Acts 1:8 (NIV)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
CONSIDER THIS
“The Spirit of Jesus in me greets the Spirit of Jesus in you and brings us together in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.”
Today’s Holy Spirit story comes from our growing Sower Nation. I met Edi McHenry sometime ago in a prayer group on Zoom. She’s a blessing as you will soon see. So the story below is being told by Edi and she introduces the story about her friend Louisa. Without further adieu, meet Edi and her friend Louisa.
I speak Portuguese, I speak English, I speak broken Spanish, I speak Christianese, I speak Jesus . . .
I met Louisa in Brazil. She knew I spoke Portuguese so one afternoon on the way to church she grabbed my arm and said: “Him!” pointing to a man who appeared to be a street person. As I translated we did some introductions and we interviewed Paul. We prayed for addictions to be broken, prayed for reconciliation with his family, we prayed for him to return to Jesus.
He spoke Christianese, had a worn-down Bible in his backpack, and yet he forgot how to speak Jesus. We prayed for freedom, for chains to be broken, and for him to start his life anew. His countenance changed; Louisa hugged him tight, held his face, and called him brother. She did not mind the smell and what people on the street were going to think of her. My street-smart, not-so-holy instincts kicked in and I thought: “Please don’t pick her pocket!” Yet Louisa spoke Jesus. We pray Paul will stay on the path of reconciliation and love.
Louisa is from the Netherlands; a petite lady, sweet face, mother of the next generation, and a powerhouse lover of Jesus. I do not know what her career in the marketplace is but everywhere she goes she speaks Jesus. We stayed connected through an online prayer group—lots of us from different countries, sharing what Jesus is doing in our neck of the woods.
I want to be like Louisa. I speak Portuguese, I speak English, I speak broken Spanish, I speak Christianese; I speak Jesus, yet at times I seem to forget I do. This week I heard from Louisa. These are her own words, the words of her testimony:
FIRST MESSAGE: Yesterday when evangelizing I met a woman, who is depressed and bipolar since age of 14. She is open to prayer and deliverance. As I explained the gospel she wanted to know more but due to other appointments we could not proceed. So now we are meeting Tuesday 12:00 at her house.
Please keep us in your prayers for the power of the Lord will set her free and that the Holy Spirit will lead her into baptism in water. Pray for words and wisdom only God can give. I trust in His faithfulness. His promises are yes and amen.
I believe she is the “person of peace” so from her testimony will follow others into her home where I can share the gospel with. Thank you so much!
SECOND MESSAGE: Thank you so much for all your prayers. Yesterday I visited the woman, she shared a lot and I could explain the gospel. After that she wanted to get baptized. I took her to our house and baptized her into Jesus in our bath. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill her. It was beautiful. She will have a long way and God is taking her step by step. Thankful for He is so good!
So, yes, while we pray for our families, our communities, our churches, our ministries, our states, our country, let us pray that we will speak Jesus everywhere we go. When the Holy Spirit gives us a word of knowledge, a revelation, may it be used to speak Jesus! I want to be like Louisa. I want to see the next generation, the little ones and the old ones suffering with mental illness being healed and then choosing to be baptized in our “baths.” Yes, it is that urgent! Yes we need tub baptisms to be happening daily here in our United States.
Yes, we need to boldly speak Jesus. He is the only love language that has the power to replace the lies with the truth. Perhaps we need to begin right in the cell center of it all: our homes and our churches. Am I speaking Jesus at home? Am I speaking Jesus at church?
Louisa is doing this in the Netherlands. There are little fires starting all over Europe. A frozen spiritual tundra will soon melt as the Holy Spirit’s fire sparks the dead to live again, the zombies who were once under drug spells to wake up. Awaken Europe; Awake, oh sleeper, and rise from the dead; awaken, oh Methodists, Catholics, bedside Baptists, and communes everywhere. Awaken Bible Belt; Awaken California; Awaken Bride!
I want to be like Louisa. I want to have that urgency to do something as if my children’s and my children’s children’s lives depended on my actions. (OH WAIT, THEY DO!) I want to speak life, not death. I want to speak JESUS.
I pray that I will no longer recite memorized scriptures but rememberize them, declaring them, with authority over the next generation. Their lives depend on what I speak NOW!
Jesus is doing a thing here. He is reminding us of our identity, of our native tongue. If we keep quiet the stones will cry out. May it not be so. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight Jesus, my Jesus.
Thank you my friends, fellow sowers and plowers, for helping me remember and practice speaking Jesus. Y’all are my language immersion peeps. Thank you Seedbed for spreading daily love language seeds. Thank you J. D. for being a bridge builder, a linguist, and a bridge yourself. Thank you for standing in the gap. So many of us were trying to learn braille when all we had to do was open our eyes and see, open our ears and hear, open our mouths and speak. By the way, I love this song you shared, I speak Jesus! I love how it minces no words and pierces my heart with conviction that I know how to speak Jesus.
I just want to speak the name of Jesus.
Love you all.
Edi McHenry
Still day one.
THE PRAYER
God our Father, who with your son Jesus Messiah, fills us with the Holy Spirit, thank you for the miracle and the mystery of the day of Pentecost. And thank you for today, and that it is only the day after. Thank you for Edi and thank you for Louisa. We see the glory of your presence coming off the water in that bathtub in the Netherlands. We pray for this young woman to flourish forward in your kingdom, Jesus. Increase their tribe. Holy Spirit, train us to speak Jesus. Rivers, Jesus. That is our simple prayer today. Rivers. Praying in your name, amen.
THE QUESTION
How are you inspired by Edi and Louisa today? Resist the temptation to compare yourself. Just ask Jesus to give you an assignment and put you in the game.
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
One Response
I read this and my heart is filled with the joy of Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is truly in Louisa and I pray those little fires will spread and grow to be a beacon of hope in every hillside.
Then I go to the Facebook DT page and read of experiences within churches that restrict baptism to clergy (are we not all priests?) and prevent other believers taking communion because It as a closed table for their congregation or denomination only. And the word that bears down on me is, woe!
WAKE UP SLEEPERS AND ARISE!!!!
WAKE UP SLEEPERS.AND ARISE!!!!
WAKE UP SLEEPERS AND ARISE!!!!
Light those fires and fill those tubs because IT IS COMING and if you are not ready you will miss it.