Do you remember when Jesus said, “My words are spirit, and they are life” (see John 6:63)? There is an incredible truth hidden in this passage. When Jesus speaks, He actually speaks a language that is the Holy Spirit. So, picture it this way: When Jesus opens His mouth, the Holy Spirit is released as He speaks. When Jesus sent forth His word to heal that Centurion servant, the Holy Spirit began to move faster than the speed of light to bring immediate healing.
I’m often asked why I believe that it is God’s will to heal. While I could debate it theologically, I’ve learned that doing so really doesn’t take us very far. It is much better to demonstrate the power of God to heal than to argue with someone. But there is a portion of the Scriptures that reveals His will to heal very, very clearly. Do you remember when Jesus came into Peter’s house and saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick with a fever? The Bible says that “He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them” (Matt. 8:15). One of the greatest truths that illustrate Jesus’ intense desire to heal us is the fact that He heals mothers-in-law! I love my mother-in-law, but I always say, “If Jesus will heal a mother-in-law, He will heal anyone.”
Interestingly enough, He simply touched her hand, and the fever left her. Remember, Jesus told us to “lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18). Is there something special about our hands in the natural? These are the same hands that make breakfast. They’re the same hands that pick up our children. They’re the same hands that start our car. What is it about our hands or the hands of Jesus that are so vital? It’s not the hands themselves. Those are merely the tools that God uses. No, it’s the power that flows through them. And here, Jesus simply touches Peter’s mother-in-law, and the woman is healed immediately.
If you would listen to the Holy Spirit right now, you would see that He is trying to show us something about the love of Jesus. He is trying to expand our revelation as it pertains to God’s healing power. To Jesus, a fever is a big deal. To Jesus, even a fever must bow its knee to His power and authority. That tells me that God is interested in the most horrible sicknesses and also in a mere fever. The reason is that the same price was paid to heal a fever and to raise the dead. It was the life and blood of Jesus. So today, you may have a cold, or you may have cancer. Know this: Jesus wants to heal you now.
Signs and Wonders
Healings are signs and wonders, but there are certain miracles that take place that are not limited to physical healing alone. Jesus walked in this power during His earthly ministry. Therefore, so can you and I.
It’s interesting that His first miracle was turning water into wine. Some people ask, “Why would He do that?” While I believe there are prophetic pictures and truths hidden in that passage that reveal the nature of God, we have to give God the right to do things simply because He wants to do them. I’m sure there were sick people at the wedding that day. Some might say, “Why would Jesus waste His time turning water into wine when there were people suffering?” The reason is…because He is Jesus and He can do things how He wants, when He wants, and for whom He wants. This is a beautiful example of the Lord performing signs and wonders to get our attention.
To be honest, I have seen many signs and wonders in my life that are outside the boundaries of physical healing. I have literally smelled the fragrance of the presence of Jesus in our meetings. Others have smelled a beautiful scent of frankincense similar to what is in the Orthodox and Catholic services. Some might say, “What’s the point?” Well, the point is a deeper awareness of the presence of God. I believe that the more we give our attention to God, the more tangible His presence becomes. In fact, the Scripture teaches, “ As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so he is” (Prov. 23:7 KJV). Our lives become what and whom we meditate on.
When Adam walked in the cool of the day in the Garden of Eden with the Lord, it was literal. That’s right, he actually walked with God. He could see God; God could see him. He spoke to God; God spoke to him. He heard God, and God heard him. He felt God, and God felt him. This is a beautiful, holy life of intimacy that Adam walked in with Jesus. Today, you and I have been invited into this intimacy by the blood of Jesus.
Somewhere along the way, the Western Church began to view God as a concept instead of a person. I absolutely love reading the Scriptures. You will find a significant amount of Scripture in this book. I love my Bible. It is special to me. It has notes in it from people I love. I’ve wept while reading it, and I chew on the Word of God and feast on it every single day. But if we do not meet the Person to whom the Scriptures point, then they are nothing more than a book to us.
The Holy Spirit leads us to the Scriptures to reveal Jesus. He does not lead us to the Scriptures to reveal the Bible. My prayer is that God’s presence would become more literal to you than you’ve ever dreamed or known could be possible. He is absolutely real—an actual person who longs to reveal Himself to us. He has a will, emotions, plans, and desires. There are things He loves, and things He hates. Some of what we do attracts Him. Some of what we do repels Him. He laughs. He cries. He judges. He forgives. He invites us into a literal, constant walk with Him. The more we walk with Him, the more our world becomes His. This is a very, very deep place in God. This is a place where He actually begins to break into our physical world and lives.
