AFTER THESE ENCOUNTERS, WHAT NEXT?

I’d like to backtrack a little bit before the Retreat;

When we were preparing for this year’s Retreat and God kept saying I will do bigger things than I’ve done before and then I looked back to our previous Retreat testimonies, I kept asking God, what do you want to do that will top these things we’ve seen before? How will they happen?

I tried to think of it but my mind could not just come up with anything. So instead, I focused on the words we kept getting.

Readying myself for a surprise “as usual”. As usual, because there’s never been a Retreat that God doesn’t surprise me. My mouth literally opens and stays like that, in awe every Retreat.

But then we got to the Retreat and even I who was expecting to be surprised was taken aback by how God moved.

To say that God surprised me is an understatement. I still don’t have the right word for what we experienced. 

I have seen visions of God before o! 

But I saw God at that Retreat in a way I’ve never.

We literally hosted God for hours. At some point, it felt like time had stopped on earth. I saw a move of the spirit I had never seen before.

I was telling a friend that we didn’t raise any prayer point at the retreat, we didn’t bring out our prayer requests at all.

Who goes to a mountain and forgets to ask/pray? Only a man who met with God directly instead!

The testimonies that have come from a Retreat where we didn’t even pray prayer points have been mind-blowing, and they are still flowing.

But most importantly, something shifted in us last week. I can boldly say that no man left the same way they came. I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me that they keep singing Heaven’s “Hallelujah song” since we got back.

There’s really not been a night I slept without hearing the song, finding myself at the Retreat or in Heaven, and it’s been the same for most people I’ve spoken to since the Retreat.

The question now has been “How do we maintain these things?”

How do we stay here?

What do we do after encounters like this?

“Oh PRemz, I danced with God and angels and it keeps coming back. I don’t know what to do”

“I keep feeling fire all around me whenever I close my eyes”

“I can’t stop singing and praying”

After Heavenly Encounters, WHAT NEXT?

1. Never Forget

I think this is one of the major things the enemy uses. He banks on our ability to get busy and forget. But you see, we can’t have that kind of experience with God and forget it.

I think about the Retreat every day because somehow I am still living it.

My room has literally felt strange since we got back.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits:” Psalm 103:2

You may say that “I can never forget what God did for me”. I know you truly do not want to forget but you will forget if you are not intentional with it. Study shows that your memory of an event is your last memory of it, and your last memory of any event can be influenced by the surrounding factor of the current timeframe of that memory.

Let me break it down.

If something happened to you in 2008, the memory you have of it now is not exactly as it happened in 2008. It is as you remembered it the last time before now. So if you thought about it last in 2010, your brain picks up the archive from 2010 and not 2008. The less often you think about an event/the less often your memory of an event is, the higher your chances of having a watered-down memory of that event. Your brain automatically begins to lose tiny bits of information gradually.

So if you were wearing a blue dress with earrings and red shoes to an event in 2008 and you gave a speech, you will most likely remember the speech word for word after the event, plus what you wore.

But if you totally forget or don’t think/talk about it until 2012, you are likely to have forgotten certain details. You may forget that you wore earrings and red shoes. You may also rephrase your speech when talking about it.

What then happens is, it is this version of the event that you remember in 2012 that now becomes your new version of what happened.

It becomes your new memory of it but not a completely true memory because certain details have been left out. Your brain has taken in new information and distorted that old one since it’s not been in use.

For some people, they even start questioning what happened and how it happened 

“Did I really look beautiful?”

“Was my earring fine?”

Why? Because they dared to forget. After experiences like this, you must make it a point of duty not to forget.

So how do we move from here?

Write down your experiences. Don’t leave out any detail. Write it down like you are gisting somebody.

If you want to take it a notch higher, do a video recording telling yourself what happened at the retreat.

Detail everything you saw.

And read those things often. For every time you go back to read, your memory of that event is updated exactly as it is. Meaning, you can’t forget. And with that kind of experience, when it stays in your memory fresh, it has the ability to birth itself 

Life situations do not easily distract you from it.

