Phase 2 of our move // last couple of weeks in Texas

This past weekend, Zach and David drove down my stepdad's trailer that he so graciously lent us, loaded up with all of our furniture from our house. I reserved a storage unit locally that I was very pleased with (super nice, clean, great location, super nice owner, great service- if any of my local friends ever need a storage unit, message me! I would highly recommend this one.) the day before they got here, after doing research on literally all the ones in Allen (15+) plus a couple ones in Plano. I met them at the storage unit about 7:15pm Saturday evening. My Papa had an extra lock lying around in his garage, so that was a blessing to not have to buy one! Zach and David got everything unloaded and stored in under an hour. I was proud of them and as always, impressed by their hard work. We went back to Papa's afterwards where Savannah and Mason were watching a movie and waiting on Daddy's arrival (Gavin came with me to the storage unit to meet them) and unloaded a few boxes there.

The next morning we had a great service at church and then went to lunch with Papa to eat Mexican food (I have seriously missed real Mexican food!!)! Afterwards we got some other random things done around the house while the kids napped.

We went to Sunday night church and the kids had Awanas. Mason earned two patches for his cubby vest for memorizing 2 Bible verses. Savannah memorized 3 Bible verses that night also. I'm so proud of them. **Since then, Mason has memorized 2 additional verses and is ready to recite them this next Sunday!!

Zach drove back to NC one last final time on Monday with David. (He will be moving down 2 weeks from today and I cannot wait!)

Savannah has had a great week of school so far. Last week, on Friday, in honor of a great first week of school, she and I got a treat at Braum's while Mason was napping at home with Papa. I'm so proud of her! Yesterday, was Chick Fil A night at her school, so after eating the family favorite dish, cheesy BBQ pasta that I make, we all (Papa, the kids, and I) went to Chick Fil A for ice cream! It was a nice, fun time. We went by my aunt's house afterwards to look at some logos for Zach's business, Dallas Aeration. I'm so thankful for all of her advice, input, and overall eye for things we may not always notice. She's just awesome! I'm also thankful for our great friends, Tyler & Michelle, and all the hard work Tyler has spent working on our website for Dalls Aeration. It will up and running soon and I will have a post about the business then.

Mason also had his first day of his new preschool yesterday and he absolutely loved it! It is a great school and we are so blessed to have gotten in mid year like this. The teacher said that you would have thought that he had been there all year. His school even does computer class and Spanish class too! I think that is just awesome! After I picked him up at 2, we went to the park right by Savannah's school and played until it was time to pick her up at 2:50. Mason and Gavin both had a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed (and am still enjoying) this amazing weather!

Today is my birthday and it has been a great day so far! I had a nice time with my Papa and coffee this morning, also received a lovely phone call from my wonderful sister this morning, then got to visit with my stepdad this morning for a little bit, saw my Papaw at the nursing home, along with my cousin, two of my cousin's kids, and my Mamaw. The boys and I drove through afterwards and got a sweet tea for me and Papa from my favorite place to get a tea (BURGER STREET- amazing sweet tea with Sonic style ice). Right now, both boys are napping and after they awaken and we pick Savannah up, we are all going to go by James Avery and the kids are going to pick me out a charm for my charm bracelet for my birthday present from them and Daddy :)

It has definitely been a great birthday so far!

Since arriving in Texas, I have had an overwhelming peace from The Holy Spirit about this being where we are supposed to be right now. I have found myself just singing praises to Him, literally nonstop, all throughout the day. He has given me such joy, not just here in Texas, but before we came as well, ever since I turned my life over to Him 17 months ago. I am so grateful for Him leading me and my family, revealing Himself not just to me, but now to my husband as well, and just literally guiding us every step. I'm thankful again, that He is the God of new beginnings, resolution, redemption, and hope. He has filled me with such hope and unspeakable joy. I literally cannot describe the joy He has filled me with; all I can do is just subconsciously and consciously sing praises to Him all throughout my jobs of the day. He is worthy of all praise! Hallelujah!!

