PRAYERS

Welcome to this site. My prayer is that you take a look at the site and as you do, let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and reveal what God wants you to discover. (in Jesus' name)

God tells us that if we see a brother (or sister) in need we should do that which is within our means to help. Prayer is always within our means but we never know what doors Father may open through them. Should you desire prayer for anything (healing, direction, etc.) or if you want supportive prayer along with your own please feel free to e-mail that request to sharbu3@gmail.com and be assured that there are others who will be praying with or for you.


In this blog, I share what the Lord shares with me. I reference scripture a lot in support of what is being said. I realize that what is in each entry is NOT a complete 'word' (discussion) on what is being said, but is rather enough information to stimulate our spirits to dig deeper (remember the Bereans Acts 17:10-11) thereby gaining a fuller understanding for ourselves.

At the end of each post are the options to share, forward or make a comment. Click 'comment' to respond. Let us know if you like, don't like or are helped by what you read. Comments can be made or read by anyone. All you have to do is select the "comment" at he end of the entry.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

11-25-2017         The First Night



The bible says that Jesus tells the Pharisees and scribes, as a sing for who He is, that a wicked and adulterous generation shall be given only the sign of Jonah.  What was the sign of Jonah?  The Son of man shall be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Math. 12:39-40). 

I’ve often thought about that and even though, no matter how many times I counted the days and nights I always came up with three and two, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then Friday night and Saturday night.  But the bible said three days and three nights, so I always accepted it.

Jesus was crucified and buried on the first day (Friday) , before six P.M. (the end of the Jewish day).  Technically He was in the tomb all day Saturday (depending on when you consider that He descended into hell to show himself to all those who had died before His time) but when the two Mary’s went to the tomb Sunday Morning (after six A.M.) the grave was empty.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three days!  Because I figured this part out (“all on my own”) I disregarded the fact that I couldn’t account for a third night. 

God DOES NOT lie!  Even considering discrepancies in translating from original languages into English, God would not allow translators to make such a stupid mistake in addition.  Yet, because “I” couldn’t figure it out, I just accepted it.

Now, don’t start getting concerned and thinking the bible contains a flat out lie.  Understand how days and night were counted back then.  A day was from six A.M. to six P.M., a night was considered from six P.M. to six A.M.  Each day and night consisted of four three hour watches (6-9, 9-12, 12-3 & 3-6).  That was how the Romans saw it and in Jesus’ day, and that’s how the Israelites observed it.  After all, it WAS the Romans who guarded the tomb, wasn’t it? 

Now, let’s take a look at the events beginning with the empty tomb (resurrection of Jesus) on Sunday (day after the Sabbath) back to Friday, the crucifixion and burial of Jesus (day before the Sabbath).
The women went to the grave, even though early (Luke 24:1-3), it was after daybreak (although Matt. 28:1 reads “as it began to dawn’), sometime after six A.M. on Sunday and found the empty tomb.  The third day was already in progress.  Jesus’ body lay in the tomb all day Saturday, the second day.  And of course, Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, from six P.M. Friday to six P.M. Saturday.  The Jews told the Romans that the Jewish dead had to be buried before the Sabbath.  So Jesus’s body was buried before six P.M. Friday, when the Jewish Sabbath began. Therefore the day Jesus was crucified and buried was the first day. So Friday is the first day, Saturday the second and Sunday, the first day of week was the third.  Any problems?  I think that most Christians would flow with this rationale.

Okay, three ‘days’ and ‘three’ nights.  I always counted Friday night the first night and Saturday the second.  My mistake.

Saturday night was the third night and even though Friday night was the beginning of the Sabbath, it was the second night.  I hear all the “Whoa!  Whoas!”  Give an attentive ear just a little longer.

I mentioned the “nights” and the “watches” for a reason.
When did Jesus and the disciples observe the Passover?  Friday?  No.  Jesus was before the Jewish leadership and Pilate on Friday until they set Him upon the cross.  So, they observed thee Passover the day before, Thursday.  It was Thursday night (after six P.M.) that Jesus took His disciples up to the mount to pray.  It was Thursday night, after (6 PM) during the night watches that Peter swore he would never deny Jesus.  It was sometime Thursday night (after 6 PM), during the night watches (sometime between 6 P.M. and 3 A.M.), the disciples couldn’t watch with Jesus for even an hour.  It was sometime during the watches Thursday night that Jesus wrestled with going to the cross and fully yielding Himself (in the flesh) to Father.  “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.  

Nevertheless not as I will, but as You will. (Matt. 26:39)” and again He prayed ”Oh, my Father, if 
this cup may not pass away from me, except that I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matt. 26:42).  Jesus prayed this prayer a third time (Matt. 26:44) and by this time Judas had returned with the soldiers and the mob to get Jesus, probably sometime during the third or fourth watch of the night.  All those scholars may pinpoint this into the fourth watch (3-6 AM).

When Jesus spoke the words “Your will be done”, He had already set His heart to the cross.  He had already determined in His heart to do the Father’s will.  He had fully determined NOT to renege on why He had come into this world.  Jesus was obedient to the Father and we know that as we are obedient, Father will give us our heart’s desire (Psalms 37:4) and Jesus’ desire was to give himself for us (John 10:17-18).  Jesus’ desire was to save us from eternal death, so He had already determined to die for us (Rom. 10:9).

David prays to the Lord “You have proved my heart, You have visited me in the night.  You have tried me and found nothing.  I will not sin against you with my mouth (Psalms 17:3).  God looks at our heart.  Consider Jesus says if a man looks upon a woman and lusts after her, he has already committed adultery, even though the physical act was not consummated (done) (Matt. 5:28).  Father searches our hearts and tries us, then rewards us accordingly (Jer. 17:10) for He knows our hearts (Acts 1:24).  When we are tempted, we are drawn away by our own lusts.  When lust is conceived (considered, determined to do) it brings sin, then death (James 1:14-15).  Even though we mention sin here, this also works when we determine to do good.  Once we’ve determined to do something, it’s considered done – in God’s eyes because He sees our hearts.  Once Jesus had prayed on the mount, yielding to Father, He had already determined to go to the cross – for our sake.  It was a done deal.  Technically (if you will), though not physically, Jesus was already in the grave

It’s still night for they came for Jesus before dawn, before six A.M.  Again, probably sometime during the fourth watch (3 AM to 6 AM).  So before the first day has even started, before all the trial and crucifixion, Jesus had determined to die for us.  Have you heard the expression a man might say when he knows death is impending, “I’m already a dead man”?  He wasn’t literally dead at the moment, but that moment was impending. 

