the practical book - front cover

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The Practical Guide toLiving a Spirit Filled Life

(Without Acting like a Meshuganah)

H E L E N R E T A N A


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The Practical GuideTo Living a Spirit Filled Life

(Without Acting like A Meshuganah)By

Helen Retana

The Practical GuideTo Living A Spirit Filled Life

Copyright 2011

No part of this book can be copiedwithout the express written permission of

the author.


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Table of Contents

Introduction .4

Honey Call 911, that lady is having a seizure..7

So, what does the Holy Spirit do anyway?.11

But Pastor, I do not want to be a Prophetic Evangelist, so

cant we just tell the Holy Spirit to take it back?..15

All in Gods timing. Well how long will that take?...21

They only want to know what you see...24

Dont you dare come in here and say I told you so. ....29

I certainly will not give the devil his due. ..33

WWJD Seriously......39

I am blessed and highly favored. Really? Prove it....45

Why cant these Spirit-Filled people just be normal?49


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Introduction

If you picked up this book and are wondering what a

Meshuganah is, well it is Yiddish for crazy person. And if you picked up this book and are wondering what living aspirit filled life is all about. Well, I am not going to tellright off the bat because then you wont read the rest of thisbook. So let me tell you why I am writing this book. Godtold me to.

My name is Helen Retana and I am the PracticalProphetess. Ok, I know what you are thinking. Dovolumes of pink hair and enough make-up for an entirethird world country come to mind? Well think again, I am

just as normal as anyone. But who is really normalanyway? For the Lord created each and every one of us for

a specific purpose. So when you look through the eyes of God no one is normal, but, extraordinary in their ownunique way. And having the Holy Spirit dwell within youmakes anything and everything possible.

So now you are thinking. Yay! But I dont want to besome kind of Jesus Freak. Speaking incoherently, fallingon the ground and rolling around or just laughinghysterically for no apparent reason. Spirit filled people are

just plain weird and seem to blame everything on theenemy. I really do not want to be a Charasmaniac or aPsychotic Pentecostal. Well, if that is what you arethinking. Honey, you are preaching to the choir, hence thereason for this book.

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There are so many people both Christians and non-Christians that believe that living a Spirit filled life is likesome kind of extreme form of Christianity. People are

afraid to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, becausethey do not want to lose control of who they are and mostimportantly do not want to be labeled as a religious nutcaseor as my mom calls them, Hysterical Holy Rollers. Mymom came up with that name because she will start tolaugh hysterically when I share with her one of my manyadventures of serving in charismatic churches. Of coursewhen my Dad was alive, he would watch televangelists andfaith healers for entertainment purposes. So as you can see,I have a generational curse of skepticism and yes,maybe a little cynicism about all this.

The bottom line is this. I walk in the spiritual gifts of

discernment of spirits, healing, and prophecy. None of which were of my own choosing and if truth be told, or mydesire. I have known from a very young age that the Lordcalled me to help all those who come to me. I have learnedthat I would not be able to function in my calling withoutthese gifts. They were given to me by the Holy Spirit and ithas truly broken my heart to see people who are afraid of having the Holy Spirit come into their lives.

So come with me on my own personal journey of negotiating through the waters of living a Spirit- Filledlife . I promise you will laugh, cry and somewhere alongthe way you may just realize that the Holy Spirit is a truegentleman and that trying to live life without Him, is trulyan insurmountable task. Let the adventure begin!

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Here is my disclaimer. I have changed most of the namesand places in this book so when it tops the New York Times Bestseller List none of my friends will be mobbed

by all my fans. I only kept the names that are publicfigures and well known anyway. I seriously doubt theyremember me. So if you see them, dont ask them. They inno way promote or endorse this book. So I do not have togive them any royalties. Hopefully this little paragraph willmake my attorneys and publisher happy.

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Chapter OneHoney, call 911, that lady is having a seizure!

My very first experience in a Spirit Filled Church wasin a very small town in western Tennessee. My husbandAlex and I, where moving to the area from Los Angelesbecause he had gotten transferred. We were on ourrelocation trip. This is corporate jargon, for You have aweek to find a house, in a place you have never been, soyour husband can get back to work. So being the good theChristians that we are and the fact that my adorable hubbyis an ordained Pastor and believes in you serve where youare planted. Off to church we went.

Well here is the kicker. My husband, Alex, served as anAssistant Pastor for a Spirit filled, African American,

congregation in downtown LA for 17 years. This was longbefore I met him. Did I mention that my husband isHispanic and I am a Messianic Jew?

Let me tell how thrilled my mother was that we weremoving to this little slice of heaven. Visions of whitesheets and burning crosses emerged in her mind quickerthan you can say grace. If you know my mom, whateverpops into her head is soon coming out of her mouth, andusually very loudly. Enough said about that. You get thepicture.

I should have known I was in for an experience when Iwent to the ladies restroom and encountered three ladies in

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a prayer circle speaking in some kind of weird dribble.I could not understand a word they were saying and theywere all swaying to and fro while holding hands. One of

these ladies was dressed in a choir robe and swayed rightinto me. I wear a Star of David around my neck everydayand she saw it and asked, I kid you not, Are you of theseed of Israel?

Now by this time I had lived in LA for 12 years and wasraised in Atlanta, so I was well aware about how southernChristians felt about Jews. They hated the Jews. I hadheard the term Christ Killer more than once. So Ianswered in a pretty annoyed Yes, why? She then askedme if I had met the Messiah and I answered with an evenmore annoyed Yes. She hollered, Well Praise Jesus!Sister, we love all the children of Israel and hugged me.

Now I will hug you, if I know you, but I am not a hugger.So I just said well alrighty then, and ran out of thatbathroom as soon as I could remove myself from herclutches.