A verse I have been meditating on for a couple weeks is Isaiah 47:4. "My Redeemer, The Lord Almighty is His name, is The Holy One of Israel." He is so Holy and so good! At church last Wednesday, Pastor Jim was talking about how even the demons recognize Jesus' deity and fear Him. Mark 1:24, "and there was a man with an unclean spirit and the unclean spirit turned to Him and spoke, "what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Let us alone! Art thou come to destroy us? I know who You are- You are The Holy One of God!"" What a powerful verse. This one verse speaks volumes to me. The power contained in Jesus' name, blood, Word, and Spirit cannot be contained and is very real. Even the dark forces of this world recognize that power and fear it. We as His children, have nothing to fear because we have been covered with His blood. Hallelujah!! What a Savior!

My Redeemer lives!! And He is coming back soon!! 

"I'm giving it all to the only Son, who was and is and yet to come!" -Starry Night by Chris August

I was not called to be Lukewarm // My First Encounter with The HolySpirit

The past two blog posts, I have touched on my personal first time experience with The Holy Spirit after my Mam-ma died. To not take away from the things I wanted to share with everyone in those posts (my husband's first encounter with The Holy Spirit and the then announcement of our move to PA), I just briefly touched on it, but I wanted to now write a post documenting the whole story for those who would like to read about it.

All my life I have grown up in the church. I went to AWANAS, I went to a Christian school elementary through high school, I was around all Christian people and friends, and I was raised by a Christian family. I grew up with extensive knowledge of the Bible and memorized much of it as well. I went on to a Christian college also. It is probably safe to say that I had a lot more head knowledge about God and The Bible than many people I know. However, that's just it; I had head knowledge. Like many Christians today, I was just lukewarm. Everything I did was virtually just acts of going through the motions and that is not real. I never thought much of it, however. I believed in God and that was all that mattered, right? Wrong. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe and they TREMBLE at Jesus' name. Last time I checked, the demons weren't going to be in Heaven.

It was after my Mam-ma died that I was in such a dark, lonely place that I realized  something was indeed missing out of my life. I was in her church and encountered the presence of The Holy Spirit for the very first time and was forever changed. The pastor was preaching how many church members will die and go to hell and be 14 inches from Heaven, because that's the distance from your head to your heart. Billy Graham too has preached how 70% of church members are not really saved. I'd heard this statistic before, but of course didn't think it applied to me. However, being so lost after my Mam-ma died, I realized I had used her as my spiritual rock and funneled all of my spirituality through her in a sense via our daily several hour long phone conversations, etc. Now that she was gone, I felt so alone. That is, until I truly encountered the Holy Spirit's presence. When I felt Him for the first time and He consumed me, it was like nothing I've ever experienced before. It literally broke me down in the best possible way when I felt His love. It was so overwhelming and again, in the best of ways. The verse in Psalms 34:8, "taste and see that The Lord is good." had an entire new meaning for me.

All I know, is I was never the same after that. Nothing felt like going through the motions to me any more, but rather I had this intense hunger and thirst for more of Him!

It was then that I really fully realized His gift of salvation and His gift of The Holy Spirit. It broke me down to realize the depth of His love for me and for everyone.

Psalms 3:8, "Salvation belongs to The Lord; Your blessing is upon your people!"

