Hearing the Holy Spirit

I was baptized for the second time on September 9th. Adventures in Missions does a lot of things differently than what I am used to. I have asked questions when I didn’t understand and have stayed open-minded to new ways of doing things, even if they aren’t familiar. Though things are different, I don’t believe they are ungodly. I took a step of faith by being baptized for a second time. This baptism was a lot different than my first.

My first baptism was an outward declaration of a commitment that I had made to follow Christ. Ideally, most people would be baptized in their home church. By being baptized at your home church you are telling the church you are their brother/sister in Christ. The church is then held accountable for encouraging, extorting, and pointing you towards Christ. However, this isn’t the situation for all people. I didn’t connect to any home church for a long time. Therefore, after my first year at Bible school I took the opportunity to be baptized.

At Capernwray Harbour (Bible school) I discovered Christ. I always knew of Him, however, I didn’t know Him. I uncovered who Christ was and what He wanted for my life. This understanding changed the way I viewed everything. I wanted to walk in obedience to what God’s next step in my life was and so I was baptized. Being baptized at Capernwray Harbour also felt fitting as I discovered Christ there. I didn’t think I would be baptized again.

Baptism is the symbol of rebirth. As a unbeliever your spiritual being is dead but when you choose to follow Christ your spiritual being becomes alive. You are born into God’s heavenly kingdom. Baptism  is an open declaration of you being a part of God’s heavenly kingdom. It’s the symbolism of change (of being dry and then you are wet), of transformation.  Your dry self is the symbolism of your old self, the one who has passed away before you have had your rebirth into the spiritual realm, God’s kingdom. It is your sinful, fleshly, unrighteous self. While you are in the water you can no longer hear like you would outside of water,  and you can no longer see. Things are blurry and unclear. The transformation is happening. Once you are outside the water you have been changed, made clean/redeemed.

God has shown me that He has been speaking to me for a long time. He revealed to me that fear stops me from partnering with Him. Deciding to be baptized for a second time was the surrender/forfeit of this fear I’ve had when speaking to the Holy Spirit. I didn’t want the fear anymore. I wanted to partner with God and be in His story instead of my own.

God has healed me from this fear. I have learned there are different kinds of healings from God, one which is instantaneous (a miracle) and the other is a process of healing. In the spiritual realm, we are saints, we are no longer sinners as Christians. We have been made blameless, without blemish or fault. However, on earth, we still have pain and sin. God has told me this fear is not going to be a one-time occurrence but a process of sanctification. I am going to have to give the fear to the LORD as it arises and commit to surrendering it to Him. This fear is going to take a process of healing, however, I am free from it. God has taken my fear away and I now can rest in His provision.