Need a Miracle? Fire Baptism is the Key
The manifest presence of God was in our meetings and increasing every week.
People were encountering Him without us coaching them to receive. As I asked God how we could continue to flow in His river, I heard, “The fire prepares us to carry the glory.” At that moment, I had a vivid memory of when I was exposed to the fire of God for the first time.
I was a young adult who was riddled with fear, anxiety, eating disorders, and sickness. I believed in Jesus, but I was still broken. I needed help. My willingness to “get my act together” wasn’t working. The concept of holiness was so far out of my reach. I was just trying to stay out of hell and be a good young mom. Living an abundant life was not my reality.
At a service one day, the pastors of Tommy’s hometown church invited people to come and be baptized in the “fire of God.” I was confused with their language. I grew up Baptist, and I was only familiar with water baptism. I saw people respond by walking to the front for prayer from the pastors. Some cried, some had peace, others responded with joy and laughter, many spoke in tongues, while others shook and fell to the ground. Everyone walked away different. I had heard about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I thought it only meant people would speak with tongues and sounds no one understood. But for the first time, I started to understand why baptism was important and the many ways my life would be changed forever.
As I observed others respond to the invitation to come forward, I had a choice to make: was I going to stay back and spectate, or was I going to participate? Since I have a curious nature, I wanted to try this “baptism of fire” out. Curiosity got me into a lot of trouble in my past, but not this time. When it was my turn for prayer, I didn’t know what to expect. For the first time, I received a prophetic word from the pastor that included words of knowledge. I wondered who told him this information about me, but I realized it was God telling him the information. Every word was spoken with honor, love, and hope for my future. I began to feel heat course through my body. I noticed after that encounter that I was able to sit through services without feeling anxious and needing to walk out.
This was the first of many baptisms in the fire of God. The next time, I responded again to receive a fresh baptism of fire. This time my encounter with the fire of God ran deeper and consumed the demonic enemies of anxiety, fear, and the bondage of eating disorders. I received deliverance and immediately began to speak in tongues. It felt like a gush of water filled me and pushed the darkness out. It was like the rivers of living water bursting forth in John 7:38.
During this encounter, I had a vivid mental picture of a fire hose gushing into a small cup filled with dirt. When the water gushed in, the dirt in the cup didn’t stand a chance; it spilled out and the cup overflowed with clean water. My cup ran over with God’s goodness, and mercy and the water became a river!
Every week these pastors prayed for a fresh encounter with the Holy Spirit. Each time, I was the first one to respond. I was ignorant of any religious argument that would say that I had enough. I’m so thankful I was exposed to the fire of God. I later received physical healings when fresh fire came upon me. One by one, each infirmity and sickness that gripped me left my body. I was being transformed from glory to glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). The baptism of the Holy Spirit was the missing link I needed to fully surrender to Jesus. This was the hope of victory I was longing for.
As I snapped out of the vivid memory, I realized how important it was to restructure our gatherings around the fire of God. Tommy had been planning to make structural changes to the service in order for people to encounter God’s presence. After remembering how my life was transformed, I agreed with him.
We intentionally made room every week to speak to people about the fire of God. Each week, we corporately asked for the Holy Spirit to baptize us in His fire, then we took time to invite people to the front to respond to Him. We laid hands on some to receive, but many received the baptism of fire without anyone touching them. The glory of God manifested within His fire. God reminded me of our prayers for God’s glory, and the fire was making room for the glory.
Our new blueprint was to create a space where people could receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As we did this, we saw increased miracles break out in the atmosphere of glory. The fire prepared the atmosphere for glory. There was also an increased measure of glory in our home and personal atmosphere. We remain hungry to learn how to host the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of glory.
“On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Suddenly they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. The roar of the wind was so overpowering it was all anyone could bear! Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them” (Acts 2:1–4 TPT).
Restoration of Pentecostal Fire
“I’m burning with the message on Pentecostal Fire. I believe it’s time to RESTORE THE STANDARD for Christianity so we are the powerful Ekklesia that Jesus commissioned.” — Larry Sparks
Jesus is our Savior and our baptizer! John the Baptist revealed this truth in Mark 1:8. Before Christ’s ascension to heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit in His place. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be an intimate friend to them just like He was. After Jesus’ resurrection, He continued the conversation by revealing the rest of His assignment: to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire!
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to earth, just as Jesus promised. His fire rested upon each person, and they were filled with power! Pentecost is the original standard and the foundation we are to build upon. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the revival that was never intended to end.
The fire that fell at Pentecost, in Acts 2, restored the glory of the Lord to the church. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of glory (see 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Peter 4:14). The upper room in Acts 2 became a temple of glory, and even more beautifully, each person became a temple of glory, as the pillar of fire that guided the children of Israel separated and rested on each of their heads (see Exod. 40:36–38; Acts 2:3–4). Fire is found in the glory (see Exod. 40:34–38; 2 Chron. 7:1–3; Ezek. 1:26–28; Dan. 7:9–10).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a significant part of Jesus’ assignment here on the earth. The Holy Spirit is not a denominational choice or suggestion. He is God, and to reject Him is to reject God in His fullness. God is demonstrating the power and authority of the Holy Spirit through yielded vessels. He will do this in order to advance His Kingdom on earth and to awaken the hearts of Christians to their inheritance of power.
When we ask for the fire of God to rest upon us, we will experience the glory of God. The fire of God prepares us to carry greater levels of glory. We are meant to go from one level of glory to another (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). Fire surrounds the glory.
“‘And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within’” (Zechariah 2:5 NIV).
What Is This Fire?
The fire of God is not to be associated with things that should be burned up and destroyed. The fire is fanning into flame again and it will continue to increase, so we should all prepare for it. The fire of God is meant to consume us with Himself, His wonderful presence, and His glory. The fire of God is not to be confused with persecution, affliction, sickness, and suffering.
Hardship may happen but God is never the author of malady. As believers in Jesus, we have been given authority over every demon and power over every sickness because of the impartation of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 9:1). Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (see 1 John 3:8); therefore, we have power from the Holy Spirit to destroy the works of the devil in our lives and the lives of those around us. The Holy Spirit empowers us to break free from things too strong for us to overcome.
The Rest of the Story
Through Jesus’ absolute perfection, He gave us access to His Holy Spirit! Jesus did not stop the conversation with His death and resurrection; He instructed His followers to receive the Holy Spirit (see John 7:39; 14:16–17; 26; Acts 1:8; 11:15; 19:1–7).
Like the newly converted Samaritans, many do not know the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For me, the Holy Spirit was the game changer in my life. I accepted salvation as a young adult, but some things in my life were still broken. In many areas, my Christianity wasn’t working. Thank God someone told me the rest of the story.
“When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:14–16 NIV).
The church at large has allowed the Pentecostal fire to go out, but throughout church history we have seen this fire revived.