Bethel has a song that I love, called "What would I have done"

I will not forget the cross, the pain that You endured for us

Where You carried brokenness and shame

Never to forget the day Your love broke through to make a way

For hope to rise within my heart again

Overwhelming sacrifice, You freely paid the highest price

Suffering You traded blood for me

My heart will sing the deepest praise, my lips rejoice, my hands will raise

For the death that brought me into life

All for love

My Jesus, You gave all for love

I am standing in the wonder of

Your great love

What would I have done if it wasn't for Your love

The love that tore the veil inside my heart

What would I have become if it wasn't for Your blood

The blood You gave for all on the cross

I'm still growing each and every day. I'm still learning constantly. A book that changed my prayer life and just my outlook on every day life and how it relates to my relationship with God is Glimpes of Grace. It helped me realize that if you just set aside 20 minutes over coffee every morning for devotions, you're doing something wrong. That's not a "real" relationship. Your relationship with Jesus should be greater than that with your spouse. I talk to my husband all throughout the day, even if it's just 2-3 minutes here and there, not just over coffee every morning. That's how I've learned to talk to The Holy Spirit too! All throughout the day, about the mundane, and the big things... In order to have a real relationship with Him, we cannot settle to be lukewarm. We have to be all in, on fire for Him, just as He is for us! 

Since encountering The Holy Spirit for the first time, I'm so much more aware of Him and now make a point to welcome Him into me, my house, into my family. I ask Him to fall on us all each and every day. We can never have enough of Him and we always need to invite Him in. He is after all, a person.

This journey has been amazing for me and now it's even sweeter than I'm on it with husband too. I look forward to all the amazing things yet to come through the power of The Holy Spirit and His great love.

"Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed! Hallelujah! You open blinded eyes to see! And we will praise You! You are the Everlasting Light! Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed!" -Bethel

We are MOVING! // Exciting things coming up for our family!

We have some exciting news that we would like to share with everyone! We are MOVING!! Many of you knew that we were planning on moving to Texas shortly after the first of the year. Well, that is not the announcement we are making...

We actually will be delaying our move to Texas by a few months... because we will be attending DTS (discipleship training school) through YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Harrisburg, PA and also be attending the international outreach with them as well afterwards. This DTS is actually calling Musicians, Entrepreneurs, and Love Messengers. This is so fitting as Zach IS already an Entrepreneur and recently incorporated his new business. At DTS, we will learn how to not just use our business to be successful for us, but rather how we can advance the kingdom through our business and show others Christ's love through the business.

Many of you read my last blog post about the supernatural events that took place while we were in Harrisburg a few weekends ago and how my husband, Zach, experienced The Holy Spirit's presence for the first time while we were there. While we were there, we felt The Holy Spirit calling us to be a part of this upcoming DTS. When we got home, we began to pray very fervently about this and asked The Spirit to give us His perfect peace and show us this was what we were without a doubt supposed to do. I could go on for a long time about some of the many confirmations we received from Him! We realized that we undoubtedly were supposed to do this and that we were there that weekend by divine appointment. We then decided to tell our families.

While we have come across many emotions throughout the process of telling people and we know that this is something many people do not understand and may even think we are crazy for doing, we know that we are doing the absolute right thing! We are not choosing the comfortable path ahead of us for sure; it would be SO much easier and smoother to just go on to Texas after the first of the year like we had planned and Zach start up his business, also like we had planned. However, we know that HIS ways are higher than our ways and HE is calling us to do this, so we are being obedient and following HIM!

For the past year and a half, I have prayed for my husband to have the same beautiful encounter with The Holy Spirit that I had after my Mam-ma died. It was then that I realized that while I had all the head knowledge, I did not have the heart knowledge. It was then that I realized I was merely and tragically, lukewarm. The beauty of His grace is that it is never too late to make such realizations. Encountering The Holy Spirit for the first time changed my life. I had a newfound hunger and thirst for Him, whereas before every thing I did was seemingly just going through the motions. I was on fire and began to separate myself from those who were not and sought to surround myself around those who were. (I will post the full story on my next blog post as I have just given the condensed version the last two posts.) I made some amazing new relationships during this time, but ultimately I desired for my husband to get to this point as well. In Harrisburg, he had the same realization that I had had a little over a year before- that he had all the head knowledge, but no real relationship; that he had never actually encountered the presence of The Holy Spirit! The change I have seen in my husband since that weekend has been absolutely phenomenal. He is so happier, so much more aware of things he should and should not do, he has quit dipping, and I could seriously keep rambling on because I am in so in awe and so so proud of him!

