A Unique Encounter at the Beach. We didn’t see it coming

Last weekend was special for a group of ladies as we camped beside the beach at the Buffalo Lake Campground for a three-day retreat.

As we spread over the band of Buffalo Beach early in the morning on Sunday, the glory of God descended into our midst. The calmness and coolness of the morning blended with the sunrise and gentle waves of the oceanic river. We began to prepare our minds in the presence of our God. Initially, everyone was left alone to commune with God. We had the place to ourselves, and everyone started their business with God.

After some time, we came together and entered God’s presence with thanksgiving, singing deep songs of inspiration and pulling out our requests from the songs. In worship, we gradually connected with the throne of God as we sang:

“When I come into Your presence, I’m so happy. When I come into Your presence, I’m so glad. In Your presence, there is anointing as Your Spirit moves among us. In Your presence, the anointing breaks the yoke.”

Christ was greatly lifted in our hearts as we gently felt the rising of the sun over the endless water. We exalted our dear heavenly Father, professing His authority over the land, heaven, and people, while we sang:

“Be exalted, oh God, above the heavens. Let Thy glory be over all the earth. Be exalted, oh God, above the heavens. Let Thy glory be over all the earth.”

We stretched our hands over the water as a point of contact to the rest of the world and lifted our hands unto heaven, declaring the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ. This took us deeper into the presence of our heavenly Father. We declared Him Lord over our lives, homes, work, ministry, business, health, careers, children—everything—as we sang:

“He is Lord, He has risen from the dead, and He is Lord. Every knee shall bow (every contrary knee in our life, home, community, nation must bow before Jesus), and every tongue confesses Jesus is Lord.”

As this was going on, the glory of heaven and the power of God descended upon us like a mighty rushing wind, and people began to prophesy. This is something that doesn’t happen frequently. The presence of God was brought down, and we all felt it.

A pastor recently preached that when God shows up in our lives, it is because He wants to do something. And that was exactly what happened. We have no doubt something had happened in the life of every participant. There were different testimonies after the program, too

A normally gentle-speaking daughter of God was taken over by the Spirit of God, and her voice changed significantly as she declared a message from God. Another daughter of Zion was also taken over by a deep impression from God, uniquely filled with God’s message. The surprising thing was that both ladies carried the same message, which I paraphrase: ‘Get into the words, read them, meditate upon them, live them out, for that is where your victory lies.’

One of the ladies recounted her experience: “As we were worshiping, I felt a very strong hand on me;  my request before the Lord  before we started was for God to visit me/us(encounter and not participation), I had a visitation when the hand touched me; for healing , breakthrough,  victory, an  end  to struggle. Bountiful testimony ahead.
the song we were singing then was that the chain is broken, and we’ve been set free….” Sis Folu

Someone said she had been suffering from panic attacks for a long time, but she did not have an attack throughout the meeting as she felt the touch of God upon her.

Coincidentally, while I was doing my quiet time this morning just before writing this article, the same message jumped out from the Book of Luke 10:25-28. A lawyer had asked Jesus what he must do to inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus simply referred him to the written words. He asked him how he had been reading the written words. When the lawyer confirmed that he had been reading the laws, Jesus told him to go put into practice what he had read so he may live. It is not enough to read the scripture; we must put it to use in our lives.

Repetition is for emphasis. It is clear that God is calling us to read His words diligently so that we may live and be victorious in all our ways. This is how we can know the mind of God on every issue of our lives. There is power and authority in the written words of God. We can derive energy from it, which the enemy can not stand against because they are fiery. That is why the enemy will do anything possible to keep us away from reading and studying our Bible.

For some, the enemy keeps them distracted from the words; for others, they become too familiar with the words and begin to take God’s words for granted. For some, the enemy plants fear and lie in their hearts, making them feel that following God’s words will keep them in bondage. For others, they are too occupied with tight schedules to spare time to hear from God through His words.

While some of us can spend hours scrolling on our phones, watching our favorite movies, or chatting, we can’t tolerate a prolonged message from our pastor. How much of God do we have in us, and how much of His words influence our day-to-day activities? If we refuse the way of God and His counsel, we will have no choice but to accept the other ways, by imposition or ignorantly. Since those other ways don’t bring lasting solutions, frustration usually ensues. That is why God is calling us back to the source of peace and victory.

Are we having challenges in our marriage? We must go back to the Bible. Find out what God says about marriage and stick to it. It is good to read books, seek counseling, discipline ourselves, and have determination, but “Except the Lord build the house, those who labor, labor in vain.” Is anyone having issues with their children, health, career, ministry, church leadership, finances, etc.? Try going back to the Bible tol get wisdom and grace that overcome the world and the challenges it brings our way.

Let’s get back to the words because that is where our strength, victory, success, and power lie.