day 4:
This day was so marking. The message was straight fire, and we talked about what true surrender looks like. How sometimes we see a people that are hungry for the power of the Holy Spirit manifesting in signs, miracles and wonders.. yet we refuse to desire the power accessible to us by grace that allows us to remain abiding in Him who is the vine. We come into the secret place with selfish agendas rather than asking the Lord, ‘how can I serve you today? How can I love you today?’
We talked about how your surrender and obedience is tested through times of trials. The trials reveal your deepness with the Lord.
We then spent the second portion of class praying and tarrying for a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it was extremely marking. The Lord came in such a way where healing broke out, fresh fire, etc.
For me personally, certain things that I didn’t even know I was still dealing with or harbouring came to the surface and I could not be more grateful. The Lord is so so kind to bring it all up now and want to deal with it in the midst of such a safe and holy environment.
This week was honestly so amazing and refreshing. Having been given clarity on biblical theology in regards to The Holy Spirit and also recognizing that He is literally the author of the Word provided so much clarity and gave me confidence to be able to talk to friends and family members that may have a hard time understanding the things of the Spirit. I am so stirred and grateful again to be apart of such a special environment and am in continual expectancy to just witness the goodness of God in the weeks to come.
Thank you guys for partnering with me in prayer and your financial help and for just even wanting to hear about all the Lord is doing. I am filled with such love for each and every single one of you and it is my prayer that as the Lord continues to draw us deeper unto Himself that our answer would continue to be yes and amen in Jesus name.
That just about wraps up week 4! Can’t wait to talk to y’all so soon! Be blessed in Jesus name. Love you all with the love of Christ!
Yours in Christ,
Rachael Niles