Now that we are spiritually on the same page, it is so incredibly amazing. We can relate to so much as we both had similar backgrounds before our first encounter with The Holy Spirit. Now that we are walking in sync with Him, we are making decisions so differently. We were able to make this decision, both knowing that this is what The Lord had in store for our family and both having the peace that only He can give!

There are still many unknowns that lie ahead of us. We know that we live in a world that views unknowns as risks and a world that also values certainties. We too have found ourselves with this type of mindset. We, however, know that by taking this step of faith and doing what The Holy Spirit is leading us to do, that He will take care of us and direct our paths. We are taking care to not lean on our understanding, but on HIS, for we know that HIS ways are higher than our ways! (Proverbs 3:5, Isaiah 55:8-9) We ask that you have faith with us on this journey as well and cover us in prayer.

We do have to raise a large sum of money (approximately $30,000) to be able to complete our mission. Those of you who are willing and able to sponsor us during this journey, we have set up a PayPal account specifically for these donations. The PayPal email address is brittaninicolehayes@gmail.com. Those who are able to give to our mission, we will be very grateful and we ask that you know that what you are giving is not just to us, but is going to help advance the kingdom of God as well. Your donation to our mission literally will have an impact on many people's eternities!

We know that not everyone is in a position where they are able to financially give and that is okay! We ask that whether in addition to giving financially or in lieu of it, you please commit to praying for us regularly while we are on this journey. We treasure your prayers and can feel the difference they make in our life.

We know that this likely will come as a shock to many and we welcome any questions anyone might have. Stay tuned for more blog posts throughout this journey and if you have not already, please subscribe to my blog updates if you would like to stay updated on our journey!

A Life Changing Weekend // Trip to PA to visit Andy & Leigh

Ever since our cousins, Andy & Leigh, and their two sweet girls, Norah and Elyse, moved away, we have missed them dearly. We are so happy for them and what they are doing in The Lord's name up in PA at YWAM, but we miss them nonetheless. We went up to visit them this past weekend and I also took a doula/childbirth educator course intensive through goMidwife and got certified while I was there also (more on that in another blog post). While we had been dying to see them and wanted an excuse to come visit, the "excuse" that arose was this doula class! I had been wanting to become a doula for quite some time and when Leigh told me about this opportunity, I was thrilled! I could go up there, take this course, spend time with them, see their church, meet their newest sweet baby Taylor, etc. What a great opportunity! Seriously, how could things work out any more perfectly?

Initially, Zach was not going to come. He was going to stay home with Mason and go fishing. I was going to take Savannah and Gavin and my good friend, Michelle, was going to come with me too and also take the doula course. I started to think that this may be the last time Zach would be able to see his cousin, Andy, for a long time, and that he really should come with us too. I explained this to him and also that I wanted Mason to see Elyse, etc. He didn't immediately say okay and he wanted to come, but I knew he likely was going to end up coming and that made me happy. I did really want him to see his cousin and I also really wanted him to see where they live and go to church. Although seemingly coincidentally, it definitely was not, Leigh called me shortly after I talked to Zach about how he should come and said the same thing! I told her I would get him to come and I wanted him to come too. I went to Zach again and relayed Leigh and my conversation to him. He agreed that he should go.

So on Friday, Zach, the kids, Michelle, and I all started our trip to Harrisburg, PA. It was a pretty easy drive. It was just shy of 7 hours, which after many 15 hour drives to Texas, this was a breeze!
When we got there, we had to immediately drop Zach off at the church, Life Center Ministries, which is directly across from Andy & Leigh's house, because Zach was going to play in the band with Andy from 7-9pm for the 24 house of prayer. We dropped him off and went to the house to see Leigh & the kids. After eating a quick dinner and sweetly reuniting, we all drove over to the church together to worship and watch the guys play.

