BACKGROUND
After the initial infilling of God's Spirit into my life, something amazing happened within my heart - overnight! But first, a little background.

Nearly ten years before the first miracle, I had become a thief. I started stealing little things here and there. Overtime, this thievery grew to the point where in my teens I began breaking into homes with a screwdriver and an awl. I felt no guilt, remorse, or shame for my actions. Additionally, I had never been caught - or even suspected!

MIRACLE #1

Then, the event with the tongues happened and all of a sudden, with the infilling of His Spirit within me, I became a new man in Christ as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]."

MIRACLE #2

Here's where the next miracle took place. I got up the next morning, ready to begin my day, and that's when the Spirit inside of me gave me new thoughts, feelings, and direction. I had an unction to do the following:

• Humble myself! Go back to everyone I stole from, confess what I did, and offer to repay them four-fold!

• Humble myself even more. Go back to everyone I was cruel and mean to and apologize!

So, that's what I did. I went to my parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, teachers, and everyone I stole from. I confessed what I did, asked for forgiveness, and promised to repay them.

Was it humbling? Yes. Was it embarrassing? Yes. However, with His Spirit, a newfound joy, peace, and confidence, it didn't feel as hard as it could have. It was very uncomfortable at times because some people responded very negatively to my confession of thievery (e.g., the neighbor who treated me well but yet I broke into his house while he was mowing his lawn and stole something personal, etc..). Looking back on it now, I am thankful no one called the police or had me arrested!

NOTE: No one told or taught me to do these things. I did them because I had an unction within me - something that led me to do them. I write this because when I've shared this experience with others in the past, some have remarked, "Oh, you probably had heard a bible study on this topic recently and that's why you chose to do them." Nope! Here's the timeline:

1. I went to church that Sunday evening at 6pm. The sermon was on baptism, its meaning, purpose, and importance in our lives.

2. I was baptized at 9pm.

3. Shortly after I came out of the water was when the tongues began.

4. I got home around 11pm that night.

5. I got up at 6am the next morning, ready to begin my day and that's when the unctions - deep within - first arrived.

TAKEAWAYS
Looking back, I have three (3) takeaways:

1. Though tongues may or may not appear in a person's life, God's Spirit always leads a New Believer to change their heart, mind and life to draw nearer to Him. This change involves helping the person to become more like Him in speech and action (i.e., godliness and holiness).

2. The signature move of God's Spirit being activated in a person's life is always "humility." ALWAYS! Yes, there's also peace, joy, confidence, and sometimes boldness, but all of us get humbled as we begin to draw nearer to Him!

3. I am thankful the church culture in which I came to know Christ taught me how to pray and how to SEEK AFTER GOD! I write this because I hear of many Christians who were only taught to "ACCEPT the free gift of salvation. You're now a Christian and go with God." And while it's true we are saved by grace through faith, it's also true that salvation is just a starting point - like pre-school or kindergarten. What comes next - and I do mean immediately following the point of time of salvation - is sanctification. This is where we continue to pursue after God to draw nearer to Him and become more like Him in word and deed. It is also where we begin to learn about godliness and holiness. I am thankful I was taught this!

So, what happened to my desires to steal? They went away after my baptism! Since that glorious day, I have not had one thought or one temptation to steal anything from anyone. For that, I am truly thankful! Now, some might call that miracle #2 but I didn't notice this until later in my life!

I hope this article has been insightful, and that you have learned something of value. My prayer is that it will stimulate thought and maybe a handful of you will email and ask me how to seek and draw nearer to God! If you have questions or comments, feel free to email me here.

Thank you for your time.

In His Name,

Roy