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Every thing we do ripples out by affecting others. In the case of Jesus, His Ripple created a huge wave to wash over humanity changing us forever!

This morning while seeking The LORD, I was given a Vision in my mind of a ripple within a river. The ripple expanded to spread out replicating ripple after ripple.

The Holy Spirit reminded me this how God’s Love radiates over my heart when I am seeking Him, just like the ripples in the water.

Our natural vision is colored by the world, but knowing God’s essence and character of Love, allows us to see people the way God sees them by His Ripple.

In this place of love while seeking The Father, He took me to 2 Kings 9-11 and He revealed His Nature with me, by sharing an encouraging message for those struggling to hear His Voice.

“My Beloved, I am releasing My Anointing Oil over the house of Ahab. Ahab is ruled by Jezebel! By accepting My Oil each shall avenge Jezebel and destroy Ahab. Any land that Jezebel has ruled shall be cut off and perish, says The LORD. Both have enslaved My Children. Saturating by My Oil provides My Power to gain all plots of ground stolen by these two devils. Seek Me in your Secret Place and I shall release My Oil. Love your Father, Abba in Heaven.” 2 Kings 9:6-11, 1 Samuel 10:1

Citizens, by seeking The Father, we are freeing ourselves of the land stolen by shame, wounding or harbored fear.

The Father wants His People to love each other like He does, but these little devils in 2 Kings 9 have influenced and stolen the land within our hearts!

God is calling each of us to let His Amazing Mercy and Grace wash over our souls, by His Spirit, Who comes to choke out any tender plants that bring no grain, by filling us with His Love.

We can then turnaround and radiate His Love to others. (Mark 1:9, Mark 4:7)

This is His Rippling effect of Love.

Jesus highlighted this Love on the night before He was betrayed. He gave His disciples a going-forward command — that came with a promise.

He told them,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have love you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My Disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

I heard while walking in The Spirit, “Beloved, My Love for you makes ripples in your love for others increase and overflow, just like My First Church in Acts.”

The dictionary says the “Ripple Effect” is a series of consequences that are the result of a single event or action.

I like to think of His Ripple, like a rock we throw into a pond just to see the circles that are rippling out away from it.

That’s not the only effect that rock throw makes. There is also a sound that goes with it. We can compare God’s Love to this pond, and His Spirit as the rock.

When we come into contact with His Holy Spirit, there is a rippling that takes place within our soul and the sounds it makes is LOVE……

In His Word, we read about people making decisions to follow God — or not follow God — for various reasons, and each of these decisions have a ripple effect.

Sometimes, God lets it go, and other times, depending on the threat of His People, we see an ending to their ripple effect.

We see God move quickly. and most times we don’t understand, because we don’t know all of the consequences, but God does. So, keep that in mind as we go along.

In The Book of Acts, chapter 5, the brand new Church is like the pond being refreshed and energized by The Holy Spirit.

It contains the delicate spiritual nutrients to give a healthy Church balance within a dying world.

Jesus promised The Church in Acts chapter 1, that if He went away, and He did in fact go away, that He would send the Comforter, the promised Holy Spirit, the Gift.

When you sit upon The LORD and wait, the gift — or His Spirit — will come resonate within you. This is a powerful experience when we finally come to accept and allow The Holy Spirit to move within us.

Whether God’s Gift presents himself in the form of cloud (Job 26:9) or a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12) an image or vision, His Presence bring feelings or ripples of His Love to our hearts.

In Acts Chapter 2, The Church was baptized in The Holy Spirit and they were empowered and taken to whole new level in The Spirit.

They could be identified as people filled with The Spirit, because they had great Love for others, and their Church.

They were not shy in sharing The Gospel, and even saw an increase in their ministry abilities because of their boldness of Faith. These folks were able to do things they never even dreamed they could do!

In Acts chapter 4, they kind of run into their first spiritual road block. Their government says, “You can’t share in Jesus’ name.”

They didn’t give up! They got together for a Prayer Meeting. Asking for help, they said, “God help us to be bold. Fill us with boldness, so that we’ll be able to do what we need to do.”

Then in Acts 4:31 we read,

“After the prayer, the building where they were meeting shook and they were all filled with The Holy Spirit. They preached God’s message with boldness.”

God answered their prayer by filling them with The Holy Spirit.

May I point out, this is the same group who were filled with The Holy Spirit the first time back in Chapter 2, and now they’re filled with The Holy Spirit again in chapter 4?

Why? Because they were leaky.

You see, the whole concept of “being filled with The Holy Spirit,” is not a one-time experience!

