To listen to this week's podcast click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2324960/15603520-breaking-free-for-more-episode-22.mp3?download=true
Last week, we talked about being made to live in the light. This week, I want to discuss being "made for more." Created to live an "expectant life" where we believe in God for MORE- more love, joy, abundance, freedom, and power! Our God is a God of lavishness and extravagance!
Luke 11:11-13 tells us:
11 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Further, our Father is a God of the impossible! He promises us in Ephesians 3:20 that “He can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us!”
God is good, and He gives good gifts. And He is willing to do so much more in our lives—things that we can't even begin to imagine.
Did you catch the commonality of both of those Scriptures?
That’s right! Holy Spirit- The power that is at work within us!
That’s the more!! The lagniappe- the extra!
Think of it like this…. it’s like we’ve spent our lives as a beautiful bird that’s caged. Sin has constructed a gilded cage around us. The world may be visible and we can live our lives interacting with the world. But we are trapped and falsely believe that the bars protect us. That there is comfort and stability within our little cage- it's what we know. That is…until Jesus comes along- He’s the gatekeeper. He alone has the key to unlock the cage door and set us free. That’s what happens when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. The door to that cage is now thrown wide open. But He doesn’t grab us and force us out. No, he's too much of a gentleman. Instead, He sends an extraordinary person to teach and guide us – lovingly & patiently. The person that gives the power to remove the doubts and fears! So that we can boldly cross over the threshold of the door and spread our wings and SOAR! That's the Holy Spirit who dwells within us when we accept Jesus.
Yet, many of us (even those that have accepted Jesus) we still choose to stay confined inside our gilded cage. Many of us have falsely believed that all we needed to do was pray a prayer of salvation, maybe get water baptized, and that's it. Life goes on as usual. Yes, we believe that we automatically get the Holy Spirit- but we don't know anything other than that. We don't realize that we are still stuck inside the cage. Because we don't believe that there is anything more to our lives, and we certainly don't understand that action is required on our part.
We have a choice. In order to leave the cage, to do more, we must DO something!
And that something is “activating” the Holy Spirit- what I mean by activating is that we are giving Him permission to take charge, teach, guide, lead, and empower us! It is only then that we can fly! To be completely free where the cage falls away, and as we elevate the glass ceiling is broken in our flight - where the impossible becomes logical!
Do you understand that our enemy’s number one goal is that we never discover we were made for more. Satan doesn’t want us to know that the door is gone and that we have a holy power inside of us waiting to be turned on so that we can fly!
Now, if you listened to Episode 4 of this podcast, you heard about my journey and baptism of Holy Spirit. I just want to say that the Holy Spirit is real. He is the third person of the Trinity, and just like Jesus, He will never impose himself. He waits until we ask Him for more! That's what being "baptized" in the Holy Spirit means. Just like when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and be our Lord and Savior, we also need to ask the Holy Spirit to empower us.
Here's the thing: When the Holy Spirit is activated in your life, things will change. You will discover there indeed is more!!! And the Holy Spirit first is going to come bearing gifts!
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 tells us:
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else, the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still, another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
It's the Holy Spirit's job to fulfill God's will in your life and in the world! He brings explosive power into our lives—the very same resurrection power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead! That's what's available to us if we are ready to leave our gilded cages!
So, I’d love to know…
Do you want to hear from God, to recognize His voice, and to know when He is really speaking to you?
Do you want the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings?
Do you want the power to fly outside of that gilded cage?
Do you want more? ARE YOU READY FOR MORE?!
Ready to believe so that you can receive?
If the answer is yes and Jesus is already your Lord and Savior, it’s as simple as praying a prayer like this, and I welcome you to repeat after me…
“Heavenly Father, I come before you in thanksgiving for the wonderful gifts you provide. I thank you for the gift of salvation in my Lord Jesus and I desire to receive your Promise of the Holy Spirit to those who believe. I believe in Acts 1:5-8. Jesus, my Savior, and King baptize me in the Holy Spirit so that the power of your resurrection will work in me and transform me according to your will. Holy Spirit, empower me and fill me to overflowing. I hold nothing back from you. Work your gifts in and through all of me so that the Father's Kingdom may manifest in my life. I praise you and ask this in the beautiful name of Jesus the Messiah. Amen!"
And if you prayed this prayer, I encourage you to spend time in worship and vocalize OUTLOUD your praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Use your voice that He gave you to thank Him and praise Him. If you do, you just might find that you've been given a heavenly prayer language. If that happens- just embrace it- use it- as it's a unique language between you and the Lord. It's much like identical twins that have their own special language! Just the two of them, only the two that can understand– talking and sharing. Same thing.
NOW YOU ARE READY- Ready to SOAR! Ready for More!
So, I hope you will join me next week to continue this conversation. Here's a little teaser: I'll be sharing a life-changing Bible Study that put me on the path to Father's House, freeing me from wrong theology and showing me that there is more!
Ladies- We have been extended a heavenly invitation to partner with the God of creation and bring heaven down to earth. I pray you are ready to say “yes” to the more and be that living testimony of His power and goodness! Let’s not waste it! We were made for more!
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