Ms. Annie led singing Holy, Holy
Prayed…
Thank You Lord, we know in Your presence things change
We change, we are changed by the manifestation of Your precious, precious presence
Holy Spirit, You are so welcome in this place, in every step, wherever we go
Thank You for Your precious beautiful presence working through us
Thank You this morning that by Your presence and through the blood and in the name Jesus that is above every other name
If we can just get into it, yield unto You, our lives will never, ever be the same
We believe it, that just one moment, one time spent in Your presence, we are changed
And we are being changed today, right here, right now – thank You
For we do not know exactly what we need, we do not know exactly what change we must receive
But we know that You know and You know who we are, what we need, and You are the Deliverer
Hallelujah! So whatever it is, we know just spending this time, it’s the most awesome, blessed, prosperous, whole, healed place to be is in Your presence
I thank You Lord
We don’t have to whine about it, we don’t have to cry about it, we don’t have to try to get it
But just to connect and be in Your presence, that’s what we want, that’s what we need, that’s what we desire
We want more, we are open for more, we yield for more of Your beautiful precious presence
To bring about the changes that need to take place
For we do have a race, we do have a course, we do have steps that You placed within us
Steps to walk out, ways to go and we know that You are directing us
As we connect with You, we receive, we see, we know absolutely the way to go
When, where – to be directed by Your Spirit is the ultimate goal
To be led by You, for we know that You lead us and You direct us based on Your Word
The Bible says “You lead us into all truth”
The truth of what Your Word says, the truth that You have placed inside of us, the plans
We love You Lord, we love You, we love You, we love You
Ms. Annie led us singing We Welcome Your Presence
Pastor Ray shared…
I remember this time years ago when Pastor Lynne and her twin, Lucy McKee, and Vicki Jamison, they would have Holy Ghost meetings in Ozark, Alabama. Sandy and I, Erika, and a lot of us from here would go and spend several days down there. The Holy Spirit would flow in those meetings and you just had to get into it, just get in there. And I remember this lady that had some issues with her health I believe. They asked her “just come. You don’t have to do anything. We don’t have to lay hands on you. Get in the meetings.” And so she spent several days. She just kept coming back. She would be in the sanctuary and be in the presence. Of course, you know what happened to her, healed and whole and changed and restored. No one had to do anything but the Holy Ghost did something. And those things happened a lot there but they happen here. They happen wherever we go if we have a flow, if we have the living waters coming out of us, if we are on overflow. You know it’s for sure not about us. Everything we receive, everything that we receive from Him is for somebody else. It’s for us to give out, to yield. I know God set it up that way so we are not just all about ourselves. You know, we are just satisfied with what we get and what we have but we are to give.
Yesterday we talked about a testimony that Patrick gave. You can read it on GPAN. I also said something about two young children that were in this chapel with their class and both were totally completely healed. No one was doing anything. They didn’t have anyone laying hands on them not that we shouldn’t, not that we couldn’t. We want to be directed. But they both received healing. How does that work? His presence.
While we were worshipping this morning I thought that for many things all it takes is just to get in to His presence and get out of other things, other thoughts, other deals out there and get in the presence. So, sometimes if you think “Well, they are going on and on singing…” No, we are not going on and on. We are yielding to Him and lifting Him up and letting Him do what He needs to do.
I have always had a house with a big deck and you take the hose and water you flowers. And it doesn’t matter if the water flows out of the pot or whatever. It can just flow down through the deck and go to the dirt below. Well, we don’t have that right now. We live in an apartment with a little balcony. So, I found these 2 hanging plant holders and I zip tied them right onto the railing. I put some plants in there and everything is cool. I got my water and I am watering them and they are doing really well until this last week. We had 98 to 100 degrees. I mean where are we in Arizona? (ha, ha, ha) So, I looked out a couple days ago and the one plant was like “Help! Water me! Water me!” I am concerned about the people under me so I have a something to catch the things that fall but when I saw those plants going down, I just started watering like crazy. And the water is coming out too much for these things that I put underneath to hold it. It’s going right on through and over. And I am standing out there and I hear this voice from below. And this lady said “Where is that water coming from?” I leaned over the railing and said “Excuse me, I am sorry.” And she is looking up all puzzled. All I could see was her foot and her face. She wasn’t wet thankfully.
