TESTIMONY 9: MY FIRST HOLY SPIRIT HIGH

I'm not really sure what to call what I experienced, so I've named it the Holy Spirit High lol because that's how it made me feel and that's where it comes from, up high. Before Sunday I had no idea that the Holy Spirit could be felt in such a real way. I always used to think it was just that little voice telling us to do good and be good, but it can be felt as a sensation too? It was warm and very, very relaxing. I hope this post helps encourage you to seek more on your journey with Christ, because not only will it increase your faith, but there is also far more gifts that come with the Holy Spirit that you yourself could obtain if willed. It might be different for everybody, but this is my story.

So, this all really started manifesting on Thursday afternoon when I arrived at a fashion show presentation for Spree. I walked into the area where all the models were sitting, gave a polite teeth-less smile as everyone stared at me and took a seat near the table so I could write on my laptop. I planned to do some reading first though and as I'm taking my book (To Heaven And Back) out of my bag, guess who I see on the chair to my right, Kelly - the girl who had a vision about me (Testimony 4). She noticed me a bit later and greeted while taking her Bible out of her bag. Not long after we were joined by another model that I had met before "Are you also a Christian?" she asked as she walked our way looking at Kelly's Bible. Now strangely enough the girl walking towards us at this moment, Michelle, had met me the exact same way. I was reading my Bible at Cape Town fashion week and the first thing she ever said to me was "I'm glad I'm not the only one that takes my Bible with me everywhere I go, mines in my bag." The three of us sat in a circle, or rather a triangle, and started chatting up a storm about God. 

The whole situation was a bit much for me at first and put me on a bit of a trip to be honest. What are the chances of us all being at the same show and the Bible once again bringing us together? The conversation just started getting even more weird from then on. Perth Australia had been standing out to me everywhere for quite some time now, I kept feeling like maybe I was supposed to go there and when Michelle was asked by Kelly where she would like to travel next she says "I would like to travel to Australia now." I had also been really urging to spend time with little children lately and Kelly says "You should spend time with children. Do you spend time with children?" the weirdest part of it all would probably be the fact that I had prayed to God to meet more Christian friends whom I could speak to about my journey without offending someone or making them feel uncomfortable, and there were Michelle and Kelly, people I could talk to openly about God. We each shared our story about how we were saved and chatted throughout the free time we had before the show. 

"You should come try out The Bay church this Sunday." Kelly said. "You can really feel the Holy Spirit strongly there!" I agreed to come "Sure, that would be great." I then shared with her a really bad spiritual experience I had quite recently which I'm not sharing out of respect for the person it involved, but basically I literally nearly died lol. She said she was worried and wanted to pray for me after the show. When the show was over I offered Kelly a lift home so she wouldn't have to take public transport and when we arrived at her place she said "Could you get out of the car, I would love to pray for you." "Oh yes, please do." We both got out of the car together. We were on the sidewalk of a street in Gardens, at night. The streetlights made everything feel even more surreal, like something out of a Harry Potter movie intro lol. Surrounded by complete darkness she said "Place your hands out in front of you with palms up ready to receive and close your eyes" She then placed her one hand on my head and the other on my shoulder. I can't really remember the exact words of her prayer but it went something like this; in her awesome American accent she said "Father God, I rebuke any curses on Sydney in the name of Jesus Christ, fill her with the Holy Spirit, let her mind be renewed.. "etc. I felt at peace while she was praying for me. Luckily the street was empty because an outsiders perspective would have marked us as complete weirdos lol

When she was done praying we hugged goodbye and the next time I saw her was on Sunday morning, at the Bay Community church in Muizenberg, where "it" happened. Just like at the event I met Kelly at (in Testimony 4) again, I went alone. It was just me, her, her boyfriend and his mother, whom I met for the first time that day. At first everything seemed very normal inside the church. It was a small hall area, with chairs and a small stage with a band, until the pastor announced that we should all just praise God and let the Holy Spirit do it's thing. As everyone was praising and praying, I said a prayer that I for some reason was just drawn to saying at that moment, I said "Father God, fill me with the Holy Spirit. I want to be filled with your Holy Spirit God, I want peace and love and joy. This is what I want right now right here Father God." After saying Amen I just stood there quietly with my tingling hands up in the air. All of a sudden I got this weird feeling, it was warm but it wasn't coming from the outside, it was coming from the inside.

The warmth was in my stomach. It seemed to be spreading throughout my body. I started feeling a bit dizzy and I felt just, a different, sensation in my head area. I started panicking very slightly and thought 'should I tap Kelly on the arm and tell her? What if I'm about to faint or something?' but immediately another thought in my head said 'just relax and trust in God. God is with you, just be calm, this is you and God Sydney.' I then looked straight to the front and there was a little boy with a dummy in his mouth being held by his mother or grandmother. Her back was facing me, but the boy was looking at me above her shoulder. He made me feel calm. He stared for a while, long enough for me to start thinking 'why is he looking at me for so long, does he see something?' I felt so relaxed as he stared though, he had such beautiful piercing blue eyes and little threads of blonde hair on his head. I started feeling really happy lol I felt like laughing, but didn't want to seem weird so I allowed my stomach to shake with laughter but nothing came out of my mouth. I couldn't keep my smile in though lol and I just stood there swaying from side to side with my hands still in the air, smiling lol in a way I felt like I was drunk, but we didn't have any communion? Not that the little bit of wine would have made me drunk lol I just mean, this was all very natural - supernatural. 

The sensation then slowly started fading away, but I still felt happy after. I think it was mostly just excitement, because this was such a new feeling I had never felt before. 'What the heck was that?' I asked myself  'the Holy Spirit? It feels so good?' People then all started praying, some in English, others praying in tongues. Part of me was always skeptical about praying in tongues, I always wondered whether it was good or evil, but the other part of me really wanted to at that very moment, because I couldn't find the right words to pray in English. The pastor then asked that we pray for the person next to us and Kelly started praying for me as we held eachother, again I didn't really know what to say for her. The only thing I could get out of my mouth was "thank you father God that Kelly and I met" like a 5 year old prayer lol.... Kelly then said "I feel like God wants you to speak to Him, could you try and speak in tongues?" "What, right now?" I asked. "Yes, just try, right now, it will come from your stomach." "Okay..." I said with no confidence, but nothing. I just couldn't do it, I felt like I wanted to but my mind kept feeling that if I had to speak it would be something I was making up, so I kept quiet. 

When the service was over, still seated, I told Kelly what had happened to me and she became excited. She told me that she saw a white light around my mouth and that she felt it meant that I was trying to speak to God and that God wanted me to speak in spirit, but I stopped myself. I then told her that I had in fact been wanting to speak in tongues before she asked me to while we were praying. I immediately decided I would be coming back to that Church and that I would be getting baptized again there. "I'm going to bring my parents with next time." I said. And while we were still sitting having this conversation there were three people in front of me casually doing some sort of healing/rebuke? They were three elderly people, two women and a man. As I looked at the man who was shouting "I rebuke any power satan has over you, the son of God is more powerful than you satan!" with his and the other woman's hands over the woman in the middle, who was half falling to the ground, I thought to myself, now this is my kinda church lol I'm not sure where God will lead me to next, and which church will end up being my home, but for now I think I'll be attending both this church and Hillsong, because I love praising and dancing at Hillsong, it's like a praise party... but I definitely want to feel what I felt there again. That being said, I'm sure it can be felt anywhere if I really opened myself up to it. I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Thanks be to God for not giving up on me, a sinner, and I can't wait to officially be Born Again :)