Introduction The fire of the Holy Spirit is a subject that is very dear to my heart. Were it not for the Holy Spirits fire, I would have remained in dead religious tradition and been without a real genuine relationship with Jesus. On January 7th, 1990, while watching TV, I accidentally came upon a Christian channel. The minister invited those at home to pray with him to receive Jesus. Having nothing to lose from saying a prayer, I (a faithful churchgoer) determined to pray. After doing so, I immediately changed the channel and continued studying for my University exams. However, the next morning when I got out of bed I felt a surge of energy rushing all over and through me. I was initially clueless as to the origin of this great divine power. It felt like electricity all over me and within me. It was a glorious experience and not the least bit painful. I felt clean, new and totally refreshed! Suddenly, I was brought to remembrance of the prayer I had prayed the night before in which I had invited Jesus into my life. It was then I realized that God had honored my hearts openness and therefore sent His Spirit to dwell within me. Honestly, I prayed expecting to receive nothing whatsoever, as I did not know anything could be received of such magnitude. Undoubtedly, God by His Spirit had begun a work in me and this was just the beginning! God struck again four days later! On January 11, 1990, the Lord visited me again at a youth service I attended in Orlando, Florida. When one of the leaders came forward to deliver a prophetic word to the group of youth, the fire of the Spirit came on me as it had just days before. This time it was quadruple the intensity of the Spirits fire I had felt in my bedroom just four days prior. As she began to speak, my entire being within was totally arrested by eternity. I immediately lost all sensitivity to time, to those around me and to she who was delivering the word. The fire of the Spirit was mighty in me and on me! I knew without a doubt that God Himself was speaking directly to me! I was engulfed in the Spirit and immediately lost all concept of time, not to mention those standing next to me were as if they didnt even exist. Surprisingly, the lady herself giving the word didnt even know who was to be the recipient. She was just obediently delivering the message God had placed in her heart. The word of the Lord came through her saying, You know who you are. It is only Me you should serve. And I tell you now, that you look to Me as your Source. You know who you are. And I tell you now, you look to Me as your Source. You seek Me and you seek only Me! For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. And I say right now, if you seek Me, if you look to Me sayeth God, I shall direct your path. I shall move you into the direction that you are to go. You are not to worry. You are not to look to the right or to the left, but you are to go straight on that narrow path. Dont look to the right! Dont look to the left! Dont look behind you, sayeth God! But go straight ahead! Seek Me! Look to Me! Look to Me as your Source, sayeth the Lord. And I will, I will direct your path and nothing and nothing shall befall you! You are in the shadow of My hand. And you know who you are. You know who you are. And I speak to you now and tell you to go straight forward, straight ahead, and look only to Me, sayeth God! That prophetic utterance is seemingly very simple. For me, however, it ignited a holy fire that put the fear of God in me! As a result of the hand of God touching me and His holy fire burning in my heart, I immediately was humbled within and ready to obey the Lord at all costs. A holy awe and reverence overwhelmed me! Our God is truly a consuming fire and no flesh will glory, nor remain the same in His presence! Such was my experience. That same fire of the Holy Spirit is available to everyone who humbles their heart and draws near to the living God. The fire of the Spirit will burn in, on and through you to accomplish a multiplicity of purposes and glorify Jesus! Allow the Holy Spirit to set your heart ablaze for Jesus and move you forward into your divine purpose! Rev. Billy Graham wrote in his book World Aflame published in 1965, Fire can either purify or destroy. Our world is on fire, and man without God will never be able to control the flames. The demons of hell have been let loose. The fires of passion, greed, hate, and lust are sweeping the world. We seem to be plunging madly toward Armageddon. This is the generation that will pass through the fire. It is the generation . . . under the gun. This is the tormented generation. This is the generation destined to live in the midst of crisis, danger, fear, and death. We are like a people under sentence of death, waiting for the date to be set. We sense that something is about to happen. We know that things cannot go on as they are. History has reached an impasse. We are now on a collision course. Something is about to give. The flames are licking all around our worldthe roof is about to cave inman is caught in a fire raging out of control.1 Nearly four decades ago it was evident that our world was on fire. God is shaking all nations (Hag. 2:7). We are so close now to the end of the age that the prophetic time clock is only seconds away from midnight! The beginning of the end is upon us. As the prophet declared, After two days He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight (Hos. 6:2). One day is with the Lord as a thousand years (2 Pet. 3:8). It has been over two-thousand years since the death and resurrection of Christ. Therefore it is time for the greatest revival that planet earth has ever experienced to come from heaven. This final move of Gods Spirit will sweep throughout the world as God Almighty gives humanity one last chance to repent. Immediately after the final soul repents and turns to Christ, the Church will be taken away to be with the Lord where we the people of God will live in His sight. It is paramount that we on earth take heed, because after this global move of God in which all nations shall hear the good news of Jesus Christ, judgment shall begin. By His judgments God will establish His truth and righteousness in the earth (Ps. 19:9). Whether they want to or not, the inhabitants of the earth will learn righteousness because of the judgments of the Lord (Isa. 26:9). No nation or people will be exempt from the judgment of God, as His judgments are in all the earth (Ps. 105:7). Only when the inhabitants of the earth learn Gods righteous judgments will they praise Him with uprightness of heart (Ps. 119:7). Contrary to popular belief, Gods judgments are good (v. 39). In Gods righteous judgments, the inhabitants of the earth find comfort (v. 52). The fire of Gods Spirit is coming! Dont resist the fire. It doesnt come to harm, but rather to help you. The habitual sins that snare your soul can only be burned away by the fire of Gods Spirit. To resist the fire of the Holy Ghost is to embrace the fires of hell which seek to forever engulf you. The purpose of this book is not to frighten you in such a way that out of fear you come to God, though if that is the only way to get you to acknowledge your Creator that is better than nothing. Instead the fiery spirit in which this book has been written is for the sole purpose of saving lives. Gods fire saves. The devils fire destroys. A decision must be made by you which fire you will befriend. That decision is inescapable. To make no decision at all is to be carried further toward hell-fire. Never forget. If you play with fire, youre going to get burned. It is imperative that you take God and this message seriously. |