But just going about in overflow. We’re called to be on overflow. If we are not on overflow, we have a problem and we got to get in His presence, get stirred up, on fire, let the wind blow, let the rain fall.
Scripture focus…
(37) Then on the most important day of the feast, the last day, Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds—“All you thirsty ones, come to me! Come to me and drink! (38) Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!” John 7:37-38 (TPT)
Pastor Ray…
If it was important for the crowds, it’s important for us that we come to Him, we keep coming to Him. We are to what? Be being filled. I believe every prayer meeting is a Holy Ghost meeting. It’s not our deal. It’s His deal. And our perfect plan would be we come, we yield, and we just get in that presence. We let Him do what He needs to do. Then when we exit, we can do what He wants us to do. It’s not us. That’s why I would like you to read the testimony that we put out on GPAN yesterday.
Here are a couple little commentaries from the Passion Translation, one about John 7:37 and two on John 7:38.
John 7:37: When men’s feasting is over, there is still thirst. But Jesus comes on the last day of the feast to satisfy the thirst of those that seek God. Only the Lord Jesus can quench the spiritual thirst of men by giving them His living water.
Pastor Ray…
It’s not us. It’s not that we are somebody. It’s Him and it’s His living water. That’s our promise from the Bible.
John 7:38: The root word used here is the same as the river Jordan which mean flowing down.
Pastor Ray…
I love that. The rivers flowing out of heaven, they are supernatural. They are not natural.
John 7:38: Rivers of living water will flow from His throne within a drink become a river.
Pastor Ray…
I like that. So, we just take a drink of Him. Sometimes people will say “Well, I don’t know how to drink.” Just get in His presence. It’s automatic if you are in His presence. You will drink and you will receive and you will be changed. And we are to be changed from one degree of glory to what? Another degree of glory. We are always moving up or what? We are moving back. But we are not going back. Do you want to go back to where you were? I don’t. Thank God we don’t have to go back. You know we can use the things that He did for us in the past. That helps us because it reminds us of what He has done for us. Every one of us, we could go back and say “thank You, Father, for what You have done for me. I don’t have to live the way I have lived.” But there is more. You know, there is a flow. Is that true? All right.
There are so many times when He has a plan and He’s working by the Spirit to get us into His presence so we can grab hold and we can actually see what He’s calling us to do or calling us to pray. That’s why He filled us with His Spirit but it’s not just that one time fix or filling. It’s a continuation that keep the momentum going, keeps us moving, keeps us yielding, keeps us whole, keeps us healed, keeps us prospering.
Continued praying…
Hallelujah! Thank You, Father
Thank You Lord for prosperity spirit, soul, and body
That we’ll never have to be the same, the way that we were then but we will continually change and change and change until we are out of here
We are moving through, that’s the deal
We are in the flow, we are like the river Jordan – the water is flowing and it must keep on flowing
Hallelujah!