Do you remember when Jesus went up the mountain to pray during His transfiguration? The Bible says that He began to shine like the sun (see Matt. 17:2). His physical body began to take on the nature of who He was on the inside. This transfiguration was triggered by Jesus beholding His Father. Instantly, a cloud hovered over Him, and the voice of the Father came from the cloud. My friend, these are signs and wonders…all because Jesus decided to give His attention to His Father in Heaven.
Time and time again, the life of Jesus showed us signs and wonders. Today, the Holy Spirit is still passionate about pointing us to Jesus through signs and wonders.
A Deeper Baptism
God has the ability to feed us and still keep us hungry. He has this way about Him that rewards us so that we will go after more. What I love about the Lord is that there is always more to discover in Him.
In 2003, I became the assistant to my father-in-law. These were incredible times of impartation and mentoring that I treasure dearly. I remember being in the crusades and seeing thousands of people healed miraculously. As I began to step out in faith, I began to see people healed when I prayed for them in those meetings.
In 2005, Jessica and I became the pastors of a local church in Orange County. When I began to pray for the sick in our church services, I rarely saw anyone healed, yet when I prayed for the sick in the crusades, many were healed. This was a very difficult season for me. The Lord showed me that as I came into agreement in the crusades for miracles, miracles were taking place under the umbrella of the anointing that God had given my father-in-law. However, in my meetings, there were very few healings. The school of the Holy Spirit is a thorough school. It is definitely a school of hard knocks and reality. I learned very quickly that if the people coming to our services were going to be set free, as Jesus promised, that I needed my own encounter with God.
I was baptized in the Spirit in 1989, but I personally believe that God has more than one power encounter for us, so that for every level in God that we pursue, an actual experience with Him is required to thrust us into that place. So, I began to fast and pray. I began to go after God. I began to seek Him for hours each day. Fasting became a normal part of my life. I started reading the books of those who had seen breakthrough and carried the power of the Holy Spirit to their generation. Kathryn Kuhlman became a hero to me. I studied her videos. I read her books. I began to visit Oral Roberts at his home as much as I could. I began to watch the videos of A. A. Allen, Jack Coe, and William Branham. I no longer sat through my father-in-law’s meetings the same way. I began to study how he stewarded the anointing. I began to ask questions. I began to listen to the teachings of Bill Johnson. I began to study the history of the healing movement through the generations, regardless of their denominations. I was hungry for more in my life.
I came to the place where I told the Lord, “If You don’t show in this ministry the way You did in the Scriptures, what’s the point of me even being in the ministry? The world doesn’t need another gifted speaker. The Church doesn’t need more organized meetings. We ultimately need You, Lord. I need You, and if You don’t come, I just don’t want to do this anymore.” So, weeks turned into months, months turned into long seasons, and I continued to pray for the sick and saw little breakthrough. But by the grace of God, I told myself and the Lord, “I will not quit until You touch me.” As time passed, I had ups and downs. Some people I prayed for died, some were healed, but at that time there were no major healings.
A friend of mine named Bruce Hughes came to me and said, “Would you like to play a special golf course in the Northeast that has hosted the U.S. Open?”
I said, “I would love to play that golf course.” I’ve watched on television many major championships that were held there.
So, he and his son Austin set up a golf trip, and we went. The member of the golf course who enabled us to play was a Lutheran pastor named Paul Teske. I had heard that he was a Charismatic pastor who prayed for the sick and had some type of a connection with my father-in-law and a few close friends of ours.
I remember that round of golf very vividly. Aside from it being an incredible course, it was the first time in a few years that I had walked eighteen holes. My feet were hurting, my back was tight, and it was a physical challenge. I remember Paul walking very quickly and not struggling at all. I also remember him taking some Advil, but nevertheless, he was still doing a great job. I can remember thinking, “How is it that this guy in his sixties is walking faster than me and doesn’t seem to be tired at all?” It was at that point that he came up to me when I was walking down one of the fairways and said, “Hey, did you know I used to be crippled in one of my legs and God healed me?” I was blown away. When he said that, I instantly felt something deep in my belly begin to stir. I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say, “Today is your day. What you’ve been praying for is going to happen. I am going to touch you.” Faith erupted in me.
Paul then looked at me and said, “Why don’t you come to our healing service tonight? I don’t want you to preach. Just come and sit there and enjoy the meeting. You preach a lot; you could use a nice refreshing time.” We rushed back to the hotel, washed up, and went straight to the service.