This woman was the worship leader. Which, I realized,about 5 minutes into the service. When she took amicrophone and told everyone to be free to expressyourself in worship to the Lord. Now, I had led worshipat home and that would have never come out of my mouth.The rules were: sing 2 songs, the pastor will come up topray, take the offering, sing one more song and sit down.

As you can see, freedom of expression was not an option.So you can imagine my surprise when worship started and

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there was a mass of people up in the altar area dancing.Flags flying every which way, some were playingtambourines that were not part of the band, others were act

they were flapping arms as if they had their wings, it waspure chaos. And in my experience, God was a God of order. So as far as I was concerned these people weredancing themselves straight to hell. They were a bunch of Meshuganahs.

In the midst of all this Praise and Worship, a rather large,middle-aged, lady fell to the floor, screaming Thank youJesus and flaying her arms and legs. She kept screamingPraise Jesus, Thank You Jesus, Praise Jesus, Thank YouJesus over and over and over and over, all while rollingaround on the floor. I was trained in first aid and CPR, so Iwas evaluating the situation.

After observing her for a couple minutes, I came to theconclusion that she was having some sort of seizure andwas in need of immediate medical attention. I tried to getmy husbands attention, but he was caught up in theworship. So I did what any wife would do in that situation,I elbowed Alex in the ribs. That got his attention.

Alex was sitting on the aisle, so, I leaned over to him andpointed at the lady that was lying in the aisle. Heimmediately grabbed my hand and told me to sit down.My husband, obviously, did not understand the urgency of the situation. So, I pulled on his shirt sleeve. You wouldnot believe the look he gave me. It was the Stop that andmind your own business look. Hello! I am not one of thekids! 9


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The seizure lady was still in the aisle and yelling louderthan ever. Something had to be done. I pulled Alex down

to my level. Pointed at the lady, yet again, and whisperedHoney, call 911, that lady is having a seizure.

Again, Alex grabbed my hand. But this time he pulled medown to my seat. He leaned over to me and in a ratherannoyed tone said She is just slain in the Spirit. Stopstaring at her and enjoy the worship music. Are youkidding me?

Now, Alex is the most loving husband in the world and Inow know that he was just keeping me from embarrassingmyself. The ushers finally came down the aisle and helpedthe seizure lady back to her seat, Hallelujah! I was very

relieved to see that she did not seem any worse for wearafter her ordeal in the Spirit.

That was my first experience of seeing what I thought wasthe Holy Spirit in action. I was none too thrilled with thefact that the Holy Spirit can slay you. The word slaymeans to kill. And I liked living the way I was just fine.Thank you very much.

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Chapter 2

So, what does the Holy Spirit do anyway?

Have you ever been compelled to call someone on thephone that you have not spoken with in a long time, only tofind out that they were in need of you? How about, gettinga bad feeling about a situation or even a person? Or feltlike you need to pray for someone and somethingmiraculous happens? Well, that is the Holy Spirit.

In the bible, Jesus tells his disciples, the Apostles, of theone to come. Jesus knew that His time on earth wascoming to an end and that His people would still needsomeone to guide and teach them. That person was and isthe Holy Spirit.

For born again Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to dwellwithin us when we accept the Lord, Jesus Christ, as ourSavior. The Holy Spirit is a gift that the Lord gives us tohelp us in our Christian walk.

I Surrender All often comes to mind when I think of apersons conversion to Christianity. Because in order tolive a truly Spirit Filled life, you have to admit that youcannot live life on your own. We all need a partner,someone to help us make decisions, steer us in the rightdirection. And, yes, help us to overcome ourshortcomings.

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Think of living with the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit ashaving a constant companion that will never leave andnever steer you wrong. He is that friend that will tell you

the truth when no one else will. The Holy Spirit alsoallows us to see others as God sees them not as we wouldin our own understanding. We also will have a greatercapacity for love and compassion.

Remember, the Lord loves a joyful giver. While most of the time that scripture is used to encourage us to tithe. Italso applies to submitting your life to Christ. In order tolive with anyone successfully you have to experience joyand harmony in your relationship. The Lord and the HolySpirit are not overlords that impose their will on you.

There is a reason the Church is called the Bride of Christ.

Just like any bride, we willingly give our lives to Christ.Jesus willingly gave His life for us on the Cross.Weddings are the most joyous occasion that we as humanscelebrate. So, living a Spirit filled life is the result of amarriage, that is very literally, made in heaven.

The one question that I am most often asked is How comeyou are so normal and yet you work is in the SpiritualRealm? The answer is fairly simply, I am an obedientchild. I do what the Lord tells me to. I spend a tremendousamount of time in prayer. The Lord and the Holy Spiritknow me and our relationship is based on mutualunderstanding, trust and love.

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Holy Spirit is that He will take over your mind and bodyand you will lose your free will. Wrong! You have topermit the Lord to work through you. He is never going to

force you to do anything. For the Lord only wants goodthings for you. He wants His children to be joyous whenthey are serving Him.

The Holy Spirit has never compelled me to do anything thatI was not 100% willing to do. The Lord will through theHoly Spirit stretch your comfort zone. But it is more aboutlearning the true meaning of I can do all things throughChrist rather than seeing how crazy you can act.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not in the reality TV business.They would take no pleasure in seeing to what lengthssome are willing to go in order to show their devotion.

Since our main purpose as Christians is to take the messageof Christ into the world. It would be counter- productivefor Christ to make a public spectacle out of His followers.For that would not bring glory to God and further more itwould and because of the actions of some Spirit Filledindividuals has turned people away from The Father andcaused them to live in fear of the Holy Spirit.

Now I am talking about the gifts of the Spirit. Whichinclude: Prophecy, Speaking in Tongues and theirinterpretation, Healing, Discerning of Spirits and theWorking of Miracles. There are other gifts that the HolySpirit gives us but these are the ones that give people theheebie jeebies and are the cause of countless debates inthe Church.