Ms. Annie led us singing Holy, Holy
♪ This is a place of Your glory
This is a place of Your grace
I can feel Your mighty power, it is moving in this place
We’re in the presence of angels, with God’s glory on their wings
Like a voice of many waters, we can hear the angels sing
We will join the hosts of heaven; we will lift our praise and sing
Holy, Holy, You are Holy, Holy
Worthy, Worthy, You are Worthy, Worthy
Glory, glory, glory, glory ♪
Continued praying…
Hallelujah, Lord thank You that we are not alone
That we have been baptized, the privilege of being filled with Your precious Holy Spirit
And it’s not over till it is over – there is more and more and more
Fresh, a refreshing but those living waters coming out
They are so needed, so many that are desperate for those life giving waters today in these days
Pastor Ray…
This just came to my remembrance. Several years ago in the old building Pastor Mac decided to take all the chairs out for the services. So, when people came there was no place to sit other than the floor. We would either stand or sit on the floor and the Spirit of God was moving in such a way that lives were being changed. It’s hard to describe it but I had the privilege and the honor… If I could put it like this, Pastor Jim Glassford was there. He’d been there for several years. He had gone to Canada and he came back on the overflow. He came back with the waters flowing out of him like they never flowed. So, he was doing the service and he was so full he couldn’t stand up. I was holding him up from behind. I had gotten up and got behind him. So, I am holding him up and people were coming up to the front. He didn’t even have to ask. They just wanted it, they wanted more. We all want more. And so, I had the honor to see… If you just picture it. I am holding him up, the Spirit of God is moving through him. He is a man but he is baptized in the Holy Spirit and the waters are flowing out of him like I know he’d never seen before and I can witness the people’s faces receive from heaven. You know I never want to go back. I just want to go ahead but we want what God wants. We need more. We need the flow of the Holy Spirit like we’ve never needed it before. We need it for our country. We need it for our President of course. We need the prayers that are being prayed in the White House to be God-given, Holy Spirit directed prayers right in that house, up and down the aisles and into the offices and right on into the oval office. The move of the precious Holy Spirit and what I saw, how He moved through that man that night, people’s lives were changed on the spot, right there, right then. They didn’t necessarily have to fall over. You don’t have to fall over. Sometimes we can.
He actually had to be carried out after the service. Do you know that can happen? You can get so full, you can get so overdone and the rivers are flowing like, like they should be, okay. We should have rivers flowing out of us every day. I should have been able to not just flow the natural water over my balcony. I should have “Hello, I am a pastor up here. Look up!” (ha, ha, ha)
I am not making light of it but wherever we go, we are at the bank, we should have the flow moving out of us. We don’t have to preach a message. We just have to bring Him with us. He is in us but not always are we openly yielded for Him to come out. How would you feel if you were the Holy Spirit and you were inside of a man or a woman and we were doing something else? Just you know His heart is for us as ministers of the Gospel, we are all ministers, to yield more than we have ever yielded before because of what is happening in these days. Things are ending up. Things are beginning to end up for the last of the last times when He will come back. Oh, we thank You for it.
I am just going to challenge you. Yield yourself like you have never yielded. While we were worshipping, I saw inside just like a little bump, bump, bump inside of us. The plan that’s just wanting to come forth. The gift or the gifts of God are ready to come forth if we will just yield to Him and let Him do it. I challenge You this morning. Don’t stay status quo! You cannot because it will not work. Status quo is in the wrong way to go but yielding and letting the supply… it’s not us, it’s Him. Let those gifts be unwrapped! They are just waiting to come forth and bless those that you come in contact with.
Ms. Erika…
Yes, because it’s not about us. It’s about them. It’s about all those out there, about those that are hungry, those that are thirsty, those that are dying, literally dying and those that are dying looking at an eternity in hell. It’s about them. Hallelujah, glory to God.
The following excerpt was taken from Defining Moments by Bill Johnson:
The apostle John stated that Jesus is the light that enlightens everyone who comes into the world. (See John 1:9.) John then expounded on the subject by describing the authority to become that is given to those who receive this light. (See John 1:12.) The most interesting outcome is what happens to those who receive this light. They become light. (See Matthew 5:14.) Lest there be any misunderstanding Jesus is the light Source within every believer. But the Scripture does not command us to “arise and reflect,” for your light has come. It says to “arise and shine”! (See Isaiah 60:1.) The follower of Jesus is able to shine.
