The Holy Spirit Fire

The Holy Spirit Fire
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ( Luke 4:18)

Friday, March 2, 2007

MY LOVE FOR GOD

I love Him because He first loved me and has blessed me with all spiritual blessing. (1 John 4:19)

He has been my strength in times of trouble. (Psa. 28:7)

When I was low and without any strength, He lifted me up and carried me. (Psa. 30:1)

As I lay restless at night and deeply troubled, He tells me to lie down and sleep for he is with me.(Psa. 4:8)

In my fear, He asks me to stare down the giants and call upon His name to bring the victory. (1 Sam. 17:44-47)

When the future seems unclear and I don’t know what to do, He tells me that He has already walked out my steps. (Psa. 37:23)

When I am without peace He tells me that he gives peace that goes beyond all of my understanding. ( Phil. 4:7)

When I am without and wondering where the provision for my life will come, He tells me he will supply all of my needs. ( Phil. 4:19)

If am ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of me. (Mark 8:38)

If I try to do His will in my own power, I will fail him. ( Hab. 1:11)

I don’t often have a ready answer to what the Lord is doing in my life. But this one thing I do know, that with all that I am, I will worship Him and follow Him to whom I owe all of my existence. I love the Lord so much that the words that I come up with are feeble at best. There are no words here on the earth that can adequately express the love in my heart. I often catch myself lately and think, have I given him all that I have to give. I may never be a success in this world with all of its rewards. When people look at me they may not see the most dashing or handsome man. I may not have the fanciest clothes or the nicest car but what does that really afford us. Can we take it with us to our grave? Will our fancy clothes stand the test of time buried under the earth? Will our looks serve us when we are so old that we can no longer care for our own selves? Is there anything in this world that we can attain able to follow us in eternity?
There is a greater value and purpose for our lives. We need to look inwardly and test the spirits to see if we are following after God with all that we have. Life is not meant to be lived for our selves once we have know Jesus Christ as Savior. There is a greater purpose, look to those around you. Many don’t know Jesus and are dying in their sins every day. We walk around so embroiled with our own lives that we fail to see the wounded all around us. I ask myself have I done all that I can to help them? Have I exhausted myself to lead another to Jesus Christ? I have lived for many years and not given Him all that is due Him. I have missed many opportunities in my life and have regretted not doing more.
The scripture says that,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”(John 14:6)

Are we telling others about Jesus?
Are we giving others the word of truth?
Are we caring for others enough to give them the word?

I regret that I have not always cared enough for others to give them the witness of Jesus. This has brought tears to my eyes as I look back on people that needed to hear about Jesus and are gone now. They will never have that opportunity to hear from His word all that He did for them. Today they are tormented in their sins and have no hope. These are the ones whose blood is on my hands. I have repented to God for these and asked him to wash me clean. I long to serve Him with all of my life. There is no way for me to live any other way. I don’t want to be one of those that go skipping into heaven only to fall down in shame as the Lord reveals all of their missed opportunities. No, I want to go into heaven limping, bruised and torn from the battle. I long to stand before God one day knowing that I gave Him all that I have for his sake. I am willing to deny myself in any way that I have to. I care not for the things of this world. I am tired of the pursuit of these temporal things. I am weary of keeping up with what the society says we have to be. I desire to know God and him alone. The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. If I run after him with all of my being I know and trust that He will bless my life and that of my family. I have never felt this strongly about the things of God before. I know that it is not me but that my Lord has gotten a hold of my heart and is calling me to greater heights in His name. He has given me power to follow Him. He has filled my with the love of Jesus. He has given me a vision to reach out to all those that are in need of Him and the salvation that he brings.
His voice has called out to me as he did Isaiah,

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me (Isa. 6:8)

I am ready to be used of Him for His purposes. I don’t care for the creature comforts but rather to do the will of God. This is radical in the eyes of many that are not of full understanding, however it is nothing more that our reasonable service. I will continue to seek the face of my God. I will call unto him with all of my heart and express the desire of my heart for Him, and Him alone. My glory is to glory him and I seek to follow Him and I know that he will provide all that I need in order to accomplish his will.