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It is my very humble opinion, since these gifts demonstratethe power of God, many in the Church do not believe

humans should receive and work in these gifts. Many fearthat a person that walks in one or more of these gifts willhave too much power and will have people follow theminstead of Christ. False Prophets!!!

So in order to maintain control over their congregations,many pastors shut down these gifts or deem them availableto only people that they themselves approve. Unfortunately,this practice is not biblical. It is only the Holy Spirit thatgives out spiritual gifts. And He is not a respecter of persons. So in reality, you might say that the veryindividuals that are so afraid of someone playing god areactually the ones that are in fact playing god. It is this

attitude that has misled so many Christians into the belief that the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are infact evil. And people who actually operate in these giftslead a life of blasphemy and witchcraft.

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Pastor Tatte did not fit that demographic.

Pastor Tatte was reformed Methodist who received thewhat living a Spirit Filled life is supposed to look like. It is just who he is. And he does not act all meshuganah.Considering I was still recovering from my last visit to aSpirit Filled Church, immediately put me at ease.

It is truly amazing how the Lord puts the right people in ourlife when He is going to use us in a new way. Pastor Tattewas the perfect person to put me on the path to working inthe prophetic and healing. I was a very reluctant, cynicaland skeptical student. To this day, I still believe that I wastricked into receiving the impartation for propheticevangelism. Of course I am just kidding.

Alex and I started visiting Shiloh Chapel in the fall of 2005.In November RT Kendall and John Paul Jackson came tospeak at a weekend workshop. Being blissfully ignorant of all things charismatic I had no idea who these two menwere and frankly did not care. But I really enjoyedlistening to both of them because they are both greatstorytellers.

Little did I know, I would soon find myself, along with 13others, about to be anointed as the next generation of prophetic evangelists. I didnt even know what a propheticevangelist was. Or for that matter, what a prophetic persondid. As I stated earlier I was blissfully ignorant.

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The last session of the workshop was on a Saturdayevening. And John Paul Jackson was sharing about hisvisit to the throne room of God. I thought it was a little

weird but interesting. At the end of the service, Mr.Jackson asked if anybody felt a burning in their ears tocome forward. Alex and I both have allergies and weoccasionally have ear aches and sinus problems. We bothwent forward. I thought he was going to pray for ourallergies.

Out of the probably 800 people there that evening 14 of uswent forward. Mr. Jackson had us line up around the altarand then announced to the entire congregation that thesepeople where The Next Generation of PropheticEvangelists. Mr. Jackson then anointed each of us with oiland then commissioned us with a prayer.

After this Mr. Jackson told us to turn around and face thecongregation. He then invited the rest of the congregationto come down to receive a prophetic word from us.

Hello!!! What is a prophetic word? Needless to say, I wastotally clueless as to what I was supposed to do. I lookedover at Alex and he was praying with people. Well that Icould do. I was not surprised that Alex answered thecall".

Alexs main responsibility as an assistant pastor was streetevangelism in the downtown LA and Hollywood areas.Which, he still loves to do and is absolutely amazing atreaching people most good church folks would be terrifiedto speak to. 17


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But me, a prophetic evangelist, you cannot possibly beserious. Mr. Jackson had obviously made a huge mistake.

After, we finished praying for all the people that camedown for a word. The seminar was over. Hallelujah!!! Imade a bee line to find Pastor Tatte. But he had already leftwith Mr. Jackson. Apparently, Mr. Jackson is pretty well-known. Who knew?

People kept coming up to Alex and I and hugging us andcongratulating us. They told how excited they were for us.Excited about what? Did we get promoted or something?Someone, obviously, had forgotten to send me the memo.I didnt want a new ministry. Especially one I had neverheard of until 20 minutes ago.

Well, I had to talk to Pastor Tatte, he would surely be ableto put things back the way there were. Funny thing aboutPastor Tatte, he wont tell the Holy Spirit what to do. Iknow this because I ask him to do just that.

It was not till the following Tuesday that I got to visit withPastor Tatte in his office. Have you ever seen a glint insomeones eyes like I got you now? Well that was thelook I was met with when I walked into Pastor Tattesoffice. He was ready for whatever I was going to throw athim.

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I had 3 things to tell Pastor Tatte:

1. I did not want to be one of those weird people that

is constantly going up to everyone and saying TheLord told me to tell you (fill in the blank).

2. Mr. John Paul Jackson has made a huge mistakebecause I do not have an evangelistic bone in mybody. That is my husbands gig. I just go along topray for people.

3. We need to tell the Holy Spirit that He should takeback His Prophetic Evangelistic anointing andbestow it on a more deserving and knowledgeableperson.

As I finished #3, Pastor Tatte smiled a grin just like theCheshire Cat.

There is going to be a very special place in heaven forPastor Tatte for simply putting up with me. He opened uphis bible and began to explain about how the Holy Spiritoperates and then asked me the same questions that Iopened with in Chapter 2. And after several moreobjections from me not wanting to be Spirit filled, heinformed me that The Holy Spirit gives His gifts withoutrepentance. Which is a nice way of saying: You havebeen giving this gift. Now deal with it. You cannot give itback. Well yippee!!!

Pastor Tatte told me that the Holy Spirit knew what Hewas doing and that I should have more faith in myself. 19


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The Holy Spirit has a specific purpose for you and He willnot give you anything you cannot handle. Fabulous!

But here is the real surprising thing. Do you know whowas actually not the least bit surprised by all this? Alex.

All I am saying is if someone saw all this spiritual ability ina person, they probably should tell them and avoidsituations like this one. You think!

As you can see, my heart was not exactly open to theministry that the Lord had called me to. I call it myJonah moment, without the whole whale thing. When Ilook back on this particular adventure, I now see how theLord aligned everything up so that there would not be anypossible way that I could fail. He had put me exactly

where I needed to be in order to learn and grow in the giftsthe Spirit had given to me.