I was in awe and so moved at the 24 hour house of prayer. The presence of The Holy Spirit was so incredibly tangible in that room.

I looked up at my husband playing drums with the band and for the first time ever, he too looked moved while he was playing. He just had that look on his face like he was just taking it all in. I sat in a blissful state watching my kids dance around so sweetly with their cousins to the music and also watched a beautiful young girl dancing freely with her wrap to the music. It was so amazing to watch her be moved by the Spirit in that way and not care at all what anyone thought of her doing so.

When Zach and Andy's two hour segment was done and they and the rest of the band walked off, Leigh, Michelle, and I walked over to meet them. Zach just looked at me and said, "that was amazing!" I whole heartedly agreed. I told him I had never seen him appear so moved while he was playing. He said, "that's because I haven't. Those people were truly worshipping and they were worshipping in a way I have never experienced." I just smiled and felt immense joy. This was what I had been waiting for.

A little over a year ago, I encountered the presence of The Holy Spirit for the first time. I was in a dark place after my Mam-ma died and while in her church, I was surrounded by The Holy Spirit and His love. I realized right then and there that while I believed in God and knew more about God and the Bible than most people, I had strictly head knowledge and not heart knowledge. I had lived my entire life without encountering His Spirit, His Holy Spirit. My life was forever changed. (I will have to do a separate post with the story in its entirety later.) All this time though, I have been waiting for my husband to experience this as well. It was very evident to me that he was in the same place now that I had been in up until August 2013. He too believed in God and grew up learning about Him, but he did not know The Holy Spirit and that was very evident to me as his wife. I gently tried to talk to him about it several times and more importantly, I prayed for him constantly. I knew that it was going to take more than me gently bringing the issue up to him; it was going to take something supernatural.

All day Saturday, I was in my doula class with Michelle and Zach was with Andy & Leigh and all the kids. He worked on their heater some. They all picked me and Michelle up for lunch and I nursed Gavin during that time also. I tell you all this to point out how low key the weekend was for Zach. He picked Michelle and me up at 5 and we all went back to the house and ate dinner. After dinner, Zach made his famous cider that Leigh had requested he make long before we even actually made our way driving to PA. After putting the older kids to bed. we all sat down in the living room and talked while Leigh and I nursed our babies. They told us some amazing supernatural stories of things they experienced The Holy Spirit do while they were overseas in Nepal. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing all these stories and were in awe of what they had been fortunate enough to witness The Holy Spirit do. We decided to watch the movie The Holy Ghost together. Zach had to go outside and get his computer charger (we were watching it on the computer) and what happened next, coupled with the seemingly small, yet so supernatural, events that happened prior, changed Zach, my husband, forever. 

I am going to paste his story that he wrote to Andy after we got home below, because I think it's important for my readers to read it from his point of view. I have edited and removed a few personal details of the message that were too personal and did not need to be shared. Everything else is exactly as he wrote it though.

I'm reading the book "The Forgotten God." Actually I'm listening to the audio book ($8 on audible) I am just blown away by how much I have missed out on all of my life! I have never felt the power of the Holy Spirit until this weekend. I have always thought it was impossible to walk in righteousness. I would pray and read my Bible but there was never a passion and fullness to my walk with God. I would inevitable just stop reading my Bible and I would stop praying altogether for months at a time because everything just seemed so pointless! I talked about my problems to a few people but none ever revealed the power of the Holy Spirit to me. I was told that I didn't understand the power of the Cross and that I didn't understand the love of God, which was partly true. But... The problem was that I have never understood the power of the Holy Spirit. I have only been taught that the Holy Spirit is like a conscience that tells us what we should and shouldn't do. I have always thought that if that is all that God gave us as a parting gift.... well.... It was LAME.