I was filled in 1990. I got the full-deal, I was good to go! I couldn’t stop smiling for days. Nope, no, no, we must continually ask to be filled by The Holy Spirit.

Citizens, don’t be fooled, we all require refills.

How often do we hear people say, “I was baptized by The Holy Spirit.” Let us ask, “Do these people show evidence of being spirit-filled?”

“Spirit filled,” is a place where one understands The Gospel, even the hidden things. The evidence of God’s Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Kindness, Long-suffering…

You know, the fruits of the Spirit, because that’s what being “Spirit-filled,” looks like!

To be honest, it’s not something we can maintain in our flesh.

This is the battle each of us must face daily.

We are all born outside the Presence of God, in a fallen land, and we must journey to find our way back to God.

To access the fruits of the Garden of Eden, we must continually seek to be filled by His Spirit, by soaking in His Presence. His Gift is given and we are filled!

Let’s get back to the Book of Acts chapter 4, where the Spirit-filled Church is described in verse 32,

“All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own. They shared everything.”

The characteristics of Spirit-filled is Unity, or having one heart and mind of Christ.

The Church’s attitude was, we own nothing, and we are just stewards that God has trusted. They couldn’t be stopped, they were on Fire for God!

Wait, is there a ripple turning up in chapter 5, verse 1,

“But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. And his wife agreed to this deception.”

So, Ananias and Sapphira get caught up in the moment, because everybody is loving one another and sharing their stuff. Even Barnabas sells some land, so they decide to sell their land too.

But they get scared, and what happens when we are fearful? We make decisions outside God. We read, “Listen, let’s give part of the money to the church.”

Then Peter says,

“Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to The Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?”

We witness one of The Gifts of The Holy Spirit at work here. There is a whole list of Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians, and one of them is “a word of knowledge”. A word of knowledge is where you get information that you couldn’t otherwise have had or known in most cases.

The Holy Spirit drops a thought or word within us for a specific purpose and this is what, evidentially is happening here to Ananias.

“As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died.” Acts 5:5

Wow! “Everyone who heard about it was terrified.”

Look at the next part of 5, “Everyone who heard about it was terrified.” I would be terrified too if I just witnessed a death right there in Church!

What about you?

Then moving Verse 6,

“Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, ’Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?’” Acts 5:6

Don’t you want to say to her, “Be careful, don’t lie for your husband, because there is no submission clause that requires a wife to lie for her husband”? But it was her pride. AND this time it cost her life.

God says, “I know the plans that I have for you. They’re good plans. They’re plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

His Plans are for each one of us.

The Book of Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to abundantly provide for you. I don’t think this couple believed that, or they would have given all the land money to The Church.

God has great plans for you.

Do you believe it? I DO!

If we actually believe God has plans for us, we give Him permission to work in and through us. His Plans are more abundant than you or I can ever imagine.

What are they? I don’t know, but I do know that He does and when you seek Him, He shares His Plans with us.

I also know that our sin will short circuit the ripple of The Holy Spirit in your life.

This is the symbolism here with this couple not giving all the land to God’s Church!

If you are having trouble communing with God, then you are not being honest with yourself. Oh our deceiving hearts! There is land within your heart that you have not given to God.

Are keeping this land for yourself? Has it been stolen by Ahab or Jezebel?

When we quietly seek the presence of God, we enter through a calm energy that is a balanced interaction between The Holy Spirit and God causing a ripple to form within us to reveal land(s) that needs our attention! Destroying all the little gods and demons, freeing you forever….

In this place, God’s Love and intentions are revealed. The Spirit realm moves in the opposite direction of our worlds motion, so it’s very important to get quiet and commune with The Father.

The world’s ripple moves us away from God — not closer.

The bigger deal in the story of Acts, is that God Judges!

Is it too harsh? Not if you know our Father wants the best for us! Our sin short-circuits the work of The Holy Spirit, keeping us outside His presence and garden.

In this Church, Ananias is/ was being dishonest. He throws a stone into The Church Pond, and it forms a rogue ripple that goes out to threaten the delicate balance of the very first Spirit-filled Church of that day.

God had big plans for that Church.

God has big plans for you as a believer!

So the best way to describe The Ripple Effect, is by different waves moving at different speeds. Those waves with a lot of energy, move more quickly.

One way energy can move around, is by forming more waves, creating a current which will carry energy and power. When we enter The Presence of God, there is a current or wavelength, that begins to operate.

The more we do it, the more waves are created providing more ripples of Love and Revelation — until we are His Walking Epistle!

