I Was Caught In A Riptide

When I was filled with the Holy Spirit, and knew the difference between being full of myself and full of the Spirit, I saw a radical change in my life. I was not going it alone anymore, I had this Almighty Friend who was traveling everywhere with me.

He became my guide, my teacher, my empowerment, my comfort, my faith builder, and He told me when I erred or sinned. His powerful yet gentle love for me is what stirred my inner conviction to want to make course corrections. As I matured in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, I knew I didn’t want to quench His presence in me.

I have had friends who gave up on me, and those who didn’t want to travel this dangerous journey with me, but the Holy Spirit will never leave me.

I remember being caught in a riptide in San Diego, and I was being pulled out further into the ocean. The orange lifeguard vehicles who were racing to launch a rescue, grew smaller in the distance. My family anxiously waited for the team to get into the water. I cried out to the Lord to help me! Then it happened; it was as though the hand of God lifted me up and set me on a wave that began pushing me back toward the beach.

I will never forget the feeling of panic, and then the sense of the Spirit’s intervention in saving me that day. He is my eternal companion, and though I fail a thousand times over, He cannot fail me. He is my forever friend.

Pastor Mike

Santa Cruz Lighthouse, CA