Though, not literally, Jesus had already died for us, in His heart.  Though not literally in the grave, in His heart, He had already gone to the grave - for us.

When I say “this is the first night” that’s only for in this world.  Jesus had determined from the foundation of the world to die for our sins, our iniquities, our transgressions.  For when Father told the serpent, in the garden “You shall bruise His heel but He shall bruise your head.”  Jesus had already determined to go to the cross for us because in shedding His blood there, though Satan might look like he had a victory (at the cross), Jesus would crush Satan’s power and authority over us – forever (Gen. 3:15) through the cross.

When God created time, He first created night and then day. Therefore, a Jewish day begins with the night beforehand ( 6 PM). While a day in the secular calendar begins and ends at midnight, a Jewish day goes from nightfall to nightfall (Gen. 1:1-3 & http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/526873/jewish/The-Jewish-Day.htm). 

The first “night” was Thursday night, before the Passover because Jesus (in the natural) had already determined His actions.  And remember what Passover was. 
The angel of death passed over the houses protected by the blood of the lamb as he took out the first born in all of Egypt. 

So for us, three nights would be Thursday night (after 6:00 PM), Jesus had already determined to go to the cross, Friday night and Saturday night until 6:00 AM Sunday, “laying in state in the tomb” (if you will).

So, though I thought there may have been some error, the bible was not in error.  My understanding was. 

Now some may argue what I’ve just said and that’s their prerogative (choice), but I’m a happy camper because Father has given me an understanding.

Amen?


Sunday, November 12, 2017

11-11-2017 Five Fold Ministry

today's church

The first time I heard of the five-fold ministry was about five or six years ago.  I had been at my current church for a year or a little more at that time and our pastor brought it up at one of the bible studies. 

Now, I had read the New Testament a number of times by then and the Paul’s letters a few more times but never connected to the list in Ephesians chapter four with anything other than a list of gifts.  But at this bible study it clicked.  Father said “I want you to learn about this for it is important.”  And he gave me the tasks to learn about some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11).  Having been saved in a mainstream church I was very familiar with the pastor, teacher and evangelist.  I mean all churches had a pastor and some even one or two associate pastors as well.  Sunday School?  The pastor didn’t teach it all.  And it seems that always once a year we had an evangelist come in and preach a revival.  I also knew that Jesus named the twelve ‘apostles’ and later Paul declared himself an apostle (1 Corinth. 9:1-2). 

After leaving the mainstream churches and travelling through several Pentecostal/full gospel denominations I also became familiar with the prophet.  They were the guys (or gals) who could come in to visit, say they saw sickness or problems in certain lives then asking those individuals involved to come up for prayer and to be healed.  But, I never heard anyone speak of an apostle nor saw one (that I know of).  So after the pastor’s exposure and what Father subsequently showed me, a few years ago, was an eye opener.

Over the past several years, I’ve encountered a number of people professing each of these offices and not a few claiming apostleship.  Now, I don’t get around a whole lot so this is in a reasonably contained area, just a few surrounding states, travelling less than two hundred miles in any direction. 
We know that there is one body, one Spirit and we are called in one hope.  There is one Father who is above all, connects all and in all and every one of us  has a measure of faith to operate in the gift given by Christ… when He was ascended He gave gifts to men… that He might fill all things (Eph. 4:4-10).    

These five gifts are all ministries so it’s important to follow up verse eleven with the next five verses.  For the perfecting of the saints, the working of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ, until all have come into the unity of faith (same page), the knowledge of the Son of God, to become a perfect man who measures up to the standards of the fullness of Christ.  That we are no longer children, tossed to and fro by with every wind of doctrine which men present us with trickery, cunning or craftiness, with which they try to trick us.  But we, speaking in truth in love, may grow into all things through Christ Jesus who is our head.  So the whole body will be properly placed together as one unit which each of us supplying a  part, according to the measure given each of us so the body can grow and be edified within itself, in love (Eph. 4:12-16).

In short, each office in this list is designed to help bring the body of Christ to where we live in God’s love, not influenced by the world, so each member can help the whole body grow to its fullest in Christ Jesus by applying God’s love through the gifts.

The early church was quickly swayed by both inside and outside influences.  Paul persuades timothy not to listen to people (in the church) who don’t know what they are talking about and who encourage people to follow them.  Paul reminds Timothy that the law is to reveal the sin of sinners and so he should ignore the stories and genealogies he was hearing (1 Tim. 1-11).  Then Paul encourages Timothy to hold fast to the doctrines he learned from Paul, not being swayed by what he was hearing from other sources (2 Tim. 1-14).     

So, we need to know the original gospel of Jesus Christ so we can identify vain janglings and falsehoods that may come our way.  John encourages us to try the spirits to see if they are of God.  If a spirit confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, it is of God.  If it doesn’t confess Jesus, it is not of God but of the anti-Christ.  The world doesn’t hear God but we are of God so we do (or should) so we can know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error (1 John 4:1-6). 

I mention all this because I’ve read much on the church’s pros and cons on the five-fold ministry, why some of the offices are readily accepted and some aren’t.  Sooooo.  I would like to share some of what Father has shared with me.

First and foremost, each of these ministries is a “service” ministry (.  They serve the body, not the other way around.  They aren’t just a quick, easy way to make ‘easy’ money to make a name for oneself.  Each position is called of God and must meet Father’s ministerial requirements: have a good reputation, wisdom, and full of the Holy Ghost (Acts 6:1-6),  and be blameless, vigilant, sober, good conduct, hospitable, apt to teach, not given to wine, not quarrelsome, not desiring illicit gain, patient, not a brawler, not covetous,  with one wife and rules his house well and serious (about his faith) and speaks what he means 1 Tim. 3:1-12).

It is a “calling”.  We don’t just wake up one morning and decide we want to be an apostle, or a pastor or a teacher.  If we do and we study, we go out in our own strength, that’s exactly what we do, serve in our own strength, which leads to heartache and problems.  WE need to hear and follow the leading of the Holy Ghost (John 16:13).  God called Samuel and later Samuel went out in God’s strength as a judge of Israel (1 Sam. 3:1-10, 20).  He was called and sent.  And don’t forget John the Baptist who would be great in the sight of the Lord … and filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb to be the greatest prophet (Matt. 1:15, Luke 7:28).   Both examples of those called and sent from on High.