In another metaphor, Jesus encourages us to come to Him and drink. (See John 7:37) In the very next verse, He states that out of our innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Think of it, those who drink become givers of water themselves. In other words, when water was received, water could flow. Another way to put it is that once life is received, life flows. We become givers of the very thing that has transformed us.
This truth is quite profound. The way God touches us changes who we are and what we are capable of doing in His name. These defining moments transform us into fully equipped servants of the Lord.
Ms. Erika…
I don’t know, maybe some of you have questions. Why are we always giving testimonies? Why are you always talking about prophecies? It’s all back there? But I like how Bill Johnson puts it.
Testimonies prophesy. They reveal the nature of God, which never changes. The two profound truths upon which this book is built are (1) God does not show partiality (see Acts 10:34), and (2) God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8). These realities qualify every reader for the seemingly impossible task of seeing “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our [God]” (Revelation 11:15).
Ms. Erika…
That’s for each one. So, that testimony says for today that God is the same. He is not a respecter and so what He did yesterday, what He did five minutes ago for someone else, He’s going to do, He can do, He is able to do for you and for me, Amen. And He wants that living flow to come out of us. There is power in those testimonies.
Can we expect an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our day that changes the atmosphere and the values of the whole body of Christ? Can we expect a move of God that brings a transformational effect on entire cities and nations? It has happened before. History is now looking for a generation who will rise up and live in such a way that it will happen again—but this time through the accumulated effect of all past revivals and awakenings. We are not looking for a simple repeat of a past event or even an unusual season of divine favor. On the contrary, we are looking for a full expression of God’s interventions throughout history to culminate in these days that are upon us. We are dependent on this happening to complete what He has assigned us to accomplish—to disciple nations, until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God.
I’d like to conclude this chapter with an excerpt about restoration from my book Release the Power of Jesus:
HISTORY PROPHESIES
On July 17, 1859, Charles Spurgeon brought forth a message entitled, “The Story of God’s Mighty Acts.” One hundred and fifty years ago, he declared this truth that had the power to shape the culture of the Church until there was a full restoration of God’s historic interventions among mankind. Listen to his prophetic cry:When people hear about what God used to do, one of the things they say is: “Oh, that was a very long while ago.” …I thought it was God that did it. Has God changed? Is he not an immutable God, the same yesterday, today and forever? Does not that furnish an argument to prove that what God has done at one time he can do at another? Nay, I think I may push it a little further, and say what he has done once, is a prophecy of what he intends to do again …Whatever God has done …is to be looked upon as a precedent. … [Let us] with earnestness seek that God would restore to us the faith of the men of old, that we may richly enjoy his grace as in the days of old. [Emphasis mine]
In a relay race there are four runners. The first three do not leave the racetrack and go into the showers before the last one finishes the race, because they all receive a prize according to how the last runner finishes. At this moment the cloud of witnesses are waiting to see what we will do with what we’ve been given (see Heb. 12:1). Let’s not miss our opportunity to see a full restoration of God’s works with mankind until Jesus is accurately re-presented and His glory fills the earth. This must happen through the obedience of a generation who captures the momentum of history through keeping the testimony, thereby fully releasing the power of Jesus.
John Wesley
“I put myself wholly into thy hands: put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt; put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me be employed for thee, or laid aside for thee, exulted for thee, or trodden under foot for thee; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing, I freely, and heartily resign all to thy pleasure and disposal.”
Continued praying…
Hallelujah, Father, that’s our prayer and that’s our cry
That’s what we are looking for – all of You and none of us
For You to be seen and You to be glorified
And Father, we are so thankful for Your mercy and Your grace
Your mercies that are new every day – we thank You
The testimonies prophesied to us, there is more
More to be seen and more to be done and more to be had
More to be experienced in You and more to flow through us
Such an honor and such a privilege wonderful heavenly Father
Once again we dedicate, consecrate our spirit, soul and body to You
To Your Word, to Your will, and to Your way
Hallelujah to the Lamb of God, Amen