Over the past couple of months God has really been preparing me for this weekend. I have had a feeling that there was something more that I just didn’t understand. Brittani has been hounding me about my lack of passion about life, and my disinterest in God. It got me thinking more and more about God and trying to figure out what I was missing. I spent hours just trying to figure out what the missing piece was. I wasn't supposed to go with Britt this last weekend. I was going to go fishing with Mason all weekend. Brittani called me at work one day and told me that she thought I needed to go with her.... I wasn't happy. I told her I would think about it even though I knew in my heart that I needed to go. Then she said Leigh called and suggested that I should go too. I knew there was no getting out of it then! lol

In the days leading up to the trip I could feel God preparing me for something, but I didn't know what it was. I could just tell that It was going to be life changing. I don't know how I knew it, I could just feel it in my heart.

The night we played at the prayer meeting I was hesitant to chime in and play 1) because I was a little nervous and 2) I was just in awe of those ladies heartfelt worship. I could just see that they were communicating with their God. That was so different than what I am used to.

It all came together during our evening talks. God was using you to reveal the missing piece I have spent my life up to this point neglecting to see. I saw the true gift that God left behind for believers. It is so much more than a simple good angel on my shoulder telling me what’s right. There is true power in the Holy Spirit! I mean there is an overwhelming, life altering, and healing power in the Holy Spirit! It all makes perfect sense now!

(Background)
I have allowed the Devil to use some family drama as a tool to destroy me. I have never felt so much hate and bitterness. That hate and bitterness became my religion. I woke up with it and spent time with it all throughout the day. I even went to bed thinking about it. The devil had systematically removed every good thing in my life and replaced with so many evil things to the point that I sincerely didn’t think I could ever recover. I knew that evil was targeting me because every time I would start to climb out of my pit of sin he would hurl so much stuff at me that I would lose heart and fall back into the pit.

(Back to the story)

Right before we watched the movie “Holy Ghost” I was just floored. I could finally see the way that God intended my life to be lived. I could see how all of my hopelessness and bitterness could be remedied by living in the Spirit. It was so simple!

You asked me to go grab my computer cord out of the car. As I was walking to the door to go get my charger I was thanking God for revealing to me a completely new understanding of the world. I opened the door of your house and stepped outside. Every hair on my body stood on end. I could literally FEEL evil all around me. I stopped for a second and got enough balls to walk to the car. On the way to the car I could see a dark face out of the corner of my eye just floating with no body along side me. I got to the car and grabbed the charge and closed my eyes and the words you spoke minutes before came to my mind “We don’t focus on the darkness, we focus on the light.” I walked back to the house and I could still see that dark face following beside me. I kept saying, “we focus on the light, we focus on the light” over in my head. I opened the door and literally jumped in the house! The hairs on my body immediately relaxed! The powers of evil are useless against a house full of the Holy Spirit. I became SO acutely aware of the battle that we are fighting in.

Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

I don’t know if you could tell, but after I came in to bring you the charger I was absolutely wigged out. I have never been so freaked out in my life. The chains of the devil had been broken, I was free, and the devil was pissed. It took me about 10 minutes to calm down enough to actually be excited. The knowledge of the Holy Spirit changed my life and the futures of my children., and that pissed off hell. I don’t think this is the last time satan will be pissed at me.

The last couple of days I have felt so filled with the Holy Spirit. In the past My experiences with God felt very fleeting, but This is different. There is no way to go back after you have seen and felt the Holy Spirits power.

 I was watching Zach intently while we were talking and visiting with Andy & Leigh and I was filled with such joy because of what I saw. I knew he was filled with The Holy Spirit and I knew his heart and life were changing. When I heard about what happened when he went outside to get the charger, I was further reminded myself of how powerful The Holy Spirit is. For the forces of hell to feel threatened in such a way that they are going to physically send a demon on a failed attempt to attack him, the power of The Holy Ghost IS real. It is so eery and real to me that the house with all of us in it was off limits to hell and its demons. They could not enter because the Spirit was there and also dwelt within each of us inside. However, that did not stop it from lurking outside just waiting for Zach to come outside fragile and vulnerable, young in the sense of his relationship with The Holy Ghost. They were too late, however, and powerless against the power of The Holy Spirit that had recently taken residence inside of my husband. This attempted attack just made him further realize the true power of The Holy Spirit.