There a few other qualities that are common to these positions I’d like to mention.  The people in these position need to have a solid foundation in Jesus Christ (Matt. 7:24-27), the fruit of the Spirit should be evident in their lives (Gal. 5:22-23), they should be led by the spirit (Ga. 5:13-16, 18), how can they teach scripture if they don’t know it (Acts 18:25-26) and they need to renew their minds (Rom. 12:1-2).  They should also be an example of their own teaching (John 13:13-15, Matt. 5:19) and 1 Corinth. 2:13).  They should teach in faith and in truth (1 Tim. 2:7) and they should respect everyone (1 Tim. 6:12) giving preference to no one (Rom. 2:11).  Also, for ALL who believe, there shall be signs following, casting out devils, speaking in tongues, healing the sick and not being hurt by things that may attack us (Mark 16:16-18, Acts 28:1-5 ).

I’m going to visit the list of these positions in reverse order as given in Ephesians eleven, adding a few more qualities or characteristics.

The teacher

A teacher should desire to impart knowledge to others so they can understand what the bible says (1 Corinth. 14:19, Acts 8:26-39) and eventually learn for themselves (Acts 17:10-12).

The pastor

The pastor is the shepherd (Isa. 40:11) of his flock (church).  From the pulpit, he has to address the full congregation so he brings a deeper understanding of the word, helping his flock to apply it into their own lives (Ezek. 34:22-23).  He also can provide individual counsel to meet specific needs (Gen. 18:13-16). 

The pastor should also not be a novice (1 Corinth. 3:1-4) and have outgrown the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21).

As he desires to lead the people he should first be a servant (Matt. 20:26-28), protect the church (1 Sam. 17:36), edify, exhort and comfort (1 Corinth. 14:3) and admonish it (Heb. 12:6).           

He also serves as the CEO (Acts 6:1-7) of the church.  He organizes by setting up help (Exod. 18:17-24) and keeping the house of God in order (1 Corinth. 14:33).  He doesn’t necessarily control but monitors the church finances (Matt. 25:14-30).  A good CEO knows what’s going on in his realm of influence.  He also performs ceremonial duties for the church like weddings, funerals, baptism, etc. as generally practiced in today’s churches.

Evangelist

The evangelist brings the “good news” of Jesus Christ, that is the words that bring souls into the kingdom of God, salvation (Isa. 52:7).

A good evangelist must be a truly humble man (James 4:10) for who will listen to a proud man?  He must speak the gospel in boldness not fearing the results (Acts 6:8, 7:1-60 Stephen).  He must understand his audience (Acts 13:14-31).

He brings the gospel because God loves us.  We as believers then receive salvation (John 3:16) and Power (Acts 1:8) which leads to our resurrection (John 11:25).  In preaching the word, he needs to protect the true doctrine (Titus 2:1-15) as he carries the word to the people (Matt. 28:18-20).  Remembering he needs to admonish, exhort and comfort (1 Corinth. 14:23, Heb. 12:6).

Prophet

The prophet speaks under divine inspiration.  He brings words of encouragement to help souls, individually or collectively, stay in God’s grace or press forward or he revels that which is necessary to draw souls back into God’s fold.

 He speaks what God gives him (Jer. 1:9, Mark 13:11).   He is called by God (2 Tim. 1:6-11) and operates in wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinth. 12:7-8).  He edifies and doesn’t grieve the Holy Ghost (Eph. 4:29-30).  He mentors and trains others to follow (1 Sam. 2:11, Prov. 22:6, Matt. 4:18-20). 

He is tentative to God’s word and knows God’s voice and desires to encourage others to stay the right path and/to reach their fullest potential (Matt. 7:13-14).
The prophet also knows his audience (Act 17:16-31) for he is the ‘mouthpiece’, spokesman, for God (I Sam. 9:9, 9:15-20).  He is a watchman (Ezek. 3:16-22) who also exhorts, edifies and comforts (1 Corinth. 14:3) and prays for others (Col. 8-11).

The Apostle

Apostle means “one sent”, by God to initiate or reform the church.  The apostle brings a clear understanding of salvation, how souls should live for Christ and he establishes a church so that it functions in God’s love.

The apostle also speaks with boldness (Acts 6:8, 7:1-60) and operates in wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinth. 12:7-8).  He needs to be able to recognize God’s gift in others (1 Corinth. 2:9-16).  He, especially, needs to be called of God (Mark 3:13-19 the 12, Acts 9:1-18 Paul) for the responsibility of the task.

He needs to understand who God is, what our relationship is with Him, how to live in Him and to relate that with others. 

He does everything that everyone else does and has to be able to train (as necessary) and help others to do the same.  He must be prepared to travel for God (Acts 13:1-4 Paul & Barnabas).  He has the authority to appoint church leadership (Acts 14:19-23), at least he (the apostle) is the only one, other than Jesus who seems to do so.  Not forgetting that Peter had those in Antioch appoint their leaders to help (Acts 6:1-6). 

The apostle lays the foundation for personal lives and the lives of the church (1 Corinth. 3:9-15, Col. 2:6-7) for the twelve apostles are the foundation in the New Jerusalem in heaven (Rev. 21:9-14).

Now, some arguments

First, I’m not aware of anyone who argues the final three positions mentioned in Ephesians Four: evangelist, pastor and teacher except I do hear here is “pastor and teachers’ are combined into one position ‘pastors/teachers’ because a comma is used after each apostle, prophet and evangelist and the word ‘and’ separates pastor and teacher implying a dual ‘responsibility’.  The argument is that this is a combined office, the same person cannot teach all the Sunday School classes at one time!  So, we need more than one teacher to cover all the bases so it would stand to reason teacher stands separate because we need more than one.   Even though the pastor must be inclined to teach as well.

Now, I’m familiar with two basic arguments which seem to argue the validity of two offices, in particular,  of the five-fold ministries , the apostle and the prophet. 

1) Jesus named twelve as apostles (Luke 6:13-16) Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon Zelotes, James, the brother of John and Judas Iscariot.  The argument I’ve heard is that because Jesus named only these twelve as apostles, these men are the only true apostles.  Now remember that Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot (Act 1:16-26) to be among the original twelve. 

