Life Altering Experiences

We have been involved in a great week of services at the New River Worship Center church plant in Radcliff, KY.  It is truly hard to fully describe the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The limit of my language ability hinders me from fully expressing my sincere recognition and appreciation of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  But I join with Mary the mother of Jesus declaring "my soul doth magnify the Lord."  I can truly sing the praises of the great and mighty God and thank Him for working in the hearts and lives of those who gathered each evening to seek after the presence of God.  The presence of the Lord in the meetings only encouraged me to maintain my passionate pursuit of a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.  I firmly believe that we are living in the day and time which will demand that each of us seek for a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ and the authority that He has over the power of the enemy of our soul.

During the sermon last night the Lord reminded me of His "life altering" power and presence.  That revelation of truth is still fresh in my heart this morning; the Spirit of God desires to alter or change our lives.  Many of us desire for God to alter our circumstances or situations but we are not as concerned about Him altering our lives.  We want the situations around us to change but God is interested in changing each of us so that we will more fully reflect His glory in our lives.  The Pentecostal tradition of worship affords us the opportunity to have an open altar in which people are invited to come and pray.  We pray about all of the different needs that we may have such as salvation, healing, deliverance, Spirit baptism; and these are just a few things that we may pray about.  But the question arises, "Are coming to the altar and not leaving "altered?"  The altar is a place in which we interact with the life altering presence of the Holy Spirit.  The altar is not just at church; the altar can be anywhere that we bow our hearts before the Lord and allow Him to take control of our lives.  Each one of us need to recognize and respond to those "life altering experiences".  We need to remember that God is at work in each of us ready to fulfill and complete His purpose for our lives.  Let us be willing to surrender to the process of spiritual alteration and catch a glimpse of the finished product which is a strong, committed, and dedicated life to Jesus Christ.