Puff, puff, pass!

“Hey you! Take a hit of this stuff”, I hear from behind as I feel a tap on my shoulder.
 
I turn around and a few thoughts run through my mind:
 
“Take a hit of that? Yeah right.”
“Should I even consider this with so many people in the room?”
“What will happen if I take a hit? I don't know what's in it. I’m legit nervous.”
“I might lose control and I don’t like the idea of that.”
 
As I contemplate my decision, I look around and see that a few other people have given in to the offer.
 
“What is this stuff being passed around,” I ponder. I am having a hard time grasping what is happening in the room. I have done my fair share of toking up but I have never acted like these people.
 
“Why are they yelling?” “Why are they crying?” “Why are they falling down?”
 
I remember my curious nature from college and how it led to experimenting with number of different drugs. Old feelings start to surface…those feelings where the fear of the unknown is staring me right in the face. It’s kind of exhilarating to be honest.
 
“WHAT IS IN THIS STUFF”, my curiosity screams! It looks different than anything I’ve ever tried. I can’t pass this up, can I?
 
At this point I know I am about to take a hit. My old rebellious and curious nature has won over. Just like in college — I don’t care what people think. I don’t care who is looking. This is it. I open my hands, reach out for it and take a huge inhale.
 
That’s when the Holy Spirit CHANGED my life.
 
As I breathe in I can feel years of guilt and personal struggles shoot up and out of my body and soul. I want more. I take another huge hit and feel joy and peace rain down on me like a heavy monsoon. Wow. Chills shoot up my arms and I reach out as high and as wide as I can.
 
Freedom. Complete and total freedom. I look around the room and see chains falling off of everybody. What is this feeling? For the first time in my life I feel the Holy Spirit in my soul. My soul no longer dwells inside of me. I just breathed in the Spirit of Papa. I start bawling uncontrollably as the Spirit overwhelms me. My arms can’t reach high or wide enough … I am wholly consumed. I am NEW!
_____________________________________________________________________
 
Ezekial 36:26 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
 
I didn’t realize it until I started writing this blog that I was saved that night! I completely let go on Wednesday October 19^th, 2011. I went through confirmation when I was young but this was a different kind of saving. Saving that, in an instant, changed how I prayed and worshipped. Saving that, in an instant, brought me complete and total freedom. Saving that, in an instant, took me from miles away to sitting in Papa's lap.
 
After allowing God to breathe His spirit into me I now pray with conviction. I pray healing upon people. I prophesy. I hear the voice of God. I worship with abandon. My hands go up. I dance. I have fun! I feel other people’s joy and pain. I cry. I laugh. I give out hugs like they are going out of style. 
 
I think back to when I was without an intimate relationship with God, when smoking a joint seemed like such a good escape. I would think, this plant is a natural gift from God so no big deal. What I failed to realize is that I have free access to the ultimate gift from God … His Spirit. Now I’m addicted to the Holy Spirit and nothing can ever give me the high and freedom in my soul that He does.
 
I’m going to steal some words from Michael Hindes that sum up what has consumed my mind since that night. “Any environment I’m involved in from now on, I want to be Spirit-led. Minus the Spirit, things are mostly academic, superficial, passionless, and just plain boring.  The Spirit spices things up because it’s unpredictable, unexplainable, and often uncontrollable. Where the Spirit is released, the atmosphere is charged with heavy doses of joy and peace. So why would we do anything at all without the Spirit?”
 
So I’m tapping you on the shoulder and saying, “Hey you! Take a hit of this stuff.” The power of the Holy Spirit is real. Papa is waiting to exhale His spirit into you. Breathe it in. When you experience it, though, share the love and don’t sit on it … puff, puff pass baby!

Follow and support Justin at Justinorr.theworldrace.org! Thanks for reading!
-AAMC