Now, if these are the only apostles, the first conflict is Paul (Saul) who calls himself an apostle (Rom. 1:1).  Paul declares himself equal to the chiefest apostles (most likely the twelve) for he worked signs and wonders in the Corinthians presence (2 Corinth. 12:11-12) OR, this statement could be an allusion to other apostles other than the ‘original’ twelve.  Paul tells the Romans to salute Andronicus and Junia … who are of note among the apostles … (Rom 16:7).  Were these noted by Peter and the other apostles or were they apostles themselves or did mighty things to the twelve’s witness?  The biggest argument for apostles, other than the twelve, is Ephesians 4:11 itself.  The implication here is that these offices, all five, are given for the church’s continued growth – through the ages.    We read where Peter and the apostles were commanded to go into all the world with the gospel (Mat. 28:19-20, Acts 1:8).  If these apostles were the only ones who could establish the church, why would they need Paul?  The twelve apostles were for Israel as Paul was specified for the Gentiles.  Jesus Himself anointed Paul (Acts 9:15), thus allowing him into the list of apostles.  

Understand, Judas Iscariot died about the same time of the crucifixion, Paul between 64-67 AD (depending on who you read) and all the rest of the apostles had been martyred by about 74 AD, save John who was believed to have died a natural death about 95 AD.  Obviously, they had not gone into all the world (they  travelled by foot, or at best donkey) at this time to preach the gospel, so if there were no more apostles, who would establish new churches in other areas?  That’s what an apostle does.  Establish churches!  Surely, if apostles ended with the original twelve and Paul why would he imply (in his letters) that these five gifts would continue on?  I personally feel that if any of these offices were to end with the original apostles, they all would have.  But all five are needed for the church to function properly.  Yes, we have missionaries who start new churches is other countries, but aren’t they, in effect being apostles in performing this task?  Yes, we encourage each other, yet the prophet encourages individuals and the church.  I speak for myself, there are times I need to hear from God.  I hear from prophets today and I hear from God myself.   Rejecting apostles and prophets, we readily accept the other three.  But, are any of these offices truly not needed?

2) When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away with (1 Corinth.13:8-12).  The question here is “What is the perfect?”  I’ve heard that it’s the creeds, the bible and spiritual maturity or maybe, could it be just maybe, our true maturity comes when Jesus calls us home?  For surely, at that time there will be no more discussion about who is right or who “knows” what God really meant.  Jesus, Himself, will clear up all the issues.  

The creed originated with the old Roman Creed, dating from sometime in the second century, the Apostle’s Creed, attributed to the apostles but not referenced until the late forth century is generally accepted but, the church gives preference to the Niocene Creed, also dating from the late fourth century (325 and 381), the Chalcedonian Creed dates from the mid fifth century or the Athanasian Creed dating from the mid sixth century.  The church generally consideres what is called the Niocene Creed which was considered ‘finalized’ in Chalcedon in 451 AD.  Too many creeds, some more complete than others but still man’s rendition of what we believe.  Which one do we really abide by?  
Which one of these perfect?
The bible?  Which version.  The first complete bible the church first used was the Latin Vulgate, finalized by Jerome in 405 AD.  It was based on the Greek Septuagint (the Hebrew bible written in Greek for Pharaoh Ptolemy’s library in Alexandria, Egypt) and the Greek New Testament writings available in Jerome’s time.  John Wycliffe produced an English translation of the Latin Vulgate about 1382 AD, which led to more attempts at an English translation, even before King James (1611 & 1639).  The 1611 edition included the arguable “apocrypha”, the 1639 edition did not. Which would be the perfect edition?  From King James through today how many translations/versions of the English bible do we have today?  Which is truly the perfect translaltion?  They all have some variances.  If the bible were ‘perfect’ why hasn’t Christianity settled on only one version as ‘absolutely the perfect bible’?

The five gifts are given for the perfecting of the saints, work of the ministry, edifying of the body until we become unified in faith in the knowledge of Jesus to a perfect man … (Eph. 4:12-13).  If these gifts are given to help us become ‘the perfect’, that perfectness cannot be handed down from generation to generation unless there is someone to continue to promote it.  There must be someone to guide each generation into understanding.  If any of the gifts are no longer needed, that implies that we are already living in a perfect world in Christ Jesus.  Yeah!  Right!  When do we really become perfect?  I know that I won’t be until I’m with Jesus in person.  My flesh keeps getting in the way here in this life (Rom. 8:21-25).  By the grace of God, my life may be improving each passing year but until I’m with Jesus???  Not there yet!

So, I contend that all these gifts are still necessary for the church to function properly.  None of them have passed away or ceased to operate or to be acknowledged or at least shouldn’t have. 
How many churches do you see where all these gifts are in full operation?  How many churches can we find which have no problems.  Why did Paul write his letters?  As he wrote to each church “I praise you for this, but ….”  The churches still had problems.  Read the letters.  And until we are without problems, are we perfect?

Think about it.  Father has given us tools to bring the church into unity.  Not a mega church, but many members working together, in unity, to accomplish HIS will in this world.  We can only affect the realm God gives us, but indeed we should to the best of our ability by seeking how God wants us to serve Him and do just that – affect the world around us to the best of our God-given ability..


Amen? 

Saturday, October 28, 2017

10-28-2017         A Higher Standard
              A Higher Standard                      Love God/Love Others


In the past, a brother (in Christ) frequently complained to me about being held to a double standard.  He said that it always seemed that those around him, friends and brothers in Christ, could do whatever they felt like but always reprimanded him should he step even just a little to the left of God.  Finally, the Holy Ghost had me suggest that maybe it wasn’t these other people holding him to a double standard, but just perhaps, just maybe God was reminding him to hold to His standard???  He immediately rejected that possibility believing that they were trying to make him hold to a standard that even they, themselves,  weren’t willing to keep.  Why couldn’t they treat him just they did others?

I don’t know where he is at with this today, but I do know God does NOT hold us to a ‘double’ standard, but He does hold us to a higher standard.  His standard.  It is up to us to seek and function in that standard.

What is God’s standard?  A couple of hints: God is love (1 John 4:8).  Love is God’s nature.  If we don’t love (to some degree), we don’t know Him, but if we do love, His nature flows through us.  His love us so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that we might have eternal fellowship with Him (John 3:16). 

If this sounds a little familiar, the Pharisees posed a question to Jesus and in His response, Jesus gives us ‘just a subtle little hint’ as to how we should live: “… The Lord our God is one Lord, love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, this is the first commandment and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29-31).”  If you will, one commandment, two directions – up to our Father and out to those around us.  God showed us His ultimate love when Jesus hung on the cross.  There is no greater love than a man give his life for his friends (John 15:13) and Jesus calls us His friends when we are obedient to Him (John 15:14).

