The brisk and windy autumn day lifted the leaves into the air signifying that Halloween was only a few days away. The leaves swirled and formed what looked like arms and hands reaching towards the stars. I pulled my jacket a little closer around my neck as we continued walking to church with only the moon lighting the night. I had been praying most of the day between all of my household chores for my friend to get better. Tori’s heart was enlarged and her cardiologist feared that she could die of a heart attack any moment. It was a frightful revelation for her family and friends.
Determined we trudged on as the dim light of the church piloted us forward. Arriving, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my key. The church was plunged in blackness. Unlocking the door I reached in and flipped on the entry way light. We headed for the sanctuary. I opened the doors and switched on the pulpit lights leaving the rest of the lights off. A soft warm hue cast its shadow over the pews. Walking down the middle isle we choose a pew and sat down. Quietly I opened my bible and read a short bible verse on how to pray for healing.
James 5:16: “So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.”
We followed the verse completely confessing our sins to each other. Diligently we began to pray pleading for a miracle from Jesus Christ to save Tori’s life. Within moments I felt my body begin to shake and I felt a trembling vibrating me on the inside… I was possessed! I didn’t feel bad, but I defiantly felt different. A surge of power leapt from my insides and ignited my hands turning them red and hot. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me? Yet, I was unafraid! Gently I moved my hands over Tori’s heart and her heart condition improved! I was amazed, but I didn’t understand completely what had happened.
We had come to church to pray for a miracle, but much more transpired. I knew that for the first time in my life I had encountered the Holy Spirit. I was possessed! What was this awesome feeling I was experiencing? I felt transformed!
All my life I had been taught that when you are baptized you received the Holy Spirit. But now I knew this was not true! I was changed and turned into a different person. The Spirit inside of me began to tell me that I was blessed, because I was given the privilege to know God’s will for my life.
‘Wow’ I needed to know more and so I quickly found scriptures that lead me to understand the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. I learned how God talks to people. I learned how the Spirit works in a person’s life.
Hebrews 8:10-12: “Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. None of them will have to teach his fellow citizen or tell his fellow countryman, ‘Know the Lord.’ For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs.”
My possession completely changed my outlook on life. I didn’t want to live the Christian life as I had been taught by people. Now I wanted to live God’s will for my life. I did this by listening closely to the voice of God within my being. Before my baptism in the Spirit I loved and served a God that demanded complete obedience for my sins or I would be condemned to hell. Now I followed a God that was personally involved in my life and loved me for who He made me to become. Now my life had a God purpose. Up until now I believed that my life was about being a good wife and mother. But when the Spirit began to instruct me in God’s ways everything changed.
Ephesians 3:16-19: “I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep is Christ’s love. Yes, may you come to know His love-although it can never be fully known-and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.”
Immediately the world I knew began to change as I started to grow in the knowledge taught to me by the Holy Spirit. I began to love people unconditionally because the Holy Spirit filled me with love. Unfortunately my fellow church members were locked into a religious way of worship that demanded the approval of men. They didn’t want the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit that demanded they live by faith. They needed rules and regulations because this gave them control. This way they could control the people who chose to worship god with them. They took away my church keys and asked me to leave the church. My marriage fell apart and my parents turned their back on me. They claimed I had changed and I would no longer follow how they believed you were supposed to worship God.
I had changed because now I was possessed by the Holy Spirit. I felt a supernatural strength fill my being and make me strong in my inner self so I would stand up to those who used God to manipulate people to do their will. Even though the world I once knew began to crumble the love of God filled my heart and helped me to not give up. I didn’t understand why following Jesus Christ as my Savior made those around me persecute me? But I received something I never knew existed before; it was a knowledge that taught me about the world.
2 Corinthians 3: 18: “All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.”
Very soon the veil of darkness lifted and I saw the purpose behind the corruptness of the world. I began to understand why there was so much hatred and violence. Why people suffered from losing a loved one from diseases. I even understood why death plagued the world. My knowledge of the world changed the way I prayed for my loved ones. It changed how I lived my life. The knowledge the Holy Spirit taught me transformed me into a better person who loved people just like Christ.
I was possessed by the Holy Spirit. I no longer chose to do what others said was right, instead I chose to be transformed within. My possession taught me about love. The Holy Spirit taught me why Jesus came to save people. When we place our faith in Jesus we are changed into different people who love. Jesus’ mark of ownership is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our constant companion and our guide. The Spirit helps us when we are suffering and in trouble. Ask God to possess you today. Surrender your life and allow the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to possess you and teach you God’s will for your life.