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Chapter 4

All in Gods Timing. Well how long will that take?

In order to develop the revelatory gifts that I walk in,Prophecy, Discerning of Spirits and Healing, you have to areally close relationship with Jesus. How do you get thatkind of relationship? We all must spend timecommunicating with Him.

Be still and know that I am God. This is how you mustapproach your time with the Lord. Talking with the Lord isa two-way conversation. The most common way peoplepray is by asking the Lord for some sort of blessing, eithermaterial , physical or spiritual I call this the heavenlydrive-thru approach to prayer.

We want our blessing now and with as little effort on ourpart as possible. Just have it ready when I pull up to thewindow. Well have you ever heard the term All in Godstiming? This should be your first clue that God is not adrive-thru window or an ATM machine. He actually wantsto talk with us.

Those of you who have teen-agers or college age kids canrelate. They only usually call when they want something.This would describe a lot of peoples prayer life. There isso much that the Lord wants to share with you through theHoly Spirit. And while he does want us to come with Himwith all our burdens, getting a new sports car or a designerhand bag is not a burden on someones soul.

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American Christians in particular need to rethink theirapproach to prayer. I believe that we should always startby thanking Jesus for what he has done for us. And though

we should always pray for the sick and suffering, it is mybelief that we should ask the Lord to use us and ourspiritual gifts to His glory. I always ask Him, What doyou want me to do today. And wait for Him to instructme.

Thats right. You need to listen, as well as, speak when youare praying. This is how you will begin to experience thepresence of the Holy Spirit. A scripture may come to mindand you will see something in those lines that you did notsee before. Unsolvable problems will be seen with newclarity. The direction that you had been searching for willilluminate before you. If you had experienced some of

these revelations, you might act a little weird on occasiontoo.

In order for you to be able to hear from the Lord, it isessential that you learn to quiet both your body and mind.Mediating on scripture is a great way to start as long as itdoes not become a mantra. When I am teaching on theprophetic, I tell people to approach your prayer time as youwould approach any conversation. Ask the Lord a questionand wait for Him to respond.

When I am seeking the Lords advice on a particularpetition/question or situation, I simply write down thequestion and wait for some kind of answer and I startwriting until the Lord is finished speaking. If I do notunderstand something, I ask Him to clarify. 22


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The Lord is all knowing, however, I am not. So, when indoubt ask the Lord to explain what He is showing or tellingyou.

It never fails, there is always one individual in every groupI have worked with that wants a formula for hearing fromGod. There are those who think that prayer and meditationshould be broken up in blocks of time. Here is an exampleof one I was actually handed once at a prayer session: (Idont think Jesus got the memo)

Worship -10 minutesPraying in Tongues 10 minutesWords from the Lord Prophesying 20 minutesHealing the Sick 15 MinutesClosing Song and Prayer 5 minutes.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit allow ordinary people to doextraordinary things. In order for the Holy Spirit to be ableto use us we have to be willing to think outside the box orbeyond the formula. While it is always important to staywithin the guidelines that leadership of a church set forth.We must all be sensitive to the will of the Lord in order tofulfill the mission He has for each one of us. As well aslive a truly spirit filled life.

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Chapter 5

They only want to know what you see.

There is one thing that has really rung true when youreceive a calling like this. Satan will try to stop you. Iknow what you are thinking. Yay right! There was aboutan 18 month period between receiving my commissionand when the prophetic gift actually began to appear.

During that time, my father passed away and I had to closemy businesses in Alabama because my mom needed me tobe available to help her out in LA. Hurricane Katrina alsohappened during this time. My mom is from New Orleans.She had lost her husband and basically her hometownwithin 4 months. As you can see I had my hands full. I

spent much of the next year on an airplane going back andforth to LA from Magnolia, AL.

The great thing about spending so much time traveling isyou have time to pray, journal and really see how God isworking through you in different parts of your life. If youhave not realized by now, I am a type A personality. Beforereceiving the gift of the Holy Spirit I was running a mile aminute. Everything had to fit into a specific box in myworld. And when you work in the Spiritual gifts, that kindof thinking is not even a possibility.

In order to work in the gift of prophecy you must haveenough courage to share Gods love with people.

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This may seem pretty easy, but it can be difficult because Iam not talking about sharing Christ with someone in thetraditional way of walking down Romans Road. But

actually walking up to someone you do not know andgiving them an encouraging word that the Lord told you tosay to them.I know this sounds like I should be in the loony bin. Butthat is exactly how I started my walk in the revelatory gifts.

The very first time this happened to me, I was at aconference in Nashville, TN. I had spent a good amount of time praying and the Lord told me They only want toknow what you see. Now let me clarify a few things. Mymother always taught me that if you cannot say anythingnice do not say anything and this applies especially todelivering prophetic words to people.

There are times when I see bad things on people. The Lordshows me these types of things because He wants me topray for that person. Not judge and condemn them toeternal damnation. That is not my job or anyone elses. Iwill leave any passing of judgment up to the Lord.

My first victim was a lovely lady that was at theconference. The Lord showed me that she was a Joygiver and I saw a vision of her with a mountain of flowersand she was handing these flowers out to people. I figuredthere was nothing bad in this so off I went to share thisword with the Flower Lady.

I approached her and asked her if I could share what the25


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Lord had given me for her. She agreed and called herfriends that were with her to bear witness. I told her thatthe Lord said she was a joy giver which did not render

any response. I then shared with her that I saw her with themountain of flowers and that she was handing them out topeople. As soon as I finished my flower lady burst intotears.

Ok, this was not the reaction I was expecting. I was justabout to recant everything I had just said, when shegrabbed both my hands. And with a huge smile on her facesaid I just opened a flower shop. And you just confirmedthat this is where The Lord wants me to be.

