We’re on another trip and so far it has been very prosperous, praise God! … Four people filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and another person revived in the Spirit (he had been filled with the Holy Spirit when he was a teenager but hadn’t prayed in tongues for many years, so we got him praying in tongues again and encouraged him to keep it up daily).

We just go about our days and the Lord directs us to those who are hungering and thirsting for the truth (and don’t necessarily know it). One couple manage a motel we were staying at. Then there was the assistant manager at a car dealership – we all piled into his car and prayed with him there! The next one was an older gentleman we simply approached and started talking to on a bench seat in the middle of a seaside suburb. And, the most recent was the youngest son of a Spirit-filled family as we prayed with him in their lounge room. The power of God can be made manifest anywhere!

Besides these, there have been many others preached to – seeds planted that God will water! May God continue to bless our travels as we seek to be of service to Him.

AN ENCOURAGING THOUGHT:

Firstly, let’s look at some scriptures that tell us that “the just shall live faith”:

Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

Galatians 3:11 “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

So, it’s through consciously exercising our FAITH in God that we ACTIVATE His Word in our lives and EXPERIENCE Him and His promises. All that we DO in the name of the Lord in terms of obedience, worship, service, loving and choosing righteousness, etc. is what STRENGTHENS our faith in God.

In other words, it’s NOT because we have “had our prayer for the day” and read some of the Bible, etc. that, for example, the Lord will put people in our path to preach to and that they will receive the Holy Spirit anointing when we pray with them, OR that the Lord will answer a particular prayer, OR that God will make provision for us in some way, etc. It’s by our faith in our loving and gracious God that these things will come to pass. However, it IS the “doing” part of our lives that builds our relationship with God and our understanding of His will and His Word so that we can in turn strengthen our faith.

What exactly is the “doing” part of our spiritual lives? It’s praying in the Spirit (and in our mother language), reading the Holy Bible, fasting, worshipping, giving thanks and praise to God throughout the day, sharing the Word, demonstrating humble and willing obedience to the “voice” of the Holy Spirit, living righteously, repenting when we make mistakes, rejoicing in God through song and/or sharing testimonies, etc. Basically, it’s constantly having God at the center of our heart and mind and our decisions.

They are not things we should strive at. Rather, they just become natural parts of our lives as we relish in the love and grace of our God. There is no pre-requisite or quota to these “doing” things. We just “do” as we feel moved simply because we love to “do.”

Our California trip has been abundantly prosperous for the Lord’s work so far. Three more people have received the Holy Spirit anointing (with the evidence of speaking in tongues) on separate occasions. One we met in an office and got talking about God after first discussing the things that go on in the school system these days. The next we met in a hotel elevator. We got talking about God after asking him about the cross he was wearing around his neck. Within 10 minutes, he was eager to come to our hotel room to pray. Then, we met a lady a few days ago as we were looking at a show billboard. We was an usher and came over to see if we had any questions. She mentioned the word “blessing,” so straight away we asked her if she went to church. That’s how our conversation with her started. On her day off two days later, she came to our hotel room to pray. She was anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit so quickly, and then she was eager to get baptized to seal her commitment to follow God’s ways.

We’ve also had many other life-changing conversations with people. It’s amazing how many Spirit-filled people the Lord causes us to “run into.” We end up in very powerful, in-depth conversations with them, encouraging them to refine the salvation message they share with people. They walk away enlightened that they need to be actually offering to pray with people to be filled with God’s Spirit and also baptizing them by full immersion in water (instead of just telling lost souls to give their hearts to Jesus).

It has certainly been a very interesting trip so far. The Lord’s hands are so very much upon our daily decisions to go here or there, or to do this or that. God knows who He has in mind that He wants us to speak to. Then it’s just up to us to keep our eyes and ears open as we go about our days!

Great news! We’re in California and so far two people (Donielle and Adrian) have been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Adrian was also baptized. When we were praying for him for the Holy Spirit anointing, his body was shaking all over and he kept praying in tongues for such a long time. We were able to spend a few hours encouraging Adrian in the ways of the Lord, and we gave Donielle her first King James Bible highlighted with some fundamental scriptures on salvation. Praise God for the joy and honor of being used by Him to share His truth with others!

An email from my husband just came in this morning. Praise God!:

I had to head to the airport this morning in Orlando to fly out for a one day venture while my wife and kids stayed in Orlando. I booked a shuttle yesterday for 6:40 a.m. A Ford Expedition pulled up to where I was directed to wait. There was a family there with tons of luggage. They couldn’t fit me in and I was told to wait and that they would send someone else for me. A few minutes later an unmarked towncar pulled up and the driver asked my name. He said to hop in. Off we drove. The driver informed me what had happened: The regular larger shuttle had broken down, so they had to send these other vehicles. When they couldn’t fit me into the Expedition, they sent the second car.

