Life Loving Jesus

Surrounded by light in the midst of a dark night, it was like we had just been washed up on the shore of a moonlit beach, tide rolling in, everything spinning like a whirlwind. Filled with awe of the God we serve, feeling His presence swirling around us like particles of a storm cloud that had just settled.

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Candles on the floor in the shape of the cross, chairs framing the candles to mirror the same shape, the sun’s rays fading into the horizon. Sabbath. Acoustic guitar and voices singing praise, inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to be among us. After a prayer, Eliab, a tall, slender 19 year old man stood at the center of the cross, recalling the story of the sower and the seeds. His appeal was to allow God to cultivate the soil of the heart so that the work that had already been started could be continued throughout the coming weeks. Conveying the reality of the stony, thorny, bird eaten soil in contrast to the good soil where God’s word can grow and be fruitful, caused us to again make a choice FOR God.

As the Holy Spirit moved among us, Jessie shared the process of a planted seed becoming a strong tree. The seed’s need of essential nutrients in the soil, the light of God, Living Water, and air – the Breath of Life. Highlighting growth as a journey, a process from birth to maturity. We then all turned to a partner or small group for a time of prayer. This time of prayer was so inspired, as many teens were sincerely coming before God wanting to be used and changed by Him.

The Spirit continued to move among us as I was inspired to share about how each seed, each heart, is a light, illuminating the world for the glory of God. In preparation to depart from the environment of spiritual outpouring, the Spirit of God through me equipped each person in the room with the armor of God, signifying each part of the armor and their importance to us as warriors of Light. We sang another song, asking God to set lasting fires in our hearts. In prayerful closing, with hearts and hands open towards heaven, Holy Spirit fire touched each person’s lips with a cry to God: “never let us go”. Like a gentle earthquake, a holy awakening was felt all around, shaking us into the reality of the existence of a God of love, light and life.

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There are no words that can contain the emotion and reality of the opening of that Holy Sabbath, only these reflections rooted in wonder and joy of my ability to serve the One True God, our Father, our lover, our friend.