So first things first, write down your retreat experience so the devil doesn’t come to tell you tomorrow that what you experienced is not true. 

“Did God really say?”

“Did God really do?”

“Maybe I’m over imagining”

See I’ve been here before and I am telling you that documentation is a key to not forgetting.

If you’ve not started, start now. What happened to me at the Retreat? What were the changes I felt in my life immediately after and during? What has been the impact of it?

Write it down and remind yourself often.

 

2. There is no normal to return to

Now that you’ve noted down your experiences, I need you to know that you have no normal to return to. It is why everything around you feels strange. It is why your cravings during this period are like you should go back to the retreat.

When we experience things like this, don’t see it as a one-off experience and then wait till the next retreat next year. Your body is already telling you that it experienced something better and it loves it.

It is why your sleep and daytime are littered with thoughts of these encounters. Your routine will change, and this has to be deliberate. 

Don’t try to force your old routine back, accept that something truly changed and you truly have no normal to return to.

There is a new normal for you.

Explore your options and do life inside this new normal.

The reason most people have encounters and slip back is that they do not embrace the change these encounters bring. It is disruption o. You may not 100% enjoy or understand it at first but It is your key to sustaining what you received.

So, look at your old normal. Does it truly fit into what you experienced? Be honest with yourself.

So allow God to create a new normal for you, first by being willing to let go of your old routine.

It’s a new season for you, things will change.

Embrace it all.

 

3. Stay Connected to your community

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. Acts of the Apostles 2:42 

Every believer was faithfully devoted to following the teachings of the apostles. Their hearts were mutually linked to one another, sharing communion and coming. They devoted themselves to fellowship. They were mutually linked to one another!

On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Acts 2:1 TPT

All together in one place. 

When God is about to pour out His fire on a generation, one pattern you notice is that people begin to gather together. The disciples gathered first and then people joined them.

The Azusa street revival broke out in a gathering. In fact, people gathered non-stop for 3 years. Day and night!

Nehemiah 8:1 all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the lord had given for Israel to obey.

Nehemiah 8:2 So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand.

Nehemiah 8:3 He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law.

Nehemiah 8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. To his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. To his left stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

Nehemiah 8:5 Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet.

Nehemiah 8:6 Then Ezra praised the lord, the great God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the lord with their faces to the ground.

Nehemiah 8:7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—then instructed the people in the Law while everyone remained in their places.

Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage.

 

“So all the Israelites met together in the seventh month of the year. They were united and in complete agreement. They all met together in the open place in front of the Water Gate. All the people asked Ezra the teacher to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to the Israelites.” Nehemiah 8:1 ERV

Even in the Old Testament, as the children of Isreal were turned from their old life of captivity, they understood that something has changed.

A new life has begun 

And what was their response?

They began to gather in Unity, they demanded that Ezra teach them.

They were not coming to gloss over their old life or look back, they demanded for the word and told Ezra to bring out the book of the law, and then the Levites began to break it down to everyone.

They did this in togetherness.

Same as the New Testament, everyone stayed glued to the community.

I need us to know that we live in an environment that is hostile to these experiences we had. To keep in the flow of what you received, stay connected to the people you received it with. Live life together with them.

See, there are some things that happened at the retreat that people who didn’t attend can not grasp except by the spirit.

The disciples did not stop, none of them despised the community.

God doesn’t want you isolated

Stay connected!

In that breath, start marking your calendars for our first physical meeting after the Retreat. Date is November 11.

Divine encounters bring a desire for corporate gatherings. How many of us have missed our new friends at the Retreat?

4. Press in; Have a Spiritual meal plan and stick to it righteously

What is released by the Spirit can only be sustained by the Spirit.

Apart from corporate gatherings, you MUST fan the flames personally. It is non-negotiable.

What is your devotional life like?

For those that don’t know what A Spiritual Meal Plan is,

When you are trying to add weight, you start eating certain food.

You create a timetable so you can meet up with the calories needed.

It’s the same as adding weight spiritually.

Let me tell you this: If you don’t eat, you will die eventually.

You will first start losing weight, looking malnourished.

