Between the physical healing and the manifestation of God’s Presence that are both described in The Lesson of the Radiance, another notable event occurred, this time at the home of the friend with whom my husband and I spent the night. The following morning, at the onset of my awakening, while my eyes were still closed, I experienced “a vision plus,” for lack of better terminology. Differing from a dream, the event felt as real as the present moment.

Before the vision began, I knew that I was in the guestroom bed of our friend’s one story home, lying on my back, with my arms at my sides. Then, in an instant, I was in the vision, having no awareness of my actual physical surroundings.

In the vision, I was likewise lying on my back in a bed with my arms beside me, but I was in a second story bedroom. Unlike the actual guestroom, the room in the vision was small, with the bed against the right-hand wall. To the left, across a narrow open floor space, a large picture window provided a view to a driveway below. The only other object in the room was a large television with a blank screen that was sitting at the foot of the bed.

As the vision began, I saw a large black sedan pull into the driveway and come to a stop beneath the window. All four car doors opened as a handful of men got out. Tall and dressed in dark suits, they wore hats and sunglasses, giving them the appearance of stereotypical movie mobsters from days gone by.

Walking toward the house, the men quickly disappeared out of my field of vision. Then, just as quickly, an extensive alarm system was activated. Very loud sirens, bells and whistles sounded, as the television screen came alive with flashing lights and warnings. Instinctively (in the vision) I sat up in bed, realizing that a very real and present danger was trying to enter the house to get to me. But it couldn’t. I was protected, and I was safe. With that knowledge, the vision ended.

In the next moment, my awareness returned to my physical presence in my friends’ guest bed, drawing my attention to an electrical tingling in my toes. Spreading up the outer edges of both of my legs, the tingling sensation outlined my body, as a child traces his or her hand with a pencil. Continuing to flow up my torso and around my arms, the current followed two symmetrical pathways that united at the top of my head, encasing me in an electrical silhouette. Then, and only then, did my eyes open, as the event ended.

Other than the generalized awareness of protection that I had received in the vision, I had no understanding of the event that morning. Bewildered, I mentally filed the experience away with other unanswered questions.

Then, a couple of months later, during one of my regular morning Bible readings, I came to Ephesians 4:30. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Sealed! Instantly, without question, I knew that I had been sealed by the Holy Spirit! Though uncertain about what sealing entails, I was confident that God was protecting me with Himself. Having installed the Holy Spirit in me, God was my “Alarm System,” keeping evil at bay. With the Gift of the Holy Spirit—the third Person of the Trinity, God’s commitment to my welfare was affirmed by God in a way that I couldn’t mistake for anything less. God, living in me, would be my much needed strength and shield. (See Psalm 28:7)

God distinguished Holy Spirit baptism, a vital part of Christian life, from water baptism through the words of John the Baptist and the baptisms of Jesus. Including both John’s words and Jesus’ baptisms in all four Gospels, God left no room for doubt regarding their significance. (See Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:2-11; Luke 3:1-22; John 1:8-34)

While John preached repentance, baptizing with water, Jesus—the One upon whom John would see the Spirit both descend and remain—would baptize, not with water (See John 4:2), but with the Holy Spirit (See John 1:33). The Holy Spirit’s remaining upon Jesus would be God’s signature, anointing Jesus and identifying Him as “the Son of God,” simultaneously privileging John the Baptist with the testimony that was his life purpose to proclaim. (See John 1:34)

In the words of John the Baptist, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” (John 1:30b, 31)

In the presence of John and others, God the Father propelled Jesus into the earthly portion of His Eternal Kingdom Ministry with public baptism. Glorifying Himself, God honored Jesus with the Person of the Holy Spirit, effectually declaring that God would be with Jesus, wherever Jesus went. Jesus and the Father were One. (See John 17:22) Then, acclaiming Fatherhood of His Son by Word, as well as by Spirit, God left no room for doubt regarding the nature, as well as the permanency, of His relationship with Jesus.