There is a battle raging that we cannot see because it is separated by a veil of Glory. God has called us to all be a soldier in this battle. There is a danger in being involved in it and there are many who fear getting into it. Jesus told us that when we follow him we will be hated for his name sake. This is why we need to daily put on our armor and be ready to be involved in the battle. We can choose however, to stay away from the danger of battle and sit on the sidelines. But let me shoot straight on this point, those that sit on the sidelines will never be promoted. They will never be recognized by God. Sure many will receive praise from their peers on this world but at what cost. Do we expect God to care about what we accomplished in this world? I tell you he could care less. All of the things of this world are as wood, hay and stubble. It will all burn up and be blown away by the wind.

“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Cor. 3:12-15)

What have we done for Jesus? Did we care more for our own selves and left not time for Him? He died for me and you so that we could be spared the eternal punishment. Have we given Him our all? Have we gladly been spent for Jesus?

“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” (2 Cor. 12:15)

We need to love as Christ loved us. Please let us love people into the kingdom, there is nothing greater in all of the world that we can do.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34)

~In Christ name~

Friday, February 9, 2007

The Overflow of the Holy Spirit

What a glorious thing it is to be in an intimate relationship with the creator of heaven and earth. I have personally been going through a rough period at home with my relationship with my wife. You see i have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and have through a process of waiting to hear from the Lord left the church that we were both attending, a fundamentalist baptist church.

This has not been easy but I know that I heard from God in this matter and she is thinking that I am not being rasonable about this new thing that is going on in my spiritual walk with the Savior. I have told her that the Lord has spoken and that I must follow God rather than man. She is not a believer in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and does not believe in the initial sign of tongues. I have tried to show her by continuing to love her and tell her as much that I am the same husband just made better by the love of God in me and a desire to pursue holiness in my walk.

This brings me to the point of this post. Since I've been baptized in the Spirit I desire to be used of Him and to glorify His name. This past week I had been praying fervently for the Lord to use me as he pleased. I was up rather late well past midnight and when I was done i went to bed and had a dream about a woman with blond hair that was a Christian. In my dream I asked her to come in from the cold and get warm. she asked me who I was and I told her that I am sent to help her.
She agreed and then I woke up. I thought that this was strange but went back to sleep without giving it another thought.

The next evening I was feeling especially oppressed by the enemy and was really crying out to the Lord for wisdom in handling my family situationas well as seeking the Lord's will for my life. I remember being filled with the spirit and speaking in tongues. I was so filled and overjoyed that I fumble at trying to find the proper words to explain. In my prayers I asked the Lord to allow his Spirit to overflow from me and bless others. Once again I was up past midnight pouring my self out to Him. i went to bed and then had another dream with this same blond haired lady. This time it was a little easier to make out some features on her. I determined that she was young looking but not really a youing woman. I asked her why she was outside and told her she needed to get inside where it was safe and warm. She told me that she could not come in because she needed to gather her vessels. I questioned her as to what vessels she spoke of. She told me that these were precious vessels and that she needed to gather them up before she could go in but she needed help. I told her I would help her get them and we walked along side of a building and found a vessel. We walked around the back of the building and found another one. We made it to the other side of the building and saw a trash bin with a vessel just outside of it. Each of these vessels were made of ceramic, very beautiful. She told me that we are still missing a vessel and looked all around. She said we need to find that vessel because it is very precious to her. I looked inside the trash bin and there was a vessel made of clay, with many cracks and dings in it. i stared at this vessel and regarded it as beautiful in a raw sense of the word. She was overjoyed when w=she saw this vessel and thanked me for helping her find it. I told her to come inside now and then I woke up from my dream. once again I was somewhat confused about the implications of this dream as I had dreamed about the same blonde haired woman on consecutive nights.