We went to church the next morning with Andy & Leigh and were again, just floored by the overwhelming, very tangible presence of The Holy Spirit in that place. Worship there was not a show, it was not about talents, it was not about anything but God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They were worshipping in such a way that it was as if no one was in the room- just each person and their God. We worshipped God together in a way like never before that morning. We were both, along with so many others, absolutely consumed by The Holy Spirit.

At one point while we were worshipping, the young lady leading said, "lift your hands high up to the heavens and feel the power of The Holy Spirit run through you from your arms all the way through you." I described it later to Zach as an eery tingling feeling all the way from my fingertips that then traveled throughout my entire body. Zach described it as his whole body being on fire. A few seconds later that same lady said, "Do you feel that? That is the power of The Holy Spirit running through you." You may be wondering why the presence of The Holy Spirit was felt so heavily here and not in many other churches? The Holy Spirit was invited there, He was welcome there, He was desired there, He was BELIEVED in there. When church first began and the worship first started, that same lady said, "we invite The Holy Spirit into this place. We invite him to flood this entire place and consume each and every one of us." Literally, like clockwork, it was like a wave of energy ran through the building. That energy was The Holy Spirit Himself.

I am overwhelmed while writing this now by the power of The Holy Spirit and can literally feel Him running throughout my entire body. I know He is going to use this to bless someone or many, change someone's life or multiple people's lives, just as our's have been changed.

If you have never encountered the love of The Holy Spirit and His presence, ask yourself why? Are you somewhere that the Spirit is not welcome, is not invited, is not really even believed in or taken seriously? Sure you and those around you may "believe" that the Spirit exists, but like my husband, do you not really understand what The Holy Spirit is? I know we have been in MANY churches that the Spirit simply is NOT there. There are various reasons the Spirit may not be present in a church. Again, He may not really be welcome there, He may not have been invited into there, He may not be really sought out or desired by those there, etc. You may be thinking, The Holy Spirit is God, He can do anything; He does not have to actually be invited. You are right; He CAN do anything, but why would he want to come into a place where He is not invited or desired? Where the congregation thinks they do not need Him and that they are doing just fine the way things are? Why do you think when people go overseas they experience so many supernatural things that can ONLY be explained by the power of The Holy Spirit, but SO many people never experience those kinds of things over here in The West? Because those people over there are DESPERATE for Him! They want Him! They yearn for Him! We in the West, however, are so worried about people liking us and liking our church, being hip, being politically correct, etc. and we are not craving the power of The Holy Spirit in our lives! James 2:19 says, "Thou believest that there is one God; Thou doest well: The devils also believe, and tremble." Believing is not all there is! The demons believe and they TREMBLE at His name!! That is more than can be said for a lot of "Christians".

Once you truly encounter The Holy Spirit, you will know, because you will never ever be the same. When The Spirit consumes you, there is no going back. You just cannot go back to stagnation when you know that kind of power and love.

"Hope fills my soul 
The love that You've shown
Bring refreshing like the rain
Peace floods my heart
I've known nothing apart
Apart from Your goodness, God

You are glorious
You are holy, holy
The heavens shout
You are worthy, worthy

Your love frees my soul
And fear has no hold
For You have broken the chains
Now joy fills my life
Your Spirit, Your Light
I'm undone by the kindness of Christ

You are glorious
You are holy, holy
The heavens shout
You are worthy, worthy
My soul cries out
You are holy, holy
The nations will shout
You are worthy, worthy

At the sound of our praise
The Heavens will shake 
And the earth will move"

"Glorious"-Jesus Culture

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkwE7SGZNV4