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Testimonies
A few years ago when I was going into the seventh grade God changed my life. My
name is Breanna and I am now thirteen years old. I am a "PK" (pastors kid) living in Las Vegas (yes they do have churches in Vegas ). In the summer going into seventh
grade I went to something amazing. Many of our church's youth went to California and taught younger kids there about God. I was astonished by how much this small program changed my life.
The kids there were so excited about God! They were so relieved to know that someone was always caring about them. They were so grateful to know that He loved them and
died for their sins. God was really tugging at my heart during those five days. Why was I not as excited about God? I had always known the gospel since I could remember. God helped me realize that I had just
taken advantage of It. I had just kept it to myself for so long that it had turned stale. And as I was able to tell others about what Jesus had done for them God became more and more real to me. The Bible was no
longer just some old stories thrown together that I learned in Sunday school, but it was the Word of God- a love letter to me! So a bit of encouragement to those people who have grown up in a Christian family
and just accept Christianity because that's what they have always known. Try to get deeper in God. Don't cheat yourself. Get all you can from
Christ, because he wants to give it to you and open your eyes. I don't always understand why I go through some things, but Jesus has helped me through everything because I know that he has my heart, and lets me
grow in him everyday.
In Christ,
Breanna
Pastor Jim Hood's granddaughter
HOW I RECEIVED THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
by Michelle Gomez
For many years I had heard about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and had longed to receive it and to experience the fullness of God like I saw expressed in my mother's and my grandmother's life. From time to time I had
sought this blessing through prayer, but never had any real confidence that I had received it.
In February of 2003 I was one of the helpers watching over the children of a Church School as they played in the park. I had had a very depressed weekend and on Monday I was praying that God would speak to me. Another helper with the children that day was Pastor Jim Hood, the father of our pastor's wife.
Jim walked over to me and greeted me, then, before we had exchanged more than a dozen words, he asked a very direct question. He said, "Michelle, Have you received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the gift of speaking in tongues?" At that , the dam broke and I began to weep. I felt that God had answered my prayer that He would speak to me. From that moment I knew that Pastor Hood was a man of God. My response to him was, "I have asked Jesus for the gift of tongues, but I have not received it yet. I believe I was really not that serious about it." A As the day went on and we talked about things, Pastor Hood spoke to me about things that only God would know about me. He prayed with me that day and I felt a peace inside me As the months went by I kept in contact with Pastor Hood. One day he said he needed to speak with my mother and me.
The Lord had spoken to him that we should have a fellowship meeting in our home. A month later we met in my mother's home with a small group of friends. At the end of the meeting Pastor Jim ministered to several people with the laying on of hands for healing and deliverance and salvation. Then he turned and asked me, "Michelle, do you want to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the gift of speaking in tongues ?" I said, "Yes!" then I walked over and sat down in the chair being used for those who were receiving ministry.
Only a few days before this special moment in my life, Pastor Jim had sent me a copy of his story telling how he had received this blessing back in 1972. Here is the explanation that helped me to receive this gift by faith: "The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a definite experience in which the Holy Spirit, who is already dwelling within the believer is released to overflow and empower him. This baptism is administered by Jesus and is received by faith.
Jesus himself is our example in this matter. He was born of the Spirit at birth but was not baptized in the Spirit until he received water baptism in the Jordan River. It is the same outpouring the disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is given for the purpose of exalting Jesus Christ in the life and service of the believer. It helps to understand that:
It is promised to all believers.
"For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:38) It is a gift.
We do not have to beg for it or work for it. We cannot make ourselves good enough to receive it. We must receive it like we would receive any gift of God. We just take it by simple faith and then express our thanks to God for hearing and answering our prayer. After we take it by faith we will experience it. It is administered by Jesus
"John answered, . . . he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Lk. 3:16)
There is a baptism in water administered by men; (Mt.28:19) and a baptism into the body of Christ administered by the Holy Spirit; (I Cor. 12:13) and a baptism in the holy Spirit administered by Jesus. (John 1:33)
When we receive it, there will be an empowering which sooner or later will become evident in the life of the one who receives it. Jesus said, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you " (Acts 1:8)
Ten days later they all received it. (Note: When I say "it" I am referring to the baptism in the Holy Spirit.) "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all . . . filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4)
Receiving the Holy Spirit when we are born again and being baptized in the Holy Spirit are two separate events. It is His will that you receive it.