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16, 17)

From the Day of Pentecost forward, God has similarly revealed His pleasure with all who become His beloved sons in Christ, offering them Holy Spirit baptism by Jesus. (See Galatians 4:6) As affirmation of our acceptance into God’s eternal Family, the Presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit both confirms our future (See 2 Corinthians 1:22) and empowers our present (See Acts 1:8), transforming us through ongoing fellowship with God. (See 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Salvation, a package deal, is an all or none proposition made by God. Either we accept His offer, being reconciled to God in Christ Jesus (See Colossians 1:22), or we reject it, remaining independent agents (See Romans 2:8). But like a birthday present of multiple pieces that are all wrapped in one box, we can open the package of salvation, taking out the primary gift of eternal life, but overlooking the accompanying benefits that pertain to this world.

While, indeed, the combined expectation and reality of eternity with God is arguably salvation’s most outstanding blessing, minimizing the significance of our role in God’s earthly kingdom leaves us short-changing ourselves and the world in general. Jesus specifically said that the Kingdom of God is within us (See Luke 17:21), not without.

Through Paul, God further expounded on the subject, saying, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power” (1 Corinthians 4:20), ”…of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17b). To live Kingdom life as God intends, living the life given to us God’s way, we need unlimited resource. We need the Holy Spirit.

First John 5:7 speaks specifically of three separate baptisms for believers: “the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.” Each testifies to the Truth of God, supporting one another, yet providing different benefits. Together they form the complete package.

When we confess and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit baptizes us into salvation by the blood of Christ. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…” (1 Corinthians 12:13a) Our position in Jesus is secure, for “…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

Water baptism then enunciates in a different way the faith that we have declared in the finished work of Jesus, giving physical substance beyond our words of confession to the spiritual renewal that has occurred. Signifying death, burial and resurrection in Christ Jesus, water baptism enacts our spiritual rebirth, displaying obedience to God. As new creations in Christ Jesus, the old has gone, the new has come. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:2)

Solidifying in this life the eternal promise given to us in Jesus, Holy Spirit baptism substantiates our new life of personal reconciliation to God as nothing else can. Giving us privileged access to Himself (His Person, knowledge, power, etc.) through the Holy Spirit, God reiterates the promise that He once made to Abraham and has fulfilled to us in Christ:  God Himself is our ”very great reward” (Genesis 15:1), our provision (See 2 Peter 1:3, 4).

In committing our lives into Christ’s Hands, we receive both the honor and the responsibility of ministering the Gospel—the Truth of God in Jesus—to one another through word and deed. (See 2 Corinthians 3:6) Only “God in us” can work this miracle through us, further distributing His life to a hurt and dying world.

We need the continuity of Holy Spirit guidance in every aspect of life, pointing us and others always to the Truth of Jesus. (See John 16:13) Through revelation of the Truth of God, God accomplishes what we cannot, setting our lives apart from the turbulent nature of evil that cohabits this world with us.

But even the indwelling companionship of the Holy Spirit does not eliminate evil’s attempts to sway us. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:34b), and we do. Evil exists, brewing discord in our hearts and minds, disrupting even nature (See Romans 8:21) and employing dark spiritual beings against us (See Ephesians 6:12).

More importantly, though, Jesus had this to say: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:34c)

In having triumphed in the same battle between good and evil that tempts us, Jesus submitted to no one but God. (See Hebrews 4:15) He arose victorious, and so do we in Him. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we, too, experience the ability to conquer the flesh’s rebellious nature (See Galatians 5:16) that attempts to lead us away from God and into destruction.

God’s Way, the only viable way, is the way of agape love:  dedication to the highest good of others above oneself. Living out God’s love multiplies blessings, giving life—the very essence of God (See John 17:3). In deferring to the Holy Spirit’s leadership, we become part of God’s rebuilding process, being used by Him to construct anew what evil has torn apart:  our relationships with God and with one another. Kingdom living is all about unification:  salvation in Jesus, being made one with God.

Salvation is God—no less than Father, Son and Holy Spirit:  the complete Salvation Package in One Eternal God. (See Deuteronomy 6:4 and Mark 12:29) Without God, there is no life, not in this world or the next, only a mortal facade.

God said, quite clearly, “Now choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19b) … “Choose Me.”

There is only One Way to do that:  Invite Him in… invite All of Him all of the way in.