I felt destiny in the air. I felt that all the praying, all the fasting, all the studying, all the believing, all the hunger, and all the thirst was about to be filled by a faithful God. And as I walked into that church and crossed the threshold of the front door, Austin looked at me and said, “Hey dude, you ever feel like something’s about to happen to you?”
It was the eeriest, weirdest question I’d ever been asked in a church. When he said it, I felt the presence of God. I looked back at him quickly and said, “Yeah, I do.”
He replied, “Okay,” and casually walked away like it was no big deal. I knew God was speaking.
As we entered the sanctuary, a young man who had done some work with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) grabbed his guitar. He was wearing sandals, jeans, and a T-shirt. He began to lead us in worship. To this day, I don’t remember the song. I don’t remember who was sitting in front of me or behind me. I only remember that Jesus walked into that room and it seemed that around Him was a tornado of the precious Holy Spirit.
As I closed my eyes, everything disappeared. My surroundings in the natural meant nothing. My challenges vanished. My worries were long gone, my aspirations dead. It was as though the power of God collided with my frail body. I felt a cool breeze go over me like a blanket. My heart began to race so quickly that you could see it beating out of my chest. My hands were bright red, and they were throbbing too. It actually felt like my heart had descended into my hands. I began to drip sweat. I began to cry. I felt like laughing but instead kept crying. I held on to the pew in front of me so that I could stay on my feet. I remember thinking, “Certainly everybody in this church must be feeling this amazing power.”
As I opened my eyes to look around me, I noticed that everyone else seemed to be going through the motions like they would in any other Wednesday night service. It was then that I knew that God had reserved this moment for me, that I was on His mind, that I was His focus. This meant the world to me. The thought that God had stopped all that He was doing to come my way was breaking me up inside. I did not want this experience to end. At the same time, I felt like if I breathed the wrong way, I could die because of the holiness of God. I felt the fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord all at once. Had He touched me with any more power I don’t know that I would have recovered or that I could have handled it. It was overwhelming, but I didn’t want it to end.
I knew this was the deeper baptism that John G. Lake talked about. I knew this was what the Bible spoke of in the Book of Acts when it described the Church being filled and filled again to the degree that the place they prayed in was shaken (see Acts 4:31). This was after the day of Pentecost. God is not interested in just touching us once. God wants us to live in a constant baptism in the Holy Spirit.
That night, as my life was being rearranged with holy fire, I will never forget the presence of the Holy Spirit. I remember thinking, “You actually came. You are faithful. You said that if I sought You with all my heart that I could have You, and You came.”
I prayed a prayer and said, “Lord, if this is what I’ve been praying for, have this Lutheran pastor whom I’ve never met before give me the meeting as a sign. Have him ask me to preach.”
When I opened my eyes after praying that prayer, Paul was standing about a foot away from me. He looked me in the eye and said, “If you have something to say, go ahead and take the service.”
I took the platform, but this was way different. I felt a substance around me, beneath me, above me. I felt like I was God’s. That I belonged to Him. That now He would do the work if I simply obeyed. That He would do the speaking if I simply yielded. And when I began to preach, I felt a fiery wind go through me. I had no idea what I would say that night. There was no sermon prepared. There was no time to study. Just me and the Holy Spirit. My friend, I’ve learned that “me and the Holy Spirit” is all I really need.
As I opened my mouth, I began to preach a Person rather than a message. It was as if the person of Jesus had been tattooed eternally in my heart and He was the only sermon my heart would allow me to preach. As I preached Jesus that night by the Holy Spirit, it was as though bricks were falling on hard hearts. I could feel His convicting presence touching those who wanted nothing to do with Him. It was as if the whole room had been infused with new air. The atmosphere had changed. It was because He had come.
I remember calling forward the people who wanted Jesus, and it seemed like the whole church ran up to the front. I prayed for the sick and left the service. I will never forget lying in my bed that night at the hotel, still feeling electric currents going through my body. I wanted to tell someone about my new experience with the Holy Spirit. You see, it was more than a dream come true. God had come to me. He really came.
I called Jessica. I said, “Babe, I had an encounter with God tonight.” Then I called my mom, and the moment she heard my voice, without me even saying I had an encounter, the tone of my voice alone caused her to weep in tears.
Lying there in my bed, minute after minute, hour after hour, glorious presence, ecstatic heavenly delight, was flooding my being.