“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father IS NOT IN HIM. For all that is in the world—the lust [to desire what is forbidden] of the FLESH, the lust of the EYES, and the PRIDE of life—is NOT OF THE FATHER but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who DOES the will of God ABIDES FOREVER.” (1 John 2:15-17)
Because of so many wonderful godly “interruptions” (at the age of 29), in my journey, I wanted to share just a little more. After the Lord so wonderfully saved me He began to give me inspiration to get as close to Him as I could. That desire became very strong as the Kirkland Church just started a wonderful revival. I was on my face at the altar each night seeking the Holy Spirit. People around me were being filled and I would hear them speak in “tongues” and would notice the pure Joy on their faces. It made me so desirous to be filled but my “engineering” mind was trying to understand how it would happen, instead of just letting it happen.
The next weekend was our Youth Convention in Yakima, Washington. I stayed in a room with Tim (who now was my friend). And we began to talk about all the wonderful miraculous things God could do and it just hit me, we were not able to explain how God does awesome things, He is God and He just does what He does. “O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God; YOU DO SUCH WONDERFUL THINGS! You planned them long ago, and now you have ACCOMPLISHED THEM, just as you said!” (Isaiah 25:1)
We decided to go to bed, I went into the bathroom and was just sitting there staring at the wall. I said, “Lord, I don’t want to understand anything I just want to be filled with your spirit!” For the next hour or so I prayed in a beautiful unknown tongue and cried and then prayed even more intently. A few weeks later I was laying on the floor crying out to God about what He wanted me to do and I had what I can only describe as a “vision” I was standing on a road looking down in a valley, filled with trees and I began to preach to these trees. Now this was a surprise for me because I had a real problem with getting up in front of people and speaking with out a little help from “Jack Daniels”, which I was no longer using. My desire now was doing the will of God and abiding with Him FOREVER!
-Bill Stockham