Double standard?  No, God calls us to a higher standard.  Because He always has our best interests at heart, living according to His standard glorifies Him in our living and our thinking (1 Corinth. 6:20) and He does that which is good for us (Rom. 8:28).   

Now, understand, God gave Israel the law so they might comprehend something about His love.
The ten commandments reflect Mark twelve passage.  The first four commandments to look up as they define our relationship with the Father: 1. No Gods before Me, 2. No idols to bow down to, 3. Don’t take My name in vain (flippantly) and 4. Keep the Sabbath, it is Holy (take time for Me).  This helps us keep our focus on God so we can abide in His love.

The other six commandments define our attitude towards those around us: 5. Honor mother and father, 6. Don’t murder, 7. Don’t commit adultery, 8. Don’t steal, 9. Don’t lie against your neighbor and 10. Don’t desire what your neighbor has (wife, possessions, etc.).  As we keep this portion of the law, we don’t do things to harm our neighbor and give honor unto whom honor is due (Rom. 13:7).
Father tells us that we shouldn’t judge others because that judgement will come back on us (Matt. 7:1-5).  We need to keep our own house clean and then we may find ourselves not so judgmental.
The woman at the well had been married several times and was currently living with a man not her husband (co-habitation, sound familiar?).  Jesus di not condemn her for her lifestyle, but rather announced Himself as the Messiah to her, and then she ran and told the people in the village and many came out, saw and believed for themselves.  Jesus operated in love and drew many souls into the kingdom because of that (John 4:1-42).

Should we dare mention the woman caught in adultery?  The people brought her to Jesus trying to get His agreement in stoning her.  Jesus showed Father’s love by putting it back on the people “He who is without sin …) and stooped down and drew in the dirt.  The people were convicted and walked away leaving Jesus and the woman.  Jesus asked her if there were none left to accuse her and she replied none.  Having already forgiven her, Jesus gave her a charge “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”  The Son of man has the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:10) and we are commanded to forgive sins so Father will forgive ours (Matt. 6:14).     

Paul spends a lot of time telling us to edify the church (1 Corinth. 14:26).  So we live in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost for in so doing we find ourselves acceptable before God and man and we edify each other (Rom. 14:17-19).

As we learn to live in God’s love we may sit back and evaluate what is going on around us.  The world has gone crazy but Father told us this would happen (Matt. 24:1-51).  Jesus tells us that there will be no peace for the fighting around the world (the Mideast), false prophets will come and go (Jim Jones, David Koresh, Sun Myung Moon, etc.), nature will go bananas, sexual immorality will abound (2 Peter 3:1-10).  Sounds a bit like today, doesn’t it.  Just remember the Apostles looked for Jesus to come back soon (Acts 1:11, OK, maybe not that soon).

Remember the law gave direction on what people “did”, the actions, but going back to the ‘double standard’, Jesus holds us accountable not only for our actions but our thoughts or intents as well (Heb. 4:12).  An example would be actually killing someone and just ‘thinking about it.  Thinking about it is hating and hating someone is the same as killing them  (1 John 3:15).

So Father does not hold us to a double standard, but to a higher standard.  He expects nothing from us which He isn’t already (is).  Yes the world is judged by its actions (Rev. 20:12-15) for their action show their intents.  But Christians may hide their intents from the world and look good on the outside, but not be so good on the inside (Matt. 23:27).  God wants our heart pure (Matt. 5:8) for when the heart is pure, the outside will follow suit (Prov. 27:19).


Amen

Saturday, October 14, 2017

10-14-2017         SEEK YE FIRST

                                                        Looking out over the sea of life

I was talking with several friends the other day and one mentioned all the things they were doing in the church, Sunday School, bible study, special events, youth groups.  All of these things are good, but as they spoke, Father put one thought into my little pea pickin’ brain “But how’s their time with Me?”

Father put on my heart this AM “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33).
Over the years, in every church God has brought me through, it seems that there is always at least one someone who is involved in almost everything the local church does.  Nothing wrong with service in the church but that question hangs in there “How much time do they spend with the Lord?” 

It’s always good to hear a great sermon from the pulpit and/or a good discussion with the Sunday School topic.  Maybe we even go once or twice during the week for a prayer or bible study session.  It’s good we can learn something from these things, but are Sunday Mornings and maybe a couple of hours during the week all we get?  It beats absolutely nothing but just how much time do we spend reading the bible for ourselves letting the Holy Ghost open God’s Word up for us, showing us deeper revelation?  We can learn “things” and “facts” from others and feel like we have a pretty good handle on our faith, but we need more.  We need to let the Holy Ghost open up those deep things of God for us as we read His Word (1 Corinth. 2:10) - personally!

I always remember a story I heard early in my relationship with Father.  The man had a ‘prayer closet’, a place where it was just the Lord and him – alone.  He went into his closet every day for half an hour or so.  The man felt good when he left his closet as life was going well for him and Father enjoyed the time with him.  But as time passed, things would come up and the man couldn’t make it to his closet every day and started shortening the time he did spend.  Eventually he was able to make it only every other day, then every fourth day, once a week.  Time spent shrunk from that half an hour to fifteen minutes to …  well eventually the man was no longer coming into his closet at all.  Life was becoming so ‘busy’, he just didn’t have the time.  He even rationalized that the things he was doing in the church replaced that time in his prayer closet.  More time passed then suddenly it seemed as though the whole bottom fell out of the man’s life.   

After wallowing in his misery for a very long time, one day he just happened to pass by his prayer closet.  He noticed the door slightly ajar and he thought to himself “Hmmm.  My prayer closet.  I used to have some good times in there with the Lord.  Hmmph!  Well gotta go.  things to get done.” 
More time passed and once again he passed the door to the prayer closet.  Things had continually gotten worse and this time he thought to himself “Prayer closet.  Hmmph!  I have half a mind to go on in there and tell God what I think about His abandoning me like He has.  Oops! I’m late.  Better get moving.”  Again, more time passed and the man was becoming very desperate in his situation. 
And yet again he passed the door to his prayer closet.  But this time he thought he heard his name called so he went in.  He stood there looking around the closet and blurted out “God!  Why have you abandoned me like this?  My life is in shambles, almost completely ruined.  I thought You said you would never leave me nor forsake me?  Where have you been?”