The very next morning I woke up and sensed the Lord asking me to fast and pray for Him. I obeyed His voice and proceeded to get ready for work. I was very quiet before the Lord and had felt a certain expectancy for something that I could not quite explain. A couple of hours into the day I felt the Lord impress upon me that I was to lay hands on a couple of people. Their names were not revealed to me and so I just purposed in my heart to obey Him completely. As I was traveling on the road the Lord gave me the names I was waiting for.
One of the names was of the mother of someone that had been praying for me to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I went to her house and found that she was a little busy. I was a little confused because I thought I had clearly heard from the Lord on this. I told her that perhaps I could come by some other time. She had her husband tell me that I should not leave because the Lord told her that i need to pray for her. Well that just confirmed to me that I had indeed heard from the Lord. I laid hands on her and the glory of the Lord filled that place. Tongues flowed forth and she started to shake and quiver. The Lord led me to touch her back and pray for her lungs and some back pain. What an awsome experience. As I was praying for her someone walked in that I did not see because my eyes were closed. I continued to pray and after about 15 minutes or so stopped and opened my eyes. To my amazement it was a blond haired lady just like in my dreams.

We went into the living room as the lady I was praying for needed to take care of something. We shared some small talk and then just got right to it. I asked her if she would not mind me sharing a couple of dreams I had. She agreed and I relayed to her the events of the past couple of nights. After I was done, she looked at me and told me that she had four children (four vessels?) and that her oldest son from an illicit relationship from her youth before she knew the Lord had struggled with his life for years. She told me that in his youth he had gone to church and made a profession of faith but that got away from the Lord and started using drugs, drinking and commiting crime. He spent some time in jail and had a son from an illicit relationship as well. Funny how these patterns seem to repeat themselves in ones children, but I digress. She told me that he has started to get his act together and has found a steady job but was still not following after the Lord. He was fractured in spirit and angry at God. I knew that the dream was for this woman. I asked her if we could pray for her son. we did and she was really blessed by this.

After this time I got back in my car and headed back to the office. It was on the way back that the Lord gave me another name and put the word Holiness in my mind. The name was one of my co-workers. When I got back to the office it was the end of the day and I spoke to him about what the Lord told me. He said to me that he indeed was struggling with the matter of holiness and really needed prayer and a touch from God. When went into a prayer closet that is set up in our facility and poured out prayers on his behalf as I layed hands on him. The Spirit of the Lord moved in a powerful way and once again the Spiritual language came forth from my lips. What a blessing. This young man was overcome with emotion as the Lord shot straight to his heart and
he worshipped the Lord greatly. When we finished he thanked the Lord for having me pray for him and he left greatly encouraged.

Later that day after attending a church service I was suddenly overcome with a great exhaustion such as I had never felt experienced before. I had asked for an overflow and the Lord granted it. Blessed be the name of the Lord, his Son Jesus and his blessed Holy Spirit.

Walk in Wisdom Toward Them That are without Redeming the Time.
(Col. 4:5)

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Big Harry and a River of Tears

I remember one afternoon in the print shop when a gentleman walked in. He had come in for some copies and I started to talk to him about what he did and what he needed the copies for. I asked him what his name was and he told me that it was Harry. This name suited him quite well as he was a fairly big guy. We started to speak about this and I tried to see how I could turn the conversation over to more spiritual matters. I sensed that there was a searching spirit there and I felt God tell me to ask him if he goes to church. He asked why and I told him that all of the guys in the shop are Christians. When he heard this, he started to get a little teary eyed and began to talk about all of the times that his sister had tried to witness to him. He said that he had not been interested at the time but that he was ready to listen now. I began to share Jesus with him and saw this big guy get more and more quiet. I asked him if he knew for sure if he was saved or not. He told me that he was not and I asked him if he wanted to know. I spoke to him some more and asked if he wanted to receive Christ. He said that he did and he prayed the sinner’s prayer. As he did this he was full of tears in his eyes as he felt release from his sin. By this time my co-workers had joined us and we were all crying and glorifying God for all that he had done in adding big Harry’s name to the book of life. All of the angels in heaven rejoiced along with us as Harry wept a river of tears for joy at receiving the blessing salvation.