I asked him many questions to try to find an opening for conversation about the Lord. Finally, I used the story of how I missed my flight to Belize six weeks earlier because the hotel didn’t give me my requested wake-up call. Then I said how it turned out for the best because we ended up meeting a couple that day with whom we shared our Christian testimonies, and the fellow ended up coming to our hotel room to pray for the Holy Spirit. He was anointed with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

I asked the driver if he goes to church. He said he is Catholic. I gave him more testimonies of healings and miracles and others receiving the Spirit. As we were pulling into the airport parking lot, I asked him how he felt about what I was saying. He said he was getting emotional. I could see he was tearing up. We pulled up to the drop-off curb for my airline. I asked him if he would like to pray for the Holy Spirit. He said yes. He is about 60 years old. There were people all around and they don’t want vehicles sitting there not unloading, but the Lord was working. I laid a hand on him as I sat in the backseat. I encouraged him to pray fervently. We prayed for about a minute until he began to speak in tongues, and then we continued to pray for another minute or so. I pulled out my iPad and filmed a short interview with him, and I encouraged him to be baptized when I get back to Orlando tomorrow.

Very interestingly, as I got out of the car I looked up and there was the “Curb Marshall” standing right there. He was looking at me as if to say, “I cut you some slack there.” I think he must have been standing there watching us pray, and he probably heard us too!

Praise Jesus! The fields are ready to harvest. The more we forget about ourselves and go forth in faith, expecting to be used by the Lord as vessels for His Word, situations occur constantly. I’m now waiting for my flight and wondering what else the Lord has in store for the next 24 hours!

A group of us were staying at a hotel in Vancouver, B.C. We were standing around in the foyer one evening and one of us started a conversation with the front office clerk who was standing nearby. He asked the clerk (Frank) out of the blue if he went to church. The conversation grew rapidly to the point where very soon we were all gathered in the breakfast room, praying for Frank to receive the Holy Spirit anointing. We believe he did as we heard him praying in tongues briefly, but he was so overwhelmed and crying that we didn’t get to pray anymore with him.

Praise God for the confidence He gives us to approach people and ask bold questions! Our brother in the Lord simply asked Frank if he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit yet. Frank’s answer was “no.” The brother then asked (with confidence and expectation) Frank if he would like to go and pray for the Spirit right now. Frank’s answer was “yes,” without any hesitation. It was almost as though the brother’s faith (that the outcome would be positive) moved upon Frank’s heart to respond with enthusiasm. We don’t fully know how the Spirit works, but we do know it’s an invisible force and we have to believe that when we exercise the gifts of the Spirit (one of them being faith), that invisible force will have an affect on others as well as on our own selves.

An email from my husband just came in this morning. Praise God!:

I had to head to the airport this morning in Orlando to fly out for a one day venture while my wife and kids stayed in Orlando. I booked a shuttle yesterday for 6:40 a.m. A Ford Expedition pulled up to where I was directed to wait. There was a family there with tons of luggage. They couldn’t fit me in and I was told to wait and that they would send someone else for me. A few minutes later an unmarked towncar pulled up and the driver asked my name. He said to hop in. Off we drove. The driver informed me what had happened: The regular larger shuttle had broken down, so they had to send these other vehicles. When they couldn’t fit me into the Expedition, they sent the second car.

I asked him many questions to try to find an opening for conversation about the Lord. Finally, I used the story of how I missed my flight to Belize six weeks earlier because the hotel didn’t give me my requested wake-up call. Then I said how it turned out for the best because we ended up meeting a couple that day with whom we shared our Christian testimonies, and the fellow ended up coming to our hotel room to pray for the Holy Spirit. He was anointed with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

I asked the driver if he goes to church. He said he is Catholic. I gave him more testimonies of healings and miracles and others receiving the Spirit. As we were pulling into the airport parking lot, I asked him how he felt about what I was saying. He said he was getting emotional. I could see he was tearing up. We pulled up to the drop-off curb for my airline. I asked him if he would like to pray for the Holy Spirit. He said yes. He is about 60 years old. There were people all around and they don’t want vehicles sitting there not unloading, but the Lord was working. I laid a hand on him as I sat in the backseat. I encouraged him to pray fervently. We prayed for about a minute until he began to speak in tongues, and then we continued to pray for another minute or so. I pulled out my iPad and filmed a short interview with him, and I encouraged him to be baptized when I get back to Orlando tomorrow.