WHOA! To say I was taken aback was an understatement.The Holy Spirit said to me She is just like you, but she

does not like to be the boss, which I promptly shared withmy flower lady. She just laughed while her friendsconfirmed that I had hit the nail on the head. We prayedtogether and she gave me a huge hug.

While I was at the conference, I had several more of theseexperiences of bringing encouragement or in most casesconfirmation to people. But it was my gossamer lady,which actually let me see how the Lord will work throughus and confirmed to me, without a shadow of a doubt, that Icould actually do what the Lord had called me to.

It was the very last session of the conference and I had beensitting in front of an older woman all three days. We wouldchit-chat during breaks and we even had lunch together one

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of the days. She knew that I was just starting out inprophetic ministry and was very encouraging.

When the final speaker had finished and we had beendismissed. The older lady grabbed my hand and said to meThe moment I saw you for the first time, the Lord told methat you would have a word for me.

No pressure! I had nothing. But then I remembered theinstructions the Lord had given me in our prayer time.They only want to know what you see.

So, I closed my eyes. Asked the Lord to show me what Hewants to share with her. And when I opened my eyes, Isaw this lady dressed completely in gossamer standing inthe night sky with her hands outstretched. Like a mom

welcoming a child home. Around her neck was a Star of David.

The Holy Spirit said the words Spiritual Mother to theChildren of Israel. I shared with her what the Lord hadshown me and the words from the Holy Spirit. Mygossamer lady then asked me Is this confirmation that Iam supposed to be a missionary in Israel?

I repeated the word I had told her before but emphasizedthe word to. The Lord wanted me to clarify to her that hercalling was not a physical place but the people. I explainedthis to her. She told me that a prophet had told her long-ago that she would be a missionary to the children of Israel.And I told her that she shall be but not necessarily in Israel.

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Chapter 6

Dont you dare come in here and say I told you so.

As I told you in the last chapter, I do see bad things onpeople. This gift is the discernment of spirits which canmake your life very interesting to say the least. Because theLord shows me how people look through His eyes, so I getto see the good and the bad and even the demonic.

So now you are thinking to yourself, See all those SpiritFilled people are always looking to blame everything on ademon or the enemy. And I will be the first one to admitthat there are many people who chalk up every mishap toThe enemy trying to keep me from my destiny. I wont

tell you how many times I have heard that when someonehas misplaced their car keys on their way to get their nailsdone. Only to realize the keys were in their hand. And no,an angel did not put the keys in their hand.

One of the first things I was taught was to keep a journal of everything that I received from the Lord prophetically. Thegood , the bad and the really weird. One problem withhaving revelatory gifts is no one wants to hear the bad stuff and then when it comes to pass your pastor will want toknow how you knew that even though you had given it tothem in writing sometimes years in advance. Only to betold that what you are seeing is not of God.

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Well this is how things went for me at Shiloh Chapel. Notthat I blame them for not believing me. I had just step into

this gift and here I am seeing some major things and sincethey were of a warning nature. Most of these types of words were shelved.

Like all people who are struggling to master their talents. Iwas growing very discouraged because I really had no oneto bounce things off of. Imagine looking at a young manin your congregation and seeing him in a vision standing ontop of his school with a gun in his hand. Who do you tell?

Enter Dr. Mensch and his saintly wife Joan. Dr. Menscharrived at Shiloh Chapel in January of 2007. He wasstarting up a School of the Spirit and was also going to be

in charge of The College of Prophets. Talk about a divineappointment. Gods timing was perfect.

Dr. Mensch shares the same sense of humor as I do. He isalso close to my dads age and we really just got alongfrom the very start. He became my mentor and I learned atremendous amount from him.

I shared all the prophetic words I received and he would judge them. He would work with me on my delivery of words, since I have a tendency to sound like Minnie Mouseand am very blunt. Speak the Truth in Love he said tome over and over.

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Eventually, our relationship began to change to more of apartnership. But I will never forget the day when one of my really bad prophecies came to pass. I had written a

word about a year prior to the actual event. The Lord hadshown be that a very popular pastor that was friends withour congregation would fall from grace due to greed andlust. This was one of the words that had been shelved.

Alex and I were pasturing a small church in a nearby town,when the news broke at Shiloh Chapel. In Gods perfecttiming I just happened to see Dr. Mensch and Joan at lunchthat day. He told me what happened. I asked him to cometo my office that afternoon so I could show him the journalentry. Lets just say that even Dr. Mensch was surprised atthe accuracy of the prophecy.

There are times when I will see or pick-up on a spiritualmatter and pray that I am not right. And despite everythingI have said and the fact I have a pretty good track record.One of the pastors of the congregation will want to talk with me when a prophecy has come to pass. They willsometimes jokingly start the conversation with dont youdare come in here and say I told you so. Dont tempt me.

The biggest struggle that anyone who practices therevelatory gifts has is actually being heard and moreimportantly taken seriously especially, if you are a womanand live in the south. It is amazing how God plans everystep of our journey so we will be prepared for any task Hesets before us. My professional background of working asan executive for my fathers computer company definitely

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prepared me for the obstacles I would face in ministry.

As much as I loved, respected and sometimes feared my

father, the fact still remained that he was the epitome of amale chauvinist. His picture should be in the dictionarynext to the term. This taught me very early, that I had to befaster, smarter and more prepared than any of my malecounterparts in order to just survive our weekly staff meetings. Mr. Trump had nothing on my dad when it cameto the board room.

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Chapter 7

I certainly will not give the devil his due.