Picking up a Friend, Picks up Jesus Instead

One of the great things about working in a Christian business is that there are many opportunities throughout the day to speak about the Lord and share the gospel.
On a particular day in the middle of summer in July of 2006 a young lady named Alyssa came in to pick up her friend who was waiting for her at the shop. I found this out from a young man that worked for us and I inquired as to her spiritual state. He told me that she was not saved. Immediately I sensed the Lord telling me to go and witness to her. I went up to her and asked her if she knew what is meant to be saved. She did not know for sure so I started to speak to her about what Christ did for her on the cross of Calvary. As she listened to me explain to her what Christ did, I noticed her friend looking at her and seeing what she thought of all that I said. I asked her if she were to die that very moment if she knew for sure whether or not she would go to heaven. She confessed to me that she was not sure. I asked her if she would like to know for sure and she said she did. A few minutes later she trusted Christ as her personal savior and became filled with the Holy Ghost. She will never be the same, she came in to pick up her friend but picked up Jesus and Eternal life as well.

The Most Important Thing About Being Spirit Led

For the Christian that is looking to be completely yielded to the Holy Spirit, a quick word.
Walking in the power of the Spirit of the Lord is more than just a deep desire to please God and to have a more complete and intimate relationship with Him. No my friends, while all of these things are certainly true the most important thing about being filled with the Holy Spirit is using the empowerment that we have received to spread the message of the Gospel. That is that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, was buried in a tomb, rose from the dead on the third day, was seen by hundreds of witnesses, and ascended up to heaven, having completed the work that the Father had for Him to do. By his death, burial and resurrection he paid for the sins of all those that call upon the name of Jesus as personal Savior for the forgiveness of sins.
With this thought in mind I will post some testimonies of my sharing of the Gospel message. i do this not to glorify myself as a holier than thou, but simply to point out the importance of giving the Good News to this sin cursed earth. There are people dying daily without Jesus and are headed for an eternity in hell away from any possible blessing in the kingdom of heaven. It is our duty to fulfill the great commission the Jesus Christ Himself has given to us. May these testimonies be a small blessing to you.

Monday, January 22, 2007

A Light in the Darkness


Steven could feel the weight pressing down upon him. He had his eyes closed and suddenly opened them only to find that he could not see in front of him. He turned to the left. Then turned to the right and could see nothing. Desperately he grabbed in the darkness hoping to clutch an object, to grab a hold of anything that he could feel within his hand, but found nothing. He had just been walking when he stepped inadvertently into a crevice and fallen into this dark cavern.
Desperately he tried to get his bearings but could not figure which end was up or down. The darkness seemed to have a life of its own. Soon he started to feel a sense of loneliness such as he had never felt. Steve wanted to see light of any kind, no matter how dim. Steve tried to call out for help but all he could hear was screaming from depths that he could never have thought existed. He tried to see where the screams were coming from when he suddenly realized that the screams were emanating from his own throat.

Steve is pictured here as a victim of the darkness. Without the light he quickly went into a mode of panic and felt overcome.

Man is a creature that was created to be dependent on the light.

• Light is the source of growth in the plants that we consume, (photosynthesis)
• Light is stored in plants and animals that we consume and stored for later use in our bodies, (glycolysis)
• Light is a source of Vitamin D, which is used in our bodies to counteract tumors and helps our bodies process calcium and phosphorous.

• Lack of light for our bodies can result in many health risks and can lead to SAD. People with this condition are diagnosed as having the “winter blues.”

Light is very important to our physical well being. However, it is equally important to our spiritual well being.

Where does our spiritual light come from? It comes from Jesus Christ. There are several verses in the scripture that refer to Jesus as the Light . . .



Jesus the Light:
John 1:4-5, 7
John 3:19
John 8:12
John 9:5
John 12:46

Jesus came as the light of the world so that all could see him and be in the presence of the Almighty. Through the Light of Jesus, mankind’s sins are able to be purged. The darkness within will be expelled and replaced with the Light of truth, emanating from the regenerated soul, of the born again Christian.