I just watched this beautiful woman of God named Kathrine Kuhlman. She oozed The Holy Spirit. She must have spent hours soaking in His Ripple of Love to carry His Glory and to be a conduit for The Father’s healing and miracle ministry.

If you want this type of ministry, It can be yours! God places our desires within our hearts and its up to us to decide whether we will pursue them!

If I can be transparent, The Spirit of God is so heavy on me right now. There is a characteristic of being Spirit-filled — He comes over you like an envelop for either direction or correction.

It can be felt or heard within us, but if we do not lean into it….. we enter into what is called a hardened heart and death of our spirit! Unbelief begins to form…. The Apostle Paul calls it a calloused heart.

The enemy of our soul convinces us of our righteousness and suddenly God is distant and we can’t enter His Presence.

Somebody told me once — the seeds of destruction are in the very beginning of dishonesty.

So, let’s be careful. What kind of foundation are we building? It was a crucial time for The Church, and God would not allow this couple in . . . because their hearts were filled with Satan. Their sin would have introduced competition and selfishness!

But God would not allow it — it’s a Ripple Effect that would have meant a Church filled with deception, competition and selfishness, that was normally characterized by Generosity and Unity!

Where would their ripple of deceit go ……. and what would it do?

Competition, disunity and selfishness are toxic to any community. That’s why Ephesians 4:3, says,

“Do your best to maintain the unity of The Spirit by the means of the bonds of peace.”

God dealt with it swiftly and severely. Is that really fair? He sacrificed the one for the many.

Citizens, we are the new hope of the world. The world is dying.

Jesus comes and He dies. He says, “I’m going to establish a group of people who are filled with The Holy Spirit, who will restore what is wrong in the world.

They will bring back what is right… not just in The Church, but in every area of society I want them to impact.”

Romans 6:23 says this, “For the wages of sin is death.” It’s always true. The pay off for sin — for Ananias and Sapphira, it was immediate . . BAM! They’re dead!

For you and me it’s a slow death, but it’s just as terminal.

Our sin kills. . . by destroying our relationships, work places, friendships, communities, finances and even churches. It destroys people.

The wages of sin is death.

But here is the good news,

“But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD.” Romans 6:23

That’s why we need to be filled with The Holy Spirit.

Remember, if you’re not filled with The Holy Spirit, you’re going to be filled with something, right? And it’s not God!

Be honest and quick to forgive. God sees everything — you aren’t fooling Him.

We can’t be filled by God’s Spirit, if we are filled with dishonesty and sin.

So we need to take time and Pray consistently — everyday!

Sit quietly, turn off your phone, lock your door and turn away from the world and seek God just like the first church, “God help us to be bold. Fill us with boldness, so that we’ll be able to do what we need to do. Come Holy Spirit come.”

Once you begin, you won’t look back.

We don’t want to be filled with anything, but the Spirit of God.

Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

What did God do for you when you repented of sin… He forgot it!

I heard a Pastor once say that during his sermon he heard The Holy Spirit say, “Do you know the past of the this lady sitting in the front row?”

And the Pastor replied, “No.” The Holy Spirit said, “Good, Neither do I, let her know her past has been forgotten.”

This is what we need to do for our brothers and sisters. When we restore a brother or sister that’s in sin, and they repent, we don’t bring it up anymore. It’s over. It’s done. We move on.

It may take several tries to actually enter His Waters, but His Ripple affect of Love in your life will change your life, your relationships, and your health.

My Hope and Prayer is that our forgiveness becomes the defining characteristic of our lives!

What if we looked at ourselves and said,

“I don’t want the work of The Holy Spirit to be short-circuited in me.

Whatever that has drawn me away from God’s Presence …. let it be revealed.

Beginning each day with a repentive heart and repent regularly, as often as every hour.”

What if we did that?

I think God would begin to move and do great things in our lives and the lives of those among us.

In fact, I know. Because He has done things for me and through me, that I could never imagine or even ask!

We shall be like Solomon, in 2 Chronicles 4 where God says, “Build My Temple and I will give you anything you ask for…..”

We read that Solomon asks for wisdom and understanding not wealth, so he can be a good leader for God’s People. And because he did not ask for wealth, God gave him Wisdom and Understanding, and made Solomon abundantly rich beyond Solomon’s understanding. Read it for yourself — it’s true.

Do you see the symbolism for our lives?

God wants this for each of us. Build Him a Temple within yourself, and He will provide for you abundantly.

Let’s Pray:

 

Shalom
~ Angela Reese

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Angela is the owner of “Fruits of His Vine” website, to encourage and equip those still in wandering, or in captivity, to find our Savior in His Holy Tabernacle.

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