If you want to learn to live a Spirit Filled life and betaken seriously, you must practice what you preach. AsChristians we are called to always be prepared to share thelove of Christ with others. Whether it is through anencouraging word to a stranger, or just helping someone inthe parking lot at the grocery store put their purchases intheir trunk. We must constantly stay in Gods word and inprayer. This is the key to being sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

This is even more important when we come across negative

spiritual encounters. It is the power of Christ within youthat can stare down any demonic force. Not you but Christin you. You just have to have a little faith.

We have all heard the phrase You need to conquer yourdemons. It is usually used when someone is battling anaddiction. Personal demons come in all shapes and sizes.This is why it is so important to live a Spirit Filled life,because we cannot fight these demons on our own.

In the bible, Satan is the prince of lies. And he and hisminions seek to lie, steal, kill and destroy Gods Children.The Holy Spirit is the gift from the Lord that helps all of usnot only to defeat our own demons. But help others break

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to their demonic bounds and walk in the light and love of

Christ. This kind of ministry is commonly known asdeliverance ministry.

Personally, I believe that there is a place for deliveranceministry in the Church. But I have worked in this type of ministry and it should only be practiced by well trainedindividuals with some education in basic Christiancounseling.

Since many of the deliverance models are based on a typeof regression therapy in order uncover the root cause of abehavior. Which is very effective but you need to beprepared to handle the range of emotions that can be

brought forth. While it is true that we are all in need of deliverance, it is amazing how praying with an individualand giving them an encouraging word from the Lord cantruly change an individual. Let me tell you about myBucket Guy and The Cloak of Wings

I do believe that I am the Forrest Gump of ministry attimes. Things just happen to work out even though I knowthat it was not due to my own doing or abilities. It is justthe Holy Spirit doing His thing. And trust me if he canwork through me, He can work with anyone.

I have some friends that own a coffee shop called HeavensCup in Fountain Springs, AL Zeke and Candy. Zekehad been encouraging me to go and speak at a drug rehab

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facility called The Farm. The residents of this facilityattended church with us once a month at Shiloh Chapeland I had in the past prayed for them during ministry time.

There is one problem with me ministering to people in arehab facility. I know absolutely nothing about drugs oralcohol. It is just something I never got into. I am a bit of a control freak and taking anything that would make melose control is not something that would appeal to me. So Ihave no frame of reference, hence my hesitation to go andshare with the residents at this facility.

Well, Zeke finally convinced me that I would not be a totaldisaster. So one spring evening, I went to deliver my veryfirst sermon with Alex, Dr. Mensch, my best friend Sha andher mom Bobbie in tow. There were more butterflies in my

stomach than in the whole state of Alabama that evening.

But being the type A person that I am. I was prepared.At least I thought I was prepared. My lesson was on theprophetic anointing. There had been a lot of people upthere ministering to the residents and delivering words of knowledge that were not exactly knowledgeable. Mygoal that evening was to help these individual to separatefact from fiction, so to speak.

While I was praying for direction for the service, the Lordgave me the word Bucket as the key word for theevening. I saw a vision of a young man with a yoke aroundhis neck with a heavy bucket attached with a chain oneither side of the yoke. This young man was dragging the

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buckets on the ground and I saw the words Mercy Chaserabove him. I asked Dr. Mensch what this all meant. AndDr. Mensch told me. It will come to you. Great!

When we arrived, I noticed a young man who was notexactly thrilled to be in the service. He had a scowl on hisface and reminded me of a pouting child. He just sat thereand did not participate in the service. This was one toughcustomer.

During the sermon, I explained how the Lord willsometimes give me a word that means nothing to me butwill mean everything to the person I am ministering to. Soat the end of the service I told my little audience that theword I had for tonight was bucket. My tough customersaid Hum and sank down in his chair.

Dr. Mensch and I walked over to him and I said to him tellme about your buckets. My tough customer broke downin tears. He told us that he had been cooking crack cocainein 1 gallon galvanized buckets since he was fourteen yearsold. The young man went on to say how he had ruined thelives of so many people by making and selling this drugincluding the lives of his parents. Here was my bucketdragging mercy chaser.

I asked the young man to stand up and Dr. Mensch and Itold this young man that if he believed in Jesus and thesacrifice that He made on the crossr his sins would all bewashed away. This would be the fresh start this young manneeded to begin a new life in Christ. And my bucket guy

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received the revelation of true forgiveness. I then prayedwith him to be released from the bondage of self-hatred,which is the spiritual root of many addictive behaviors.

When we had finished, the Holy Spirit fell on the place andthe bondages that had brought many of these people to thisplace began to fall off. I walked over to where the womenwere waiting for me to pray with them and in the crowdwas a very young and beautiful girl. When I looked at her Isaw an angels hand on her right shoulder and she wasenveloped in a cloak of two gigantic wings. The Lorddefinitely was protecting this young one from something orsomeone.

As I approached this young woman, she ran up to me andsaid I just want you to pray for my boyfriend. I knew

immediately that this was why the Lord was protecting her.I said He is in jail, is he not? The young womancrumbled to the floor. I took a step toward her and the nextthing I knew these words were coming out of my mouth.He killed someone with a knife. I believe it was hismom? She let out a blood curdling scream. I got her toher feet and said That is why you are here, you were next.So lets just concentrate on you because the Lord has awonderful future for you. We will let Jesus take care of your boyfriend. OK?

The entire group of women rallied around this girl and webroke the hold this murderous man had on her. She wasfree to pursue a life filled with all that Christ has to offer usif we choose to just follow Him.

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As you can see, the Holy Spirit can conquer any demon thatmight have a hold on us. We have to know who we are inChrist in order to walk victoriously. Too many Christians

fear Satan. And while I dont go looking for a fight, whenthe situation arises, I certainly will not give the devil hisdue. I do not owe him anything. Christ lives in me and thedevil has already lost the battle. All I have to do is reclaimthe victory. And if I have been called to help othersreclaim their own victory over Satan, so be it.