• The sin of man has darkened him so much that he cannot see that which was so plainly seen in Jesus Christ.
• When Jesus came healing the blind, I believe when sight returned to their eyes, they saw not a man but the Glory of God. It was this that compelled them to tell others or to follow him.
• Only by mankind seeing the Glory of God, can there be any hope of penetrating the darkness in men’s souls.

Jesus wept for his people because of their spiritual blindness. He spoke plainly to the pharisees and called them blind guides, the blind leading the blind. He condemned them for this. They knew all of the right actions and traditions to follow. They kept them diligently and yet Jesus proclaimed them to be blind.
In the eyes of Jesus it was not enough to just know what the right thing to do was. It was more important to live what you knew. This brings me to the next point I would like to make about light.

The Redeemed are Light

The bible is very plain when it calls the Born-again believer light.

Matt. 5:14- "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” (NIV)

Notice here that it calls us the light of the world. That is how Jesus sees us. He is no longer physically here so he is looking to the believer to be the light. Jesus wants us to be light and be the image of the Glory of God on earth. He goes on to liken us to a city on a hill.

When I was in a young boy in Puerto Rico, I can remember walking from my mother’s parents home in the country to my father’s parents home in the city. There where many homes that where very similar but the one thing that prevented me from getting lost was that their house was set up on a hill and stood above the other houses. I could never miss it and was able to see it from afar.
The light that we have should be the same way. The lost should be able to see it from afar because it glows so brightly. Our light should be so radiant that it cannot possibly be missed.

Luke 11:33- No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. (KJV)

Here Christ states something so obvious that it seems odd that Jesus would even mention it. However, just because something is obvious, does not mean that it is invalid. Remember Jesus knows the heart of men. He knows the natural tendency of a believer to lose their fire or get entangled in the things of life. He knows that we are frail beings and influenced by our relationships, circumstances, and conditions. Although we may not mean to intentionally hide our light or put it somewhere that makes it hard to see, we are all victims of complacency.
When we get to this place in our walk with Him we forget all that he has done for us and enter into a place where we become useless to the cause of Jesus. We are nothing more than empty vessels, good for nothing. We can look all pretty on the outside but are vessels emptied of the New Wine and Living Waters.
What an awful place to be in, to be hungry and thirsty and not able to be of service to him, who is deserving of our best. We need to cry out to God with fervency and a desire to be filled with His goodness. We need to experience the fullness of God and allow him to stoke the fire within us. We need to allow the spirit and the fire to overwhelm us so that we shine brightly. We can burn for Him who loved us so. When we do this, we can bring the Light of the glorious Gospel to this dark world. Healing and miracles can come forth, in His name. The lame will walk, the deaf will hear, demons can be cast out from those captive to them, and the blind will see. When we determine to walk in the overflowing of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish great things for Christ. If we dare to be radical for him, He will radically use us to complete his Great Commission.
My desire would be that we would all determine to be Lights in this dark and dying world. Only be being a shining example of Christ can we hope to bring a great revival in this country and around the world. By our determination to be light we can hope to usher in the Lord Jesus Christ and that great meeting in the air.
For Who You Are


What is man that you are mindful of him Lord, He is but a vapor in the earth, that is momentary,

Through knowledge he seeks greatness for himself.

Make me to run from myself and unto you dear Lord.

My heart is dry and my body thirsts for more of you Lord.

Speak unto me this day and fill me with your knowledge.

Let me search your Word and fall in love with the glorious God revealed in it.

May my heart sing praises unto you for all eternity and allow your love to pour out from me and wash over the lost.

As the Lord wills so will I obey. Let me fulfill my destiny in you Jesus.

Rivers of flowing waters springing forth from me is what I desire Lord. Forever may you be the glory of my life.

I cast my lot with you and not for my own desires, but that you might be magnified through all the ages if my life.

My life is clay in your masterful hands. Create out of me a vessel fit for the Father’s use.

Though imperfect, I am made perfect in you Lord.

Your love reached me and touched me and I will never be the same.

Jesus I thank you and worship you with all my strength.




Cesar Feliciano–