Heidi Baker on the 700 Club
Iris co-founder Heidi Baker shares how to be led by the continuous influence of God.
The Presence of God
Heidi says it is important to understand that the Presence of God is not a thing. “It’s not an additional member of the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit and Presence,” says Heidi. “The Presence of God is a Person.” She believes in order for us to experience His Presence, it is important for us to establish a solid theological foundation for who God is. She reminds us that the Holy Spirit brings freedom: freedom to worship, pray and praise God in our own special way. “Heaven is a place we go to one day but it is also a place in our hearts,” she says. The joy of the Lord is a gift that flows from intimacy with God. “As we live in His glorious Presence, joy will bubble out of us in an unprecedented manner until it becomes a river gushing from the rushing waters of His love,” says Heidi. When we experience the joy in our hearts, we will be excited about sharing it with others. “As His love flows from you, you will find yourself longing desperately to go to the lost and broken with His miracle-working Presence,” says Heidi. “God is calling to us every day, inviting us into His Presence.” By living a life of intimacy with Jesus, we can produce fruit in every season of our lives.
The Lord tells us in Exodus 27:20 And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually.
Heidi says through Jesus’ sacrifice, the Presence of the Holy Spirit fills us with an oil that will never run dry. “His Presence keeps the fire of your spirit burning for Him continually as you work to advance His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven,” she says.
Running Forth
By being in His Presence, Heidi says we can live from His Presence. “By going out of the house, out of the church, out of Bible studies into the marketplace, the workplace, the mission fields, the hospitals…and every place God urges us to go,” she says. As we discover the Person of Jesus, we are free to walk in holiness. “You become so full that it is impossible to keep to yourself.” No fleshly thing will hold us. When we experience His Presence in a secret place, it will naturally burst forth from us into our everyday reality. “You won’t just go forth,” says Heidi. “You will run forth into the world full of passion to share the Good News because it will be impossible to keep to yourself.
At Iris Global, Heidi says they depend on miracles for everything. “We depend on miracles for the love in our hearts, for our patience, for understanding, for vision, for ideas and for financial resources,” she says. “And we have learned that God doesn’t tell us too much in advance.” This holds true for many of us. If God tells us in advance, we wouldn’t need His miracles because we would come up with our own plans! “Rolland and I have been in places and times when we were so incredibly desperate,” says Heidi. So how do they get the miracles they need? “My answer is, I have no idea other than to be with him where he is.”In Mozambique, Heidi and Rolland have led thousands of people to the Lord. One of the ways God reveals Himself to the people of that country is through His miracles. “The blind see, the deaf hear, the crippled walk,” says Heidi. One Saturday, Heidi was enjoying time with the Lord. All of a sudden, she remembered she needed to go to the bank. Instead of grumbling about how her time with the Lord was interrupted, Heidi turned her thoughts to how thousands come under the weighty Presence of the Lord and fall to the floor at their base. Thinking about it brought her into God’s Presence. “My time alone wasn’t ruined. It took place in a different way when I allowed His Presence to set my heart right.”
