Don’t Be Taken By Surprise

This morning, as I was reading in Isaiah and was drawn to re-read the notation of what to pray to prepare for the move of Holy Spirit. I was then reminded of a vision and a word dropped in my heart back in 2018.

I was out for my morning wog around a local lake when I saw in my mind’s eye water suddenly burst up out of the water, and it was like I could almost feel the pressure spray over me. It took my breath away, like someone running along and a sprinkler suddenly starts to spray. Then I heard these words: “Don’t be taken by surprise by the outpouring of Holy Spirit. Learn to maneuver with the Spirit of the Lord.” I then saw people ministering to others as this water poured over them.   

We all talk about revival and the move of Holy Spirit, but do we understand that reformation comes before revival?

In the 1866 Sword and Trowel, C. H. Spurgeon defined revival: “The word revive . . . may be interpreted thus—to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished.”

Reformation is a call of the church back to honoring the absolute authority of the Word of God, from the very first verse in Genesis. We need a new reformation today—a reformation where God’s people, and particularly Christian leaders, repent of compromising God’s Word. answersingenesis.org

I ask myself, and each of you who has dedicated to reading this post. Are we willing to stand for God’s Absolute Word without compromise? Those of us who want to walk out Mark 16:17-18, are we willing to align our lives to making Jesus LORD over our flesh? If we are cowardly hiding within our own little ‘prayer closets’ and afraid to let our light shine, or to add salt to a tasteless conversation – how do we even expect to allow Holy Spirit (that is within us) to flow?  

My Pastor finished an excellent teaching on the Holy Spirit. Every lesson impacted me significantly, and I realized how I had stifled and grieved the Holy Spirit that was gifted to me through accepting the redeeming blood of Jesus. Simply put, I have limited God to work here on earth because I have stifled the ONE who was given to me to maneuver in my day-to-day the way I was designed to (go back to the original mandate).   

I want to encourage you to stop, quiet your thoughts, and ask Holy Spirit, Have I grieved you? Have I stopped the way you want to touch others because of my arrogance, pride, and hard-hearted mindsets?

These questions aren’t meant to make us feel beaten up. It is conviction, NOT condemnation (which is how the enemy reframes words spoken or written).

My friends, I don’t doubt for a moment that we each are here ‘such a time as this’ to PROCLAIM the Kingdom of God and to maneuver with Holy Spirit to display HIS goodness.

That said, let us pause and ask Holy Spirit: “What is one area You want to revive or reform in me today?”

Write down what He says. Let us pray into it. And commit to one act of obedience that aligns with it.

If you, like me, truly believe we are here for such a time as this, then let’s live like it. Let’s ask Holy Spirit to lead us to one person today who needs His touch—and be ready to minister when He does.