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Chapter 8

WWJD Seriously

It should go without saying that Christians should conducttheir lives by the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) mottoespecially Christians who claim to be living a Spirit Filledlife. But many do not take enough time studying theGospels to know the true nature of Christ.

In order to understand the true nature of Christ, you have tostudy how He conducted Himself while He walked theearth. Jesus truly cared for His Flock. He still knows eachlamb by name. He provides for them. He always speaksthe truth in love. He has a real relationship with Hisfollowers. This is the standard that we should endeavor to

model all of our evangelist ministries after.

As Christians we are all called to share the Gospel. But itis only with the help of the Holy Spirit that we can becomesuccessful messengers of Christ. We need to be sensitiveto those around us. Take our cues from the Holy Spirit asto how to minister to those in need. It is Christs agendaand not our own that we have been called to carry out. TheHoly Spirit is our guide in the best way for us toaccomplish the goal the Lord has given us.

Politically Correct and Culturally Sensitive are twophrases that most conservative Christians cannot stand.While I was living in Magnolia, AL, I started substituteteaching and I loved it. I subbed a lot at very small

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Elementary School. It was wonderful. One day one of 6 th

grade teachers asked me if I would come in and talk to herclasses about the Holocaust. I was the only Jew that

anyone knew. I jumped at the chance.

When day came for me to give my talk, I went into theclassroom and the kids immediately started to ask me allkinds of questions. Here are some the questions theyasked:

1. Mrs. R do Jews read the Bible?2. Mrs. R why do Jews have all the money?3. Mrs. R why dont Jews eat Pork?4. Mrs. R why do the Jews hate Jesus?

Well so much for my talk. So here are the answers I gave.

1. Jews wrote the Bible from beginning to end exceptfor one book, Luke, who was a Greek physician.

2. Jews do not have all the money. That is just a veryold conspiracy theory that Hitler used to turn theGerman people against the Jews.

3. Jews do not eat pork because God told them not to.4. Jews do not hate Jesus. Jesus was a Jew. They

believe He was a very powerful man of God.

Most of the kids called me Mrs. R because they could notpronounce my last name. I finished the last of theirquestions and the kids seemed a little surprised by myanswers. I chalked it up to them never knowing a Jewbefore and I went back to my second grade class I wasteaching for a teacher on paternity leave.

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It was Christmas time and there were a couple of veryzealous debates going on at the teachers table about

whether or not we as Christians we should say MerryChristmas to everyone. The PE coach insisted thatChristians need to take back the Christmas Season.

I politely informed him that there were at least six to eightholidays during this time of the year. And that we shouldwish the person a pleasant whatever holiday that they arecelebrating and they in turn should wish us a MerryChristmas. I just did not have the heart to tell him thatChristmas is based on several European pagan holidaytraditions and that Jesus was probably born in the early fallduring Sukot The Feast Of Tabernacles. Needless to sayour beloved PE coach did not agree with me and told me to

read the Christmas Story in Luke. Funny, Luke nevermentions anything about the date of Jesus birth, Christmastrees or Santa,

The following week, I started to notice that more andmore parents were coming into the classroom to just sayhi. I did notice that most of them went to the samechurch. Well I just chalked it up to curiosity. The classand I were going to visit Santas Village that week and Iguess the parents did not want to send their kids off with

just anyone.

The day of the trip finally came. My little munchkins wereraring to go. Did I mention that this was the worst behaved2nd grade class out of the 3 in this school?

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If you have not noticed by now, I do not put up with anyshenanigans. These kids knew this as well as their teacher.I loved them and they loved me too. But they knew I

meant business.

We marched like little penguins to the bus. (This kept themfrom running and screaming down the halls.) I immediatelynoticed that most of the kids parents were there to followus to Santas Village. I thought how nice that they wantto spend time with their child. Little did I know thatthings were about to turn really ugly.

As soon as we arrived at Santas Village my kids parentsbegan to grab their children off the bus and take them off todo activities in the village. I know this sounds perfectlyalright, except, I was legally responsible for the children

until the end of the school day. I also notice that parents of the other classes were just staying with their childs class.So needless to say I spent the entire trip wrangling rude andarrogant parents as they told me in no uncertain terms thatthey did not want their child to experience Santas Villagewith a non-believer. So these parents still believe inSanta Claus?

After a fun filled morning we had sack lunches in thelunch room on the second floor of a childrens scienceexhibit. I got the lovely duty of taking the coolers down tothe bus. A couple of moms saw me struggling with thecoolers and offered to hold the door to the elevator for me.The minute the elevator doors closed these two womenbegan their interrogation.

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Is it true that youre a Jew? One of the women askeddisdainfully. I answered with even more disdain Yes.

And youre married to a Mexican? The other womanasked. Which I answered with Yep!. The first womenchimed in with And Pastor Tatte knows about this andallows you to come to his church? I replied Well, PastorTatte does not seem to mind when we serve on his missionteams or when my husband, who is an ordained pastor,interprets for him. Thankfully, the elevator doors openedand I skedaddled out of there.

The warnings from my mother came back to haunt me onthe bus ride home. Every single parent was following thebus back to school. By the time we arrived I was trulyterrified. My two interrogators went straight to the

principals office to complain about my being rude in theelevator.

When the final bell rang, I made my way to the secretarysoffice to check out. The school principal was waiting forme. He asked me what happened. And I finally just brokedown in tears as I recounted the events of the day. It wasthe first time in my life that I was truly scared for mysafety. I had heard snide comments before but this wasracism in its pure form.

The principal just sat there in disbelief. He kept sayingOh my Lord. He went to church with these two goodChristian ladies. I am pretty sure that neither of thesewomen had asked themselves WWJD before they started

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their Lets get rid of the Jew campaign. Jesus does notcondone racism. Hello! Your Savior came to earth as aJew.

