If we follow Jesus we will be baptized with the Holy Ghost and Fire This happened 25 years ago, when I returned to Jesus after being backslidden for 12 years.
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Many people have asked me about my testimony. I made a series about my testimony, which I want to call -"Through the Fire." Because when I seriously came to Jesus and I committed my life to Him, the fire started burning. John the Baptist said, "I baptize you with water, but He Who comes after me, Whose shoelaces I'm not worthy to tie, He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire." When we make that commitment to Jesus and are serious about following Him, then we will go through the fire because we need to be purged and we
need to be cleansed. I can assure you since that day I totally committed my life to Jesus, my life has been fire and I've been through the fire many times, and I'm constantly in the fire.
God takes us through real life, and He teaches us. Jesus will baptise you in the Holy Spirt and in fire. He will teach you His way, but you've got to stick with Him. And it is in the fire that you get to know Him. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they made a decision for God - They said, "Well will not bow down." And then they ended up in the fire and we know what happened to them, God delivered them. It's only when we make that decision for God that we get into the fire.
Many Christians never get into the fire because they never make a decision for God.They're lukewarm. When you are serious with God, then you will go through the fire.
When I made my decision for Jesus and I said, "Lord, this time I want it for real," I was severely back-slidden and I came back to the Lord. It was only then that my real life, my real relationship with Jesus started, but I was immediately in the fire, because I decided to not compromise - I decided to follow Jesus seriously. The first thing that happened is, I changed so much in a short time that I lost my job. I was called in and they said to me, "You don't fit in here anymore," and they dismissed me, they fired me. I was walking out in a matter of minutes, but that was the beginning of the fire. I was jobless, now I got to look for a job.(Where I come from in South Africa there is no unemployment fund) I couldn't find a job for 3 1/2 years. I just couldn't. It was impossible. I would go for an interview, and in this interview, I know I can lick this job, I can do it, I know how. I had the experience, I had the know-how, I had the schooling, and everything.
But God hedged me in. He closed the gates on me, and then I never got the job. I was forced to go and do handiman work, demeaning jobs, because God was shaping me. He closed the doors, and I got to the stage where I just gave up and said, "Lord, everything I try You just break it down." It is when these obstacles come in our way and when God stacks all these problems around us so high that we are forced to look up - then we get to know God.
There was one day that everything was going wrong - our money was getting less, I couldn't find a job, and my wife wasn't too happy with me either. So I went to the shop to go and buy bread, and on my way there, I had two little boys at school and one at home, walking to the shop to buy bread, I thought to myself, well, I'm going to buy a bit of candy for the kids, two of them were at school and one at home. So the one at home, he will take the candy that I bought for his brothers at school and he'll eat it, so I got to hide it. It just struck me right there that I was concerned about my children, and the Holy Spirit said to me, "You, being evil, know how to give what is good for your children - How much more will your Heavenly Father not give you the best?"
And you know, I repented. I said, "Lord, I'm sorry," because I was getting so despondent. I just said, well, I don't know, has God forgotten me? And things were very tight in our house because the money ran out. I went home and I said to my wife -"Honey, I'll make you a cup of tea," and she gave me the stare. I said, "You know what? We've asked God to supply for us, and He's heard us, and He's concerned about us, and we mustn't worry about it anymore, we must just thank God."
I made a cup of tea, but you know what happened?
That afternoon, somebody called me out of the blue. Nobody knew or told him about my predicament, and he was in a predicament. He was the planner of Dunlop Rubber Company, and he was looking for somebody to help him. They had an export order, and their factory scheduling was in shambles. He was looking for somebody to write them a program, computer software to organize and control a huge export order they had just landed. He called me that afternoon, he came to my place, and I was down and out, our money was running out. He said to me, "When can you come and help me, come and consult to us?" I said to him, "Well, I can come, but I need a deposit." He brought the deposit to my house the next morning!
It was there that we started trusting in God. When I had a job and I was forever worried about everything.
I used to have so many worries in my job that I was fired from, that I would turn around so many times at night on my bed, that the bedsheet would be like a rope underneath me in the morning when I woke up.
God took me through a period of 3 1/2 years without a job, where God just supplied at the time when we needed it, I started trusting and I slept like a baby. I had to learn that God will supply.
Get your eyes on Jesus. God will take you through the fire. He will put you in the fire so that you can look up to Him, and then He will deliver you. But it is not until you get into that fire that you get to trust Him.
You've got to be in the fire first, but you've got to make a decision that's going to land you in the fire. You made that decision because you trust God, because you've taken a stand for Jesus. It's then that you get to know Him. You don't get to know Him on the side, you get to know Him in the fire.
I've been in the fire since I started to follow Jesus Christ with all my heart.
May Jesus Bless You.
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