Very interestingly, as I got out of the car I looked up and there was the “Curb Marshall” standing right there. He was looking at me as if to say, “I cut you some slack there.” I think he must have been standing there watching us pray, and he probably heard us too!

Praise Jesus! The fields are ready to harvest. The more we forget about ourselves and go forth in faith, expecting to be used by the Lord as vessels for His Word, situations occur constantly. I’m now waiting for my flight and wondering what else the Lord has in store for the next 24 hours!

Another person filled with the Spirit within minutes!:

Two nights ago we were getting a ride back to our room with a golf cart driver. Just as we were hopping out of the cart, the man (Eddie) said, “Have a blessed night!” Immediately my husband turned around and asked him, “You mentioned the word blessed; do you go to church?” Eddie was very intrigued to hear about the infilling of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. After a few minutes of talking about the Lord, we ended up sitting right there in the golf cart, laying hands on Eddie and praying for him to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. He received the Holy Spirit anointing, speaking in tongues, and then had to zip back off to the lobby after another pick up call on his radio. We only spent minutes with him, but his life was changed forever! Praise God! Oh, and just like Mayola in my last post, Eddie said he felt a fire go through him when he was filled with the Spirit. He was very touched by the whole experience.

Today has been an AMAZING day!:

My husband lost his glasses on the plane coming in to Florida. Went to two different places to get replacements, but they couldn’t fit him in. The third place we went to could see him immediately. They had pictures on the wall with messages about hope and faith. We got talking to the receptionist gal (Mayola) and asked her if the clinic’s owners are God-minded. She said yes and that everyone who works there also goes to church. We asked her the question according to Acts 19: “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed”? She said no. We asked her if she would like to be filled with the Spirit. She said yes. It happened very simply, just like that. We asked what time they closed. We were going to come back, but she said we could go pray right away in the back room. She said she wanted to invite two others in, too (Tiffany and Oscar). They were keen and came to pray as well.

Now this is particularly amazing: It turns out that Oscar had JUST been saying to Tiffany (literally seconds before Mayola poked her head in the door to invite them for prayer) that he didn’t know what was wrong with him, that he felt empty and distant with his relationship with God. (We later recorded his explanation on video; it was very awesome.) Anyway, all three of them received the Holy Spirit right there in the back room of the optometrist’s clinic. I was praying with Mayola and she said she felt a warmth go through her body when she began to pray in tongues. (We often get this description from people – after all, the Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a fire.) We chatted very briefly about various things, including the necessity of water baptism, and then they had to be on their way back to work. We got to talk to Oscar a little more as he was helping my husband finalize his glasses. It was hard for Oscar to concentrate because he was so overwhelmed by what had just happened!

THEN, just as we left the optometrist, we saw a drive-thru prayer group standing by the road with signs offering one-minute prayer. Wow! So, needless to say that we pulled into the parking lot. We got out and my husband asked them questions and preached to them. It turned out that most of the group were already filled with the Spirit except for three of them. We offered prayer and one wanted to pray (Christian). Christian received the Holy Spirit, praise God, while we stood there laying hands on him and praying in the parking lot! We heard him speaking in tongues quietly, and the leader of the group heard him ,too. He was very happy for him. We left cards with most of them and had to zip on our way to drop off the rental car.

That makes:

* 10 people that have been anointed with the Holy Spirit (some baptized as well) since the trip.

* Plus, we connected and prayed with 3 others – who were already filled with the Holy Spirit – and got them praying in tongues again after some time of not praying, and we encouraged them with scriptures.

* Plus, we have had the opportunity to lay hands on others – 4 that I can think of right now – and pray with them.

* And many others have been preached to – some, again, already Spirit-filled but needing clarity and inspiration.

Praise Jesus!!! What an amazing trip so far! God never ceases to amaze us. We are simply His willing instruments, but He totally does the orchestrating. It’s amazing how He gives increase to conversations when we simply step out and open our mouths in faith!

Wow, we just met two ladies from Kentucky at a hotel here in Mexico. My husband overheard them speaking about God and he politely interrupted their conversation to ask them some questions and to share his experiences with the Lord. After about 20 minutes of chatting, they were both keen to come back to the hotel room to pray. They were both filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as evidence.

Oh, and I forgot to post this one: Before we left Belize, we also met a lovely older couple (he is American and she is British). We spent quite a bit of time with them and found out that they are both Spirit-filled, but they haven’t prayed in tongues regularly for a long time. They also didn’t have a clear understanding of their Book of Acts calling regarding going out into all the world to preach, pray, baptize, and heal (Mark 16). They said their time with us was incredibly inspiring, praise God! Now they are praying in tongues daily and seeing many positive results, and they are motivated to get out there and empower others. It’s such a joy to be used by the Lord to enlighten and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you, God!

