A friend told me about healing conferences. When I first began going they confused and scared me. One pastor said many of us may have grown up knowing the Father, the Son and “Holy Scriptures!” Hmm…that seemed to fit me.  And he is a church planter, speaker, author and church development director for the Reformed Church in America.

I can’t give you a specific date or time when I became a Christian. It happened slowly over the course of my childhood and teen years and I grew into it, growing up in a Christian home. I thought I knew all there was to know about life as a Christian. You know… love Jesus, go to church twice every Sunday, read the Bible, go to Bible studies, try to have a quiet time each day, pray when you can, be nice, and strive to be a moral person. Follow the rules. Check. Check.

I came to the first healing seminar very naive but as time went on, I gained more clarity on what the Bible really said on the topic of healing and the Holy Spirit. Some are healed on the spot-sure the Lord can do that when it’s His plan. But many times, it is a process, or it is in combination with doctors, forgiveness, counseling, and other therapies. After all, God made doctors and uses them in His healing processes. For others, it may be God’s plan to wait until they reach heaven to be completely healed.

I kept learning more and more about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. I only knew Him as this scary ” Holy Ghost” out in the distance, which we called Him in the Apostles Creed. I didn’t realize He was an active living part of the trinity of God. In my church upbringing, the Holy Spirit was talked about, but I didn’t know Him.

I knew God, I knew Jesus, but the Holy Spirit? Could I really know Him?

Whenever I could, I attended Christian conferences through P.R.M.I.(Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries International) and learned more about what the Bible said about the Holy Spirit. How did I miss this for the first 47 years of my life? There was so much more.

Much much more.

My heart cry and sicknesses led to the search, which led me to healing in many areas of my body and soul.

Slowly the scales fell away from my eyes. I have seen people healed in many ways-Inner, Physical, and Spiritual healing.

Now there is no fear. I want to soak it in as much as possible. I don’t just read verses which say that the Holy Spirit is our comforter and guide, but feel it. I don’t just read about putting on the full armor of the Holy Spirit, but do it. I don’t think that it is a strange or weird thing to listen to the Holy Spirit, although I long to continue to hear Him better.

I don’t think that it’s just for those crazy charismatic types. If someone rests in the Spirit, it is a beautiful thing. If someone raises their hands, they are worshiping God. Another person might be sitting reverently. Someone might be healed, or pray in tongues. Others could have their chairs in a circle of prayer. God tells me, “Let it happen according to the Spirit. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks or what they do. It’s OK. It is real.”

Now, I know the difference. I know what it was like before. I finally know what it is like to walk with the Holy Spirit-as real as a person holding my hand.

No, I don’t have it all together. I have not arrived. I long for more discernment. I still sin and do stupid things.

Life is a process. We’re all just children learning.

Romans 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 14:12  “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

(I decided to make this a series…Part 3 is coming.)