711-1 Touched by Yah!
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
My life started in a Christian home. My parents were Pentecostal, Spirit-filled, passionate people who loved Jesus. My dad would always cry when he sang worship songs until the day he died. I have never known what it is like not to believe in our Father in Heaven and His Messiah. I walked by blind faith for many years which does work. I just knew and believed He was real. Oftentimes, after dinner, I would run outside in the back-40 and talk to Him like I would a friend for hours. Even though, I couldn’t really hear Him talking to me, I knew He was there. I could just feel Him. He gave me comfort going through many life struggles.
As a young girl, I would study prophecy with my dad. We would pour over Revelation, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These books were so fascinating to me. For my eighteenth birthday, my parents gave me a Strong’s Concordance of the Bible. I was able to look up the underlying Greek and Hebrew words!
It certainly was a lot more time consuming to do a word study then. When I read the Word, I typically stayed in the New Testament. Most of the Old Testament was foreign to me. Even though it was written in English, I just didn’t understand it. However, I knew all the stories about the patriarchs. Every time I would read about Joseph, I would cry especially when he revealed himself to his brothers.
My dad challenged the prophetic narrative at the time and was teaching people that there was no rapture supported by Scripture. He would show me the Scriptures he used to base his conclusions and I could see what he saw. Over 50 years ago, he was in a very small minority of people who believed this way. Now, there are large numbers who see the same things he saw back then. He taught me to question leadership and to search for the evidence in the Word of our Father. I had no idea that these would be foundational lessons in my journey with Him.
My mom is a really sweet lady. We live together now. I would like to say that I take care of her but the reality is that we take care of each other. She used to call me “Dinah” like the “Dinah Shore Show” who was the “Oprah” in that era. My mom said “Dinah” was the Hebrew version of my name. At the time, I didn’t like it very much. Little did I know that our Father in Heaven would later give me this same name.
Now, I look back with fondness when my mother would call me “Dinah”. I think she inherently knew something that I didn’t at the time. The Hebrew name is spelled with letter “dalet, yod, nun and hey”. Hebrew is read right to left which is the opposite direction in the English language. Here is my name:
HNYD
In Hebrew it is pronounced “Dee-nah”. My English name is “Dianna”, but now, I prefer my Hebrew name. It is funny how things like that happen in one’s life.
There was a significant turning point in my life in 1982.
As a teenager, I had a rebellious period against my parent’s authority and was a party-girl. I had some rough moments growing up. At 16, I recommitted my life to Jesus. I started telling all my friends about him. I had read the following passage from the Prophet Dani’El many times. I wanted to be the one mentioned in this passage that turned many to righteousness. It says they would shine as the stars forever and ever. I had no idea what this meant at the time. I just knew I wanted to help Yah do this!
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
So, I was busy turning people to righteousness in my own way! One friend in particular was asking some deep questions. I had never led anyone to the Lord before. I decided that we should go to church. We sat in the back-row. I kept looking over at my friend, hoping he would be moved by the pastor’s sermon. Nope, he was stone-cold. At the end of the service, they were having a church picnic with games, a water-balloon fight, food and a baptism. I thought to myself, this might be the way to help my friend find Jesus.
My sister and I stopped by our home to pick-up extra clothes just in case we got wet with the water balloon fight. Of course, we got totally saturated from head-to-toe. It was so much fun! Then, the time had come for the water baptism. My sister and I changed our clothes and went down to the lake to watch. It was very moving to see people commit their life to our Father and Messiah. After the last person was baptized, the minister asked if there was anyone else who wanted to be baptized today.
At that moment, I felt this powerful force come upon me. My whole body was on fire and my heart was nearly beating out of my chest. I knew Yah wanted me to go down there and get baptized. My dad’s words were ringing in my head, “If Yah wants you to do something, you better do it!” I took the first step and then I felt Him moving my legs all the way down to the water’s edge. I was crying, shaking and emotional. I told the minister that I wanted to be baptized. He asked if I knew Jesus and I gave him a hearty answer, “Yes, I know him!”
He asked me if there was anything I wanted to declare. I turned towards the people and said, “I love Jesus with my whole heart! I love him so much! I give my life to him!” And then, he baptized me. My friend was in shock. I had just changed my clothes. I had no intention of getting baptized that day. I think my actions left a much greater impression on him than anything else done that day. This event happened on August 22, 1982. It is a day that I will never forget. I felt the power of the Almighty’s Set-apart Spirit. It was not me. I felt another Entity enter my body and I knew it was Him. He felt so good. He filled the hole in my broken heart.
One of the ladies in the crowd took this picture of me being baptized. She had given it to me the following Sunday. I have kept this picture with me since that time because it is a reminder of that amazing experience when I was touched by Yah. I remember every detail. That day I felt His Spirit and knew He was real and very powerful. He revealed Himself to me and I am eternally grateful for this moment.
My friend did not give his life to Jesus that day. However, I know why all these events happened that day. Yah wanted me to be baptized. It wasn’t about my friend that day. Yah had a plan of His own. This experience changed my life forever. I knew without a doubt that He was and is real! August 22, 1982 is a day more significant to me than the day of my physical birth.
On that day, I experienced the same thing the disciples experienced in the following passage. It says the Set-apart Spirit of Yahuah was like cloven tongues of fire.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
There was another Spirit occupying my body and it was a fire just like it says in this passage! This Spirit made my legs move. It caused me to shake and tremble. My own experience is a witness to me that these words are true in Acts 2:1-3. I had this experience knowing and calling Him, “God”. I had this experience knowing and calling our Messiah, “Jesus”. This was just a significant moment in the beginning of my journey with Him. He has progressively revealed more and more of Himself to me over the years and continues to do so to this very day.