As he stood there in defiance, shaking his fist angrily at the Lord, he thought he heard his name again but this time, more than just his name.  A soft but firm voice “Where have I been?  Can you even remember the day you stopped coming in and communing with Me?  Do you remember how busy you’ve become to spend even a few minutes with Me?  Since that last day you came in, I’ve been here waiting for you with the door ajar but you were always too busy to come in.  Yes, you looked at the door a couple of times and once you actually started toopen it, but did you come in?  Your life had become more important than Me and look what you’ve done with that life.  It wasn’t Me who pulled away, my child.  It was you who pulled away from Me.   I’ve been here all along waiting for you to come back.  

The man was convicted in his heart, repented and amazingly he discovered that he was able to find time with the Lord once again.  It wasn’t long before he started making time for his prayer closet and the few minutes he started with started growing.  Was his life repaired immediately?  It took many years for his life to crumble, it had been a process of drawing farther and farther away from the Lord.  Even though Father could make everything right ‘suddenly’, Father knew it would take time for the man to once again yield his life over to Him.  So as the man yielded himself over to the Father, through Jesus Christ, he followed the Holy Spirit’s lead and, after a while, he was once again enjoying God’s presence in his life.  Oh, and yes, Father started blessing the man for his obedience his life did eventually pull back together.

Once we determine to seek God, we find the only way to really discover Him is to yield to Him
So how do we yield to Him?  By repenting and renouncing our wrongdoing, improving the quality and frequency of our communication with Him and becoming more and more familiar with the bible so we become better equipped to repent, communicate and learn who Father really is.

When we originally come to the Lord, we confess our sins (1 John 1:9) and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9).  This, of course, is always the first step in seeking the kingdom of God.  However, once saved, it is too easy to eventually fall into a routine and become comfortable where we are.  Maybe we aren’t taught to do better or maybe we just don’t seem to have the drive to push forward.  Unfortunately, we may come to the decidion that coming to church whenever the doors are open is sufficient.  After all, the pastor always preaches a good sermon at every service.  Maybe we get more bible exposure during Sunday School and there we can even ask questions sometimes.  I feel good when I leave so I’m OK.  Right?  But where is that personal relationship with our heavenly Father?

All too often, moving into a “comfort zone” leads to us slacking off or not reading the bible for ourselves, so much,  so our growth is stunted or so slow a snail meandering through molasses passes us by.

So, even though we’ve been in the church for a while, we feel that something is missing.  It probably is – a real relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
So how do we get on track, or maybe back on track?  It isn’t hard, but it does take discipline.

Repent and renounce our wrong doing

We need to be honest with ourselves about where our relationship with God really is.  That means taking a serious look at discovering any unconfessed sins which may have crept back in since salvation.  If we haven’t been walking with God, we may not even realize what has snuck back in while we weren’t looking so we need to confess those sins and turn away from them (Prov. 28:13), true repentance, so God will blot them out (Acts 3:19) and put them behind His back (Isa. 38:17).
 Incidentally, this is good practice anytime we realize we have sinned so we can keep a clean slate with our Father.   The prophet Nathan brought to King David’s attention his infidelity with Bathsheba, David was convicted in his heart and repented (2 Sam. 12-13).  And don’t forget, when we mess up, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous (1 John 2:1).   

Keeping our slate clean is part of walking daily with the Lord.   Yielding is living for Him

The Holy Ghost teaches and reminds us of the things we need to know (John 14:26) and guides, or leads, us (John 16:13).  So yielding to Jesus is listening to the Holy Ghost and then doing what He says (James 2:18).

We yield to the Father because He has brought us from the destiny of the lake of fire (Rev: 20:12-15) into eternal life through Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:13).

Yielding to Him is living for Jesus and He has laid some guidelines like not putting on a big show for people but doing things because we love God (Matt. 6:1-34).  Whom we serve we yield ourselves to and to whom we yield ourselves to we serve (Matt. 6:24).
 As we acknowledge God in all our ways, He will direct our paths (Prov.; 3:6).

 And as we continue to yield to Him, we should find ourselves rejoicing in Him.  We should find ourselves always in a prayerful attitude and we should be thankful because we would be living in His will (1Thess. 5:16-18).

Increasing our quality of time and the frequency of our communication with Him

God appreciates the “quiet” time He shares with us.  Often Jesus would go off by Himself to a quiet place (Mark 1:35), at times praying all night by (Luke 6:12) and often by Himself (Matt. 14:23).  Father appreciated that “quiet” time with His Son and so He also does with His sons and daughters.
So when we pray with God, we should always maintain that prayerful attitude thanking Him for who He is and what He’s done for us (Col.4:2).

We should pray not just in our own language, but in the Spirit, that heavenly language Father gives us with the Baptism of the Holy Ghost,  being vigilant as we pray (Eph. 6:18). 

We pray in the Spirit for the Spirit intercedes for us when we can’t find the words to say (Rom. 8:26-27) for He compares Spiritual things to spiritual things (1 Corinth. 2:13).

 Father tells us not to neglect being together with other Christians for there is strength in the body (Heb. 10:25).  Where two or more are gathered, He is in the midst (Matt. 18:20).  There is strength in numbers so we should be diligent to spend time with Him not only alone but with our brothers in the Lord, as well.

Read the bible to Increase our knowledge of Him

There are two ways to get to know God better.  Our prayer life and reading the bible so we can better understand who He is and what our relationship should be.  Prayer is a two way street. We pray then God responds and vice versa.  If we are still and quiet when we first sit down, Father may speak first.  But how can we be sure who we are hearing if we don’t who He really is?  When we first meet someone, we learn about them by talking, sharing information about ourselves and receiving information about them.  This is where the bible comes in for it describes God’s nature throughout.  From Genesis to Revelation.  When God speaks in the bible, He reveals His thoughts, His hopes, His plans and His intents for us and He works with us as long as we yield to Him.  If you have a “red letter” bible, read all of Jesus’ quotes and the gospel of John for they reveal a lot concerning the relationship God desires with us.  The bible helps us grow (1 Tim. 3:16). 

When Father prompted Abraham to go to a new place (Gen. 12:1) or gave Moses the law (Exod. 20:1-17), He was revealing Himself to us.  And that’s not to forget the prophets, Psalms and Proverbs and the rest of the Old Testament.  Take a closer look at the letter that Paul and the other disciples wrote.  It all describes the relationship Father desires with us today.

So here’s a quick, partial, synopsis of who God is:

 God is love so if we say we know God, His love should reflect in our lives (1 John 4:7).

We live in His love by keeping His commandments - which are to love (John 15:10).