Then kwashiorkor sets in and before you know it the person dries up.

Their body is not working as it should, then one day, they just die.

Nobody can survive without food forever.

It’s the same as you.

You must eat spiritually.

Apart from corporate prayers, you must have time to pray alone. 

You don’t have to start big, if it is 15 minutes you can do, start from there.

Fix a permanent time to it daily.

You know the way we build timetables in secondary school?

Write it out in that manner, and paste it all around you.

Set your alarms;

First period (morning)

30 minutes in the worship and prayer

Second period (Afternoon)

Stay in the word 

Third period (night)

Prayers

Put specific time o. Don’t just put morning and night. Be specific. And fix the time permanently.

Study has it that when you do something consistently for 14 to 21 days at the same time, your body automatically adjusts to it. If I wake up every day at exactly 6:30am with an alarm and I don’t miss it.

After the 21st day, I will automatically wake up even if my alarm doesn’t ring.

Why? My body adjusts to it

So when fixing your prayer time, fix at a time you won’t miss. Be strict. No gisting at that time. 

No Netflix.

Do it until your body knows that a new sheriff is in town and behaves accordingly.

Word Alive has a study plan for weekdays. We also recommend books and devotionals from time to time.

If you don’t know where to start in terms of study, this is perfect. Follow the daily Bible readings. 

We are currently doing by books in the Bible.

Study and share

Don’t wait for people to come and share.

This part is a secret 

If you are learning something, start teaching it from the little you know. It increases your knowledge.

So don’t say you don’t know. Don’t be shy. 

As you study, share with others. Talk about the Bible with others. I love discussing scriptures a lot.

There are days I call my friends in excitement. You will think I won the lottery but it’s that the Holy Spirit just showed me something in scripture.

Let the word of God excite you. Let prayer as communion excite you!

 

5. Spiritual Diet

It’s the same way that you need meal plan to add weight that some of us need to lose weight spiritually.

If you are carrying baggage, you can’t move fast, Identify the baggage you need to let go off.

Cut down on everything that is adding unhealthy weight and baggage to your life.

Add fasting to it. You can do it once a week.

It doesn’t even have to be food.

For some of us, it is phones we need to fast; reduce our social media time and channel it to God.

Reduce your movie and gist time.

Identify your excesses and unhealthy weight, then cut them off by dieting spiritually.

Anything you have an unhealthy attachment to. They don’t even have to be bad. If you are too attached to them than God, cut them off.

Reduce it.

Sometimes what you are even attached to is work for God.

Ministry, activities, etc.

Identify and adjust where necessary

Are we good on this?

Peter preached to them and warned them with these words: “Be rescued from the wayward and perverse culture of this world!” Acts 2:40 TPT

Detach from the culture of the world!

In verse 37, the people had asked Peter after experiencing such a heavy downpour, What Shall we do?

Peter responded that they be saved but it didn’t stop there. For the encounters they experienced to continue, they need to detach from the values and culture of the world. They had to log out.

Stop going to places the Holy Spirit will not go. This is a fresh start for you

Declutter.

God will not do this part for you. 

He will help you o, but you must take that first step. The places they will see you before? 

Make a commitment to start staying away. You have a new normal.

 

7. Finally, Walk in the spirit

“So I tell you, live the way the Spirit leads you. Then you will not do the evil things your sinful self wants.” Galatians 5:16 ERV

 

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 NKJV

 

“But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).” Galatians 5:16 AMPC

Be responsive 

Be controlled

Be guided by the Spirit

Allow yourself be led

Obey when He speaks

We cannot say this is the move of the Spirit and then move outside Him. What the Spirit starts, only the Spirit can sustain

Allow Him!

I will stop here tonight.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to share. I believe we’ve been blessed.

Let us pray

Our Father we thank You for Your word,

Thank you for what you have started in and with us.

Help us to continue in these things, help us to not lose sight of you.

We put these things you’ve taught us tonight to use. Our lives are better for it 

Help us Holy Spirit

Thank you, Lord

In the name of Jesus, we pray these things 

Amen.