Just before we left Belize, we got to pray with a lady (Maritza) that was doing some cleaning for us. She said she felt a warmth go through her when she received Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as proof. She was in quiet awe of the whole experience. My husband baptized Maritza straight away in the pool, and she was so excited to be able to go home and pray for her mom who is suffering with cancer. And, she so wants to see her mother delivered from worldly vices that are destroying her. Maritza texted later in the day to say that it was the best day of her life. How precious a calling we have to be able to touch people’s lives like this. Praise you, Jesus. Praise your wondrous name!

My husband and my eldest son are on their trip today to take some shipping stuff to Belize City. It has turned into a VERY interesting adventure. Long story, but the short of it is that they got two flat tires on the trailer, one soon after the other. Yet, ONLY because of this did they end up calling in to this one lone gas station in the middle of nowhere. It’s hours away from where we are at, but they ended up running into one young Belizean guy that had been doing some work for us and whom we had been preaching to. It turned out that they prayed for this young guy soon after speaking with him at the gas station, and he received the Holy Spirit anointing, speaking in tongues. Praise God! They are now in a tiny boat on a jungle river traveling to where the young man’s mother and other family/friends are so my husband can baptize him. It’s way out in the sticks – totally movie making stuff! It’s very cool.

We are expecting more will come from this. My husband actually prayed with the young man’s two friends here in some fields a few days ago. They wanted him to lay hands on them and pray that they would have a true hearts desire for the Holy Spirit. He did so, so hopefully they will now be moved to action when we tell them what just happened with their buddy. Expect the unexpected with the Lord, EVERY day! He never ceases to amaze me!

P.S. My husband later cleared up something for me: The guy he prayed with and baptized WAS actually one of the young men that he had (days earlier) laid hands on and prayed for (that he would have a desire for the Holy Spirit). Praise, God! The Lord answered the prayer in a most amazing way! No wonder the young man was keen to pray and get baptized. He obviously knew that connecting with my husband again in the middle of the jungle was absolutely no coincidence!

Please keep Carmel and her children in your prayers. Just prayed with her along with another sister in the Lord for her heart and mind to be healed from an abusive family situation. Carmel is Spirit-filled and wanting to revive the days of her youth when she felt the Spirit truly ignited within her, and when she experienced the power of God in her life and in the lives of others around her. Laid hands on her during prayer today as we all prayed in tongues together, and she felt good to be drawing nigh to God. The beginning of revival for her…

Great news! We met a man (Phil) in a wheelchair at a hotel in Florida. We got talking to him about the Lord and he was very keen to come back to our hotel room to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Phil was anointed with the Spirit very quickly and very powerfully, praying in tongues, and he actually felt a strong warmth in his paralyzed legs. We had to head out the next day, but we will keep in touch with him. He now has God’s power within him, and we pray he will take the extra step towards God and be water baptized.

Then, today we were on the road to Belize City (we’re in Belize for a few weeks and then on to Mexico and back to Florida). We came across a lady and her 17-year-old son on the side of the road. Their car was broken down. It turned out that the boy was already Spirit-filled, but the mom wasn’t. We prayed for the mom and she received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, crying with such joy and gratefulness to God!

Praise God how He uses natural circumstances to bring people together so His work can be done. If all of us are always ready, and if we expect to be used by God at any time, He will use us to pour out His blessing upon others. For this mother and her son, a seemingly negative situation turned into a miracle. And for Phil, a seemingly hopeless situation has now suddenly changed completely. God is good and oh so powerful, beyond our natural understanding!

B. Fernando is thriving after being baptized and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit on the weekend. She was almost jumping out of her skin with excitement on the phone! She said her depression has completely vanished and she’s so proud (in a good way) to announce to people that she’s a Christian now. She is so happy to now belong to God, and she has been praying in tongues lots throughout the day – at home, while cleaning houses, while walking her dog, while driving her car, etc. No wonder she’s feeling so good!

Praying in tongues as much as we can each day is one of the biggest keys to growth in the Lord. So, if you’re still struggling in certain ways in your life, kick it up and start communicating abundantly with your Father in Heaven using the miraculous spiritual language He has given you. Do this in addition to your dedicated worship times and you’ll feel the Holy Spirit within you ignite from a small flame to a blazing fire, and you’ll see the Word of God made manifest in your life more than ever!