 Father always was, is and forever shall be, Alpha and Omega (Rev:1:8).
We believe the bible so we believe He is creator of all things (Gen. 1:1 & Col. 1:10-16).

 He is righteous in all His ways – He always does what is right (Psalms 145:17).  Who thinks God is righteous?  Pharaoh when he released Israel from Egypt (Exod. 9:27), Reheboam, king of Israel (2 Chron. 12:5-6), Jesus (John 17:25), Paul (Acts 17:22-31) and the angels of heaven (Rev. 16:5) all declare God righteous.  Even the heavens declare God’s righteousness (Psalms 97:1-6).
 Father is a just God (Isaiah 45:21).

But He desires our complete devotion (1 Corinth. 18:18-22) which can be expressed by our attitude as with Martha’s sister Mary when she sat at Jesus’ feet (Luke 10:38-42).

And when we are disobedient His wrath may come upon us (Eph. 5:6).

 However, He is longsuffering towards us that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

This is why we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7) and should we ‘stumble’ we have Him as an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1).

 And all this doesn’t even scratch the surface.  For He also heals us, provides for us, guides us, comforts us and He will never leave us nor forsake us.  And yet there is more.

So, if we are just starting our relationship with the Lord, or are coming back after an “absence” we need to keep our slate clean by acknowledging, confessing, repenting of and renouncing our part in any sins that may be in our life then receive that forgiveness and forget them – just as God does.
 We need to (re)discover how Father wants us to live, in His love, what that means, then do it.
 This is enhanced through better communication with Him Pray in our own language (with understanding), in the spirit (God’s given language through the baptism of the Holy Ghost), alone and with other Christians.

 And, of course, we need to understand that we are indeed communicating with Father and we gain this knowledge by reading and letting the Holy Spirit bring us to an understanding of what the bible says.

All of this helps us to “SEEK YE FIRST” the kingdom of God and His righteousness so we can receive what He does have for us and live our lives more fully (John 10:10).


Amen

Saturday, September 30, 2017

9-30-2017          Gifts of the Spirit - a New Twist?


1 Corinthians 12:1-13

Now, brothers, concerning Spiritual gifts, I don’t want you ignorant.  Once, being Gentiles, you were once led astray by dumb idols. 

Therefore, I want you to understand that no man calls Jesus accursed when speaking by the Spirit and yet no man can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Ghost. 

Now there are different gifts, but it is by the same Spirit.  And even though they are for different services, they come by the same Lord.  They operate differently, but it is God who works through each of them.

The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit everyone else.

By the Spirit one is given the word of Wisdom, another the word of knowledge, each by the same Spirit.  Another receives faith by the same Spirit and another gifts of healing.  Another receives the working of miracles and another prophecy.  Another receives the discerning of spirits and another different tongues (not acquired naturally), while another the interpretation of tongues

But all these work by the same Spirit, as He divides to each man, individually, as He will.
The body is one, but has many members, but all the members of that body are still one, also as (we are) in Christ.

We are baptized into one body, whether Jew or Gentile, free or bond and we are all made (created) to drink into one Spirit. 

For years I’ve had certain concepts about the “Gifts of the Spirit” and, for the most part, those concepts were good, but incomplete.  Father has opened my heart to a deeper understanding of what the gifts actually are and how they ‘should’ operate. 

Like myself, I’ve known others who have grabbed hold of certain concepts, when we were young in the Lord, of what we thought were indeed biblical truths and dug our heels in when others came in contrary to what we ‘knew’.

Praise the Lord, for those of you who were introduced to the fuller concepts of the Holy Ghost from the time you were first saved.  I venture to say you also, most likely, had someone guiding you on (PTL).

Back in January 2017, I did a teaching in “Gifts and Anointing” and I thought I had a pretty good handle on things back them.  Well enough to do a respectable teaching.  None of my brothers and sisters challenged me back then, not that I was wrong with anything was said, it was just incomplete.
Father has used Kenneth Hagin to open my eyes to a lot of “spiritual things’ recently, so I thank Father for opening my eyes. 

As we see in 1 Corinthians 12:1-13, there are nine spiritual gifts listed.  Now, understand, there are talents (eg. singing, speaking, writing, leadership and other skills) which are also gifts from God, but those gifts are given without repentance.  We don’t have to be saved to have a good singing voice and so forth, but God gives them to us as He wills. The gifts we’re talking about here, though, are Holy Spirit given and driven.  Ergo, the “gifts of the Spirit”.  Now understand that any gift God gives, is given to magnify and glorify His name whether we use it that way nor not actually becomes our choice.

Mr. Hagin breaks the nine gifts into three categories: revelation, power gifts (action) and utterance (speaking).  Revelation includes the word of knowledge, word of wisdom and discerning of spirits.  The power gifts are faith, working of miracles and gifts of healing.  And lastly, the gifts of utterance are prophecy, different tongues and interpretation of tongues.

Paul tells us to covet the best gifts (1 Corinth. 12:31), that it desire them, for there is a ‘key’ gift in each group.  With the group of revelation both the word of knowledge and discerning of spirits are most dependent upon the word of wisdom.  Wisdom reveals how to use God given knowledge and enables us to distinguish the spirits.

Faith is primary with the power gifts because working miracles and gifts of healing are dependent upon our believing God can and will do what we ask.

Prophecy is prime in utterance because it edifies or builds up individuals or the church.   We can prophesy to ourselves or someone else and is usually spoken in the language we know so those who hear it are edified.  But when prophecy or anything is spoken in our heavenly, spiritual language, no one is edified unless there is someone to interpret the word.

Let’s take a look at each of the nine gifts and see how God has intended for them to work for us.  Remember, as we go through the list, the Holy Ghost gives each gift to us individually as He sees fit.  Some gifts may work together, but not necessarily.  But the gifts are given so each of us can help those around us to strengthen and grow in Christ Jesus.

The word of knowledge is basically divine revelation of information or facts, whether past or present, about someone or something but it does not predict future events.  Divine revelation means we don’t have access to the knowledge before the Holy Ghost reveals it to us.  Jesus uses this with the woman at the well (John 4:5-25).  Another example is God sending Ananias to Damascus so Paul can regain his sight (Acts 9:10-12).  Word of knowledge comes in the Old Testament as we see with Samuel telling Saul where his donkeys were (1 Sam. 9:3-20).  The word of knowledge is regularly used for is to purify, comfort, elate (bring joy), recover, reveal or glorify Jesus.