I am always amazed at how the Lord will use even uglysituations like this to reveal Himself. This was the firsttime that anyone in this little school knew someone that hadbeen affected by their own attitudes about race and religion.The Lord convicted a lot of them. But no one more thanour beloved PE coach.

Later that same week all the teachers got together to have alittle end of the term pot-luck. We all brought in a dish andmunched on them during our planning periods. Coach andI had the same planning period. When I walked into thelibrary with my dish, he ran up and took my dish from me

and apologized profusely. He even offered to beat upanyone who bothered me while I was teaching there. Wetalked and for the first time Coach really understood whywe as Christians need to show love to all people. Becausethis is WJWD. (What Jesus Would Do)

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Chapter 9

I am blessed and highly favored. Really? Prove it.

There seems to be a school of thought among some Spirit-Filled Christians that if we keep mentioning Christian ideasand quoting scripture that people will come to Christ.Unfortunately, we can come off looking and sounding likewe belong to a religious cult. Who wants to be aroundpeople like that? Not me thats for sure. But this howmany people think the Holy Spirit will make you act.

There is a group of phrases that will make me cringe everytime I hear them used. Hi, I am blessed and highlyfavored. How are you? How do you answer that? Hi, Iam cursed and totally forgotten about? Could they sound

anymore arrogant? There are people who actually believethat this is a way to open an evangelistic conversation. Nowonder the world sees Christians as judgmental andprideful.

If we, as Christians, are truly blessed and highly favoredthen should be evident to the people around us in everyaspect of our daily lives. The Lord gave us the gift of theHoly Spirit as a sign that we are blessed and highlyfavored in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. For it isthrough the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we prove just howtruly blessed we are in living a Spirit Filled life.

The gifts and blessings of the Lord are meant to be sharedwith others. The more we share our gifts with others, the

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more fruit will be harvested. Just by us following thepromptings of the Holy Spirit, as we walk out our faith inChrist. These are the simple acts of kindness and generosity

that will help us convey the message of Christ far betterthan any piece of scripture we have memorized and spoutout in the hope of provoking an evangelistic exchange witha complete stranger.

Please do not get me wrong. Knowing the scripture is veryimportant. But it is carrying out the message carried inthose precious passages that is the mission of everyfollower of Christ. We will bear no fruit from the blessingsthat God has bestowed on us if all we do is talk the talk.We must walk the walk.

When someone greets me with I am blessed and highly

favored, I am often tempted to say Really? Prove it.Usually the people who say this to me do not look veryblessed to me. It is almost as if they believe that if they sayblessed and highly favored long enough it will eventuallycome true. My pastor here in Colorado calls this Blab Itand Grab It. God love him.

Did you know that the Lord actually wants us to besuccessful and prosperous? How can we possibly conveythe image of being blessed and highly favored if wepresent ourselves as cursed and forgotten? What Jesusdoes not want is that we should become puffed-up andarrogant due to the blessings He has given us. There is afine line between being humble before the Lord and what Icall poor pride.

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We must constantly strive to always give our best in everyendeavor we pursue. For God gave us the greatest of gifts,Jesus. If Christians would truly walked in the teachings of

the Beatitudes, while, sharing the blessings we havereceived from our Heavenly Father. The world would trulysee that we are a blessed and highly favored people.

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Chapter 10

Why cant these Spirit Filled people just be normal?

Did you know that God has a sense of humor? Theproblem is that sometimes I dont always get the joke. Ireally believe that He takes great pleasure in watching mescratch and shake my head when I get around people whoare Drunk in the Spirit. It is the Lords way of sayingLoosen Up, Helen. Yes, I am wound up way too tight.

I have asked the Lord at least 10,000 times. Why cantthese Spirit Filled people just be normal? And I alwaysget the same answer. It is all about grace. Personally, Idont particularly like it when the Lord wants to give me alesson on extending grace to others. Why cant people just

behave and not act like a bunch of meshuganahs?

I am forever telling people Do not let a few Christianskeep you away from Christ. Christians are just humansthat follow Jesus Christ. The key word in that sentence ishumans, which means they will mess up just likeeveryone else.

But we as Christians should be aware that we are held to ahigher standard. We have been extended grace throughChrist and we must do the same to not only fellowbelievers but even non-believers that would love to see usfall.

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Most people who fear the baptism of the Holy Spirit do notwant certain spiritual phenomenon to happen to them.These include:

Speaking in tonguesBeing Slain in the SpiritBeing Overwhelmed with Holy LaughterBeing Drunk in the Spirit.

This is not a complete list but these are the main culpritsthat instill fear into many Christians hearts. Did younotice that in order for any of these events to occur, youhave to surrender yourself to the will of the Lord and Hisgift of the Holy Spirit? Bet you did not think of that.

I am not saying that if you surrender your life to Jesus thatyou will automatically begin to move in the spirit

whether you want to or not. The Lord does not work thatway. He will never force you to do anything you trulyfear. But you do need to know that the possibility to movein the spirit is there.

You may choose not to move in the spirit a certain way.This does not mean that it is wrong or weird for others tomove in the spirit in a way that might freak you out alittle bit. As long as people are behaving in a biblicalfashion we have to extend them grace. Even if we think they have gone off the deep end. It is the Bible and notdenominational doctrine, which is the standard by whichwe must judge all spiritual practices.

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Our Holy Father granted us the gift of eternal life throughthe gift of His Son, Jesus. Jesus has sent us a gift in theform of the Holy Spirit to help us live the life Christ would

have us lead. Both gifts are free for the taking all you haveto do is ask the Lord to come into your life. If you believeJesus is the Son of God and died for the remission of oursins, then accept the gifts of salvation and of a Spirit- Filledlife with the Holy Spirit. And let your own adventurebegin. Be blessed and be a blessing.

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