For those who attended the June 20 Awaken Tampa Bay meeting, you know that we had a wonderful move of God. It was our first meeting where live worship lead us into the presence of the Lord, and we had a powerful teaching by a strong man of God, Bobby Wilmot. Those who attended also know that a true miracle of God occurred with the healing of a brother’s eyesight.

First, I want to be very clear that I do not believe that a miracle which occurs in any service “justifies” that ministry as more closely aligned with God than any other. We cannot look to the works of our Lord as justification for the works of man or the meetings that we organize. At the same time, however, I consider this miracle to have special significance given the amount of activity of the Spirit that we are currently experiencing. This is why I’ve chosen to write this special update.

As stated, the worship was live for the first time, and was extremely anointed. God’s presence could be felt in the room very strongly. Near the end of the worship, a young man approached me and said the Lord had just shared with him “physical healing”, and he felt that the Lord was saying there was to be physical healing to occur in the meeting that night. When he told me this, I didn’t get the impression that we were to stop the worship or go into a healing call. It was a different expression. I did not know what to do with this Word when I couldn’t discern any additional direction to take. I prayed and felt the only thing we were to do was to wait on the Lord.

Within a few minutes, the worship stopped, and Bobby began to preach. His teaching was anointed and powerful, speaking on the love that God has for us. About 20 minutes later I happened to be in the back of the room, when my good friend Eddie came and asked me to go out into the atrium. When we went there, he broke down and was crying, having a hard time talking. I continued to ask him what was the matter, and he was finally able to explain what had just occurred. While sitting in the teaching next to his wife, he heard the Lord tell him that he was to read the Word more. This had special significance to him because of his recent discussions with his wife about his inability to do so on a regular basis. The problem he had was that his eyesight was so bad for so many years, that he had been unable to read his bible at night during his daily quiet time. He was nearly legally blind in one eye and the other was so bad that he was unable to read anything without his glasses either far away or even within 6 inches of his face. Reading at night was so difficult that it was essentially impossible to do so. His vision problems required him to wear very powerful trifocal glasses to be able to function.

After hearing the Word from God to read his bible more, Eddie responded with an agreement that he would like to, but acknowledgement that his eyesight was too bad to do so. He then took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again and looked around, his eyesight was immediately clear enough to read the words on the Powerpoint overhead and the banners on the room’s walls! Out in the atrium amid the emotions, he explained that his eyesight was approximately 65% better instantly. I went and got our brother who received the Word from the Lord about “physical healing”, who then prayed for complete restoration of Eddie’s eyesight. By the end of the night, his eyesight was estimated to be 75% improved. Now 10 days later, Eddie is no longer wearing glasses throughout the day at work and is only putting them on to read. He is headed to the eye doctor to get new glasses with less powerful lenses for reading only. No doubt we have had a medically verified miracle occur in this last meeting! Praise God in all His glory for His love for us!

While it is not the first time we have had a miracle of healing occur in one of our meetings, of special significance is the manner in which the healing occurred. No one prayed for him to be healed, not even Eddie himself. He testified that he has never in his life prayed that his eyesight would be restored. And yet God chose to touch his eyes and heal them instantly. The healing occurred during the teaching following very anointed worship. It must be said the presence of God Himself healed our brother’s eyesight during the powerful teaching. Clearly it is God every time who does the healing, but our experience has shown us most healings occur while someone is praying for another or him/herself and then God moves in a healing. Additionally, God could have healed Eddie's eyesight anywhere at any time. There is also significance in the fact that the healing occurred at the meeting. We are given testimonies to prove the power of God is real, to advance the faith of believers, and create faith in non-believers. I firmly believe this healing is a sign to us all that we are just beginning to experience the power of the presence of God when a multitude of believers gather and seek His face.

If we turn back to the outpouring which occurred in Lakeland, FL in 2008, some of the most noteworthy occurrences were the healings which occurred just in the presence of God. The innumerable cases where no one even laid hands on or prayed for individuals, yet God’s power provided countless healings throughout the many months of those meetings. “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall” (Malachi 4:2). While we do not liken what has happened to the Lakeland outpouring, there is doubtless, yet unexplainable, significance in the manner in which Eddie received his healing that night.

Another significant point of the June 20 meeting that I need to point out was those in attendance who came from many areas of the city. Due to the number of people who wanted to hear our teacher that night, many new faces were in the room to hear him give the Word. While that certainly wasn’t unexpected, what was interesting was that many of those in the meeting came for different reasons, invited by different people, yet seemingly all knowing one another from various places, meetings, churches, prayer groups, etc. As the greetings continued before the meeting, it was obvious something very special was occurring. I can hardly explain what we felt that night, other than there was a sovereign move of God beginning to stir. Many people were brought together who had ties to one another, yet lacking significant relationships. It was almost as if everyone in the room knew each other, yet no one knew the other was going to be there that night. What we were certain of was that God had brought us all together, and it was no coincidence. "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people” (Micah 2:12).

There is a move beginning to take place in Tampa Bay and in many other areas throughout the country. The righteous and justified in Christ are taking note, and rising with a boldness and power that has yet to be fully released throughout the entire body of Christ. Many of these are young adults, tired of religion and wanting all of what God has to offer those who love Him. In the Tampa area, we are noticing small groups and pockets of believers who are gathering in His name and seeking His presence without personal agendas or sidetracked intentions. The purity of their yearning is bringing about an overfilling of the Spirit within. “What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted” (Proverbs 10:24).

It is not about church, or religion, or bragging rights, but instead is about the unending love of God. Once we can begin to grasp the depths to which God loves us, we can never be the same again. Once we are touched by His Spirit and the gifts begin to flow from our hands and prophetic words are uttered by our lips, life has such utterly new meaning that focus on worldly possessions and personal advancement becomes essentially impossible. Hundreds and likely thousands of people throughout our area are beginning to hear this from our Lord, and are heeding His voice and taking steps along His path.

We believe the calling which God has placed upon us to awaken this region for Jesus Christ is coming into reality. While we are clearly in the early stages of His movement, the birth pangs can be felt and the excitement is growing. Only God knows what is in store for us in the coming months, but the anticipation is surely enough to keep us on our knees, praying that His perfect will be done in us and through us for the advancement of His kingdom here on earth.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, July 18 where we will have worship lead by Jordan Deal, one of the worship leaders at MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, SC. Please pray diligently that God continues to pour out His Spirit among us! God Bless You.

- Geoff

Meeting Location:
New Beginnings Fellowship - Main Sanctuary
3457 W. Kenyon Ave., Tampa, FL 33614