God commands all believers to be filled with the Spirit: "Be not drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit." (Eph. 5:18) When you pray
for the baptism in the Holy Spirit you are asking according to the will of God. Therefore you can know that God will answer your prayer: "And this is the confidence we have in Him that , if we ask anything according
to his will, he hears us; and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know we have the petitions that we desired of him. (I John 5:14)
By faith pray the following prayer and you will receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit:
Jesus, I thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. You said that if I ask anything within your will you will hear and answer. Lord you command me to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so I ask you to baptize me in the Holy Spirit right now. I Thank you for hearing my prayer and for granting my request and that I now have the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus!
Do not seek to have an emotional experience. Claim the baptism in the Holy Spirit by faith and walk in the reality of it by faith.
Feelings will come, but leave that in the hands of God. Your part is to believe, embrace, confess, and act like the work is done. The results will follow. You will begin to experience supernatural gifts and manifestations of the power and presence of God that you never had before.
Feelings are beautiful and good, but we do wrong when we seek to create an emotion ourselves. God will give you overwhelming emotional experiences, but let him do it. Your part is to trust his word of promise..
Now that you have prayed and by faith received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, as an expression of your faith, just begin to praise God, but not in your own language. Simply open your mouth and begin to praise God and trust him to give you words in a language unknown to you, a spiritual prayer language.
You are offering perfect praise to God in the Spirit. You are doing what the apostle Paul did when he said "I will pray with my spirit and I will
pray with my understanding also. I will sing with my spirit and I will sing with my understanding also." It is not a matter of emotion. It is a matter
of the will. You can will to pray in your own language and you can will to
pray in your heavenly language. Paul went on to say to the Christians in Corinth: The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, therefore let
all things be done decently and in order." You are in control. You can pray softly or audibly. You can start and you can stop. Paul said, "I wish you all spoke in tongues and I thank God I speak in tongues more than
you all."
Pastor Jim just laid his hand on my head and prayed a simple prayer and asked me to receive it by faith and let the rest take care of itself. I did receive it by faith and the next morning the Lord had me to open my Bible and read the book of Acts which talked about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I shut my Bible, got up and started praising God. As I worshipped I felt that something in me needed to be released. At that moment the Lord filled me with the Holy Spirit and gave me the gift of speaking in tongues. It was so intense that I prayed for an hour in tongues. I prayed over my home, my children, and my children's beds. The Spirit was upon me so strong that my hands and arms were shaking.
I give my Lord Jesus Christ all the glory and honor and praise and I thank him for everything. My story is also on the following website: www.jimhoodministries.com
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HOW I RECEIVED THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
I was raised in and out of church. My dad owned a
business and was also a gospel singer. The only thing I really remember about church was that Dad sang and we went on Wednesday and Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday night.
I was never a happy person. I remember having stomach aches when I was a child, stomach aches that I now know were anxiety attacks. The last ten years of my life was nothing but a roller coaster ride with radical mood swings to match. I smoked, drank, and continued in a downward spiral of depression in spite of the anti-depression drugs that I was also taking.
That led me to try seeing a psychiatrist on a weekly basis. His answer was Prozac and between him and the Prozac -- and no health insurance -- it was costing me $200.00 a week!
Then a friend told me how she had instantly been delivered from marijuana and then she invited me to a Bible study that was being taught by the man who had prayed for her deliverance.
That man's name was Jim Hood.
I accepted her invitation and met Jim for the first time.
He reminded me of a compassionate grandfather and I immediately bonded with his beautiful spirit. I had so much baggage that I had been carrying around all my life -- confusion, anger, even hatred. It wasn't hurting anybody but myself, and it was destroying me.
When Jim first prayed for me I still felt a heaviness, but we didn't give up. Jim continued to pray with me and it finally lifted. Praise God! I felt
free as a bird and clean, like I had taken a shower on the inside, in my heart. Later, I realized that I had been instantly delivered from all the
chains that had bound me for so long.
Jim gave all the glory to God, and so do I, knowing that the Lord used him as an instrument of my deliverance.
Jim Hood Ministries
2714 North Olive Lane
Santa Ana, CA 92706
(714) 541-5962
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