The word of wisdom reveals what God intends to do in a given situation and this would be for a present or future event, whether near or far.  The Holy Ghost reveals the deep things of God (1 Corinth. 2:10).  God reveals to Noah the world’s impending doom (Gen. 6:1-22) and the angel telling Paul that the ship would be lost but all lives would be spared (Acts 27:20-24) are examples as though they give facts, they speak to events which hadn’t yet occurred whereas the word of knowledge speaks to something that has already occurred or is happening ‘now’.

The discerning of spirits is one where Father showed me I had more to understand.  For openers, I always considered this to be the “gift of discernment”.  Discernment is being able to make a right decision about something, which road to take, which shirt to wear, which don’t require heavenly intervention, but wouldn’t preclude it.  But Father said to me “Listen up!”  The gift is “discerning of spirits”, not just discernment.  The discerning of spirits is just that, being able to see what spirit is involved in a situation.  Either of three spirits can be involved:  The Holy Spirit, a demonic spirit or our own human spirit may be getting in the way of what we are experiencing.  This gift shows us, by revelation through the Holy Ghost, which type of spirit is involved and even what specific spirit may be involved, which just might come in handy when casting out demons.  Or whether we should just shut up, sit down and let the Holy Ghost go to work so we don’t mess things up. 

Faith comes by the hearing of the word (Romans 10:17) and with this faith we believe God can and will do things, even ‘save’ us.  We trust Him to be true to His word.  But the “gift of faith” carries us beyond just belief so we can put that faith into action.  What does James tell us?  “Show me your faith without works and I’ll show you my faith through my works (James 2:18).  Doing is more than just believing.  Father endows us with the power (via the Holy Ghost) to put that faith into action.  We don’t ‘just believe’.  We put the pedal to the metal and get moving.

If we don’t have faith, don’t even consider working miracles.  Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6)) so we surely need a supernatural dose of the Holy Ghost to perform any miracle.  So what is a miracle?  Something that cannot be accomplished through natural sources, whether non-existent or not available.  Have you ever prayed that a raging storm would stop – and shortly after, it did?  Some may argue that you just had good timing, but it is also true that God performed a miracle by honoring your prayer.  The Holy Ghost moved upon the face of the waters during creation (Gen. 1:2) so what makes us think He’s still not doing it?

The gift of healing, again, is something God does outside the ‘natural’ realm.  Where doctors and hospitals are not available or perhaps a cure is yet non-existent in our world.  So the Holy Ghost needs to step in and perform a work beyond medical science or availability.  This is not ‘just’ the prayer of faith where we ask God to heal, but where we take action on God’s behalf by laying on of hands as well as speaking to the situation.  We know God’s Spirit inhabits our praises (Psalms 22:3) so we can be confident He also inhabits our prayerfully, faithful actions.  The gift of healing is the Holy Ghost working through our obedience to accomplish Father’s will.

I like how Kenneth Hagin explains the gift of prophecy.  He says it is not a “foretelling” of future events but a “forth-telling”.  In other words, it just doesn’t attempt to predict a future event but speaks, under guidance of the Holy Ghost, what God intendeds to happen.  I say intended because what would have happened had Paul ignored Agabus’ prophecy that the owner of the girdle would be bound (Acts 21:10-11)?  Who knows?  For Paul was determined to go to Jerusalem and was bound and eventually shipped off to Rome, and remember, Jesus said Paul had to be a witness in Rome (Acts 23:11).  The gift of prophecy is “not” fortune telling but a speaking by the revelation of the Holy Ghost of things that are designed to happen.  As I suggested, Paul could have taken another direction after the prophecy to avoid arrest, but who knows, something might have occurred and he still would have ended up arrested, in Jerusalem, and eventually off to Rome.  OR, the last few chapters in the book of Acts may have had to be rewritten.

Now, there are two realms of prophecy, simple and operating under the gift prophecy.  Simple prophecy is a word that edifies, exhorts or comforts.  No ‘earth shattering event’, just simple encouragement for the church.  “God’s got plans for you” or “Blessing are coming your way”, etc.
The gift of prophecy will usually work along with one or more of the revelation gifts, making it compounded with at least one other gift.  It will also get into more specifics than simple “go get ‘em tiger” prophecy.  Go back and read the account of Paul and Agabus.  That was specific and was only information that only the Holy Ghost could have revealed.

The speaking in tongues is perhaps one of the more familiar gifts of the spirit.  It is surrounded with mystery, controversy it is the gift most needed for self-edification, building ourselves up in the Holy Ghost (Jude 20). 

Speaking in tongues is speaking in a God-given language which helps us to communicate with Father more effectively.  It is a New Testament anomaly.  There is no evidence of speaking with tongues before the disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-3) and, as with the disciples, is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost gives us utterance when we speak in tongues though we initiate the action.  He speaks the mysteries of God (1 Corinth. 2:10) to our spirit and helps our infirmities and helps us to pray when we don’t know how (Romans 8:26-27).  When we use our prayer language regularly, it helps us walk closer with the Lord (1 Corinth. 2:11-12) as He helps us to magnify and glorify our Lord.  

 On the personal level, the praying in tongues edifies the individual.  It is intended to build ‘me’ up and even though it can be used publicly, Paul give us some guidelines in 2 Corinthians chapter 14.  The big thing to remember in public use is that God is not the author of confusion, so things should be done in order because edification of the body is the bottom line.  And the Holy Ghost is till the author whether in private or public.

The interpretation of tongues is just what it says, an interpretation, not a translation.  This is why a prophetic tongue may be given and the interpretation may be shorter or longer when presented.  This is true whether in private or in group, your prayer closet or at church.  The interpretation is given so hearers may receive an understanding for edification of what the tongues were conveying.  Why be bothered with the interpretation?  The Apostle Paul tells us that when we pray, we should pray with understanding (1 Corinth. 14:15-17) especially in church so all would be edified.  However, when it is just the Lord and me, I still ask for understanding so I will have an idea what for what I’ve just prayed.  And even so, the Holy Ghost is the one who reveals that interpretation.

So, the Gifts of the Spirit are given by the Holy Ghost, as He sees fit, for edification of the church.  There are many gifts so there are many ways in which the church, or the individual, can be edified.  We have to yield to the Holy Ghost (try speaking in tongues without opening your mouth) and follow His direction.  The gifts may be manifested at a personal level or in a whole congregation for our benefit or a group’s, but God will always get the glory.

Amen