And there is only one reason why we can:  God made the nonretractable offer possible when Jesus sealed the deal for us… in blood… His Own.

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“…Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2)

Some months following the event of The Lesson of the Touch, I attended another conference, enticed by both my experiences of the first one and my growing relationship with God. Still uncertain regarding the extent of God’s active participation in people’s lives today, I continued observing, intrigued with faith’s potential.

But, even then, doubt was receding, and my mind was opening. The seed of faith, planted in me decades earlier, was receiving the nurturing that it needed to grow the way God intended. This event would provide yet another supplemental boost.

During a conference session, I was sitting next to my husband in an aisle seat of the midsection of the church’s auditorium-sanctuary. A conference official approached me, accompanied by a woman of about my age. Leaning over, so as not to disturb others, he introduced himself. Then he told me that a few minutes earlier, as the woman with him had walked by me, she had received a word of knowledge regarding an abdominal pain in my midsection.

Surprised and confused by the entire scenario, I stared at him, trying to absorb what he was saying. But feeling no pain, I automatically replied, “I don’t have any abdominal pain.”

My response apparently caught the man by surprise, for he sounded shocked as he asked, “You don’t?” Shaking my head in the negative, I said (almost laughingly), “No.” Looking at one another, the man and the woman shrugged slightly, not knowing what else to say or do. Apologizing for bothering me, the man returned to his duties, and the woman returned to her seat several rows in front of me.

But as I watched the woman sit back down, I was suddenly gripped with the realization that I had, without intention, not spoken the truth. For a couple of months, I had indeed had a reoccurring pain in the area that the man had described. But not experiencing the pain at that moment, I had not made the connection, due to the unexpectedness of the conversation.

Now I was again the one who was confused. How and why would a woman, who I did not know, know about a pain in my body that only God and I knew existed?

Thoroughly perplexed, I remained in my seat until a short time later, when the woman got up and walked past me, exiting through the rear auditorium door. Instantly filled with a sense of “now or never,” I excused myself and followed her. Seeing her step into the ladies’ room, I waited in the empty lobby.

When she came out, I approached her, quickly explaining the situation regarding the pain that had been described. Though I had no expectation of what might transpire from our meeting, I was absolutely convinced that she, knowing more than I, was my opportunity to learn more.

Confounded, I was also awe struck. Radiance from the woman drew me to her even more than my questions had done. Standing face to face, just a few feet apart from one another, I was transfixed by her glowing countenance that permeated the air around us. She, on the other hand, was transfixed by something that I could not see, except upon her.

With partly raised arms and upward facing palms, she stood with her eyes closed and her chin slightly lifted, basking in more than the music that was coming from the auditorium. Though we spoke only briefly, and she offered an even more brief prayer for my healing, we continued standing together in a holy silence that was broken only occasionally by her softly spoken praise to God. In that state, we remained alone in the lobby without interruption for quite some time, before returning to our seats.

Soon afterward, the conference concluded for the evening, and my husband and I headed for the home of a friend with whom we were staying. In the darkness, we rode in silence. Deep in thought regarding the evening’s events, I suddenly became aware that the area of discussion in my abdomen was getting warm… quite warm, almost hot.

The warmth was deep inside my body, not on the surface, and it felt luxurious! I sat motionless, soaking up the warmth, not wanting it to end. But as we neared our destination, the warmth faded, and then it was gone.

I can’t explain all of the intricacies of my experience that evening. I can only testify to its occurrence and to the fact that the abdominal pains never returned. One of my gifts from the event is an unwavering knowledge that God is a healing God, still manifesting His Presence in our lives today through miracles of direct intervention. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-11) He is Jehovah Rapha, “the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26), just as He has always been.

The Bible, full of miracles in both the Old Testament and the New, reveals both God’s power and His goodness in uncountable ways, many of which we don’t always recognize as such. Men, even God’s “chosen” people, have more often than not misconstrued both God’s nature and His intentions, right from the get-go. (See Isaiah 1:3)

God wants all men to know Him well, to enter into personal, eternal fellowship with Him (See 1 Timothy 2:4). God has never hidden Himself from mankind, but has always been open, revealing Himself in a myriad of ways to provide the understanding that man lacks concerning God. (See Isaiah 45:19)

Right from the beginning of time, God has revealed Himself in His Word. The Spirit-filled Truth of God that is contained in God’s Word was then given a physical component in the life of Jesus—the Living Word—to make a new way for men to see the Truth of God quite clearly. The Truth revealed in Jesus can then lead to further opportunity for increased fellowship with God through the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit. But while many people believe in the historical Jesus, fewer believe in the future King Jesus, and fewer still accept the reality of a Present Living Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

By not engaging in purposeful fellowship with the Holy Spirit, even born again Christians can unknowingly diminish their interactions with God through a lack of expectation. Inadvertently, neither surprise nor disappointment are generated by the lack of personal experience with God that complacency with the status quo substantiates:  a “that’s all there is” faith.

A faith that is not stretched in accordance with God’s Word is a faith that stagnates within self-imposed boundaries. In squelching new faith experiences before they begin, we can give greater credence to lack of experience than to the Word of God. A mind that is closed to God’s potential in any area of life through unbelief hampers new experiences with God in those particular areas.

On the night I was healed, I had little faith by which I might have received or even contemplated the expectation of such a healing. But in attending the conference, I was open to discovering new dimensions of faith. So I did have exactly what I needed that evening:  willingness to accept the woman’s faith in God, a faith that radiated from her in Word and Spirit. The woman’s intimate relationship with God enabled her to hear, receive and deliver the Word that God had sent to heal me (Psalm 107:20), words for which my spiritual ears were not yet in tune.

My emerging faith was apparently enough to meet God halfway, through this woman, who He had placed between us. That evening, standing before the woman, as she basked in her relationship with God, I believed, without question, two things: God’s Presence and the woman’s intimacy with Him. In her awareness of God, God granted me awareness, also. In effect, God provided opportunity for me to piggyback off the woman’s faith that evening, undoing doubt by establishing in me a greater faith of God.

A faith in God that is more complete in both substance and application is a faith that is more life enhancing. ”We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7) so that greater intimacy with God and increased expectation of Him will develop in us.

Through faith by grace, God has accomplished the greatest miracle of all:  salvation that provides opportunity to commune with God one-on-one, any time and any place. When we are in Christ, God goes with us. Wherever we go, God’s supernatural power fuels our words and actions that are in compliance with the Truth of God, thereby fulfilling the expectations of faith that He develops in us.

While the world likes to say, “Life is what you make of it,” the Truth is that, with God, life becomes much more than that. The abundant life that God offers us in Christ Jesus (See John 10:10) is a supernatural life of transformation (See 2 Corinthians 3:18), one beyond the scope of the world’s vision that depends on our interaction with Him. The greater priority that we give to communing with God, the more personal experiences that we have with Him, breeding even greater intimacy with God in an unending cycle of faith. We, not God, are the ones who can bring the cycle to a screeching halt by applying the brakes of unbelief.

At this particular conference, God had yet another surprise in store for me. As He had revealed to me His Presence in the woman, so He also would reveal to me His Presence in me, letting me know that our relationship depends upon no intermediary other than Jesus Christ  (See 1 Timothy 2:5).

The following evening, at the close of the conference, this is what happened:

Standing alone on a few square feet of floor in a crowded auditorium, I was desperate (no exaggeration). During the final minutes of the conference that my husband and I had attended in South Carolina, I wanted to experience God in some profound way, some way that was previously unknown and unexpected by me. I wanted a taste of what I saw and had seen in other people. I wanted to know God, not just to know about Him.

On that day, when I cried out in silence, imploring God with emotionally charged words in my heart and tears in my eyes, God showed up. He did not show up around me. Nor did He show up above or beside me. God showed up in me.

God was—is—real. I felt Him.

[Excerpt from The Life of the Cross]

God alone can set us aglow, igniting our lives with His potential. He alone is God.

And if we are His, others will know. His Presence will be seen all over us, radiating His Glory through so-called impossibilities that He accomplishes in us and through us, allowing the world to better see Him.

With God, we become the very miracle that we need:  a mind fully open to accepting the full Gospel Truth of God.

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”Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’”  (Romans 12:2a)