A GIFT FROM GOD

 

Something of Significance:

      

SUBJECT:  ONE OF THE DYNAMIC GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT-

                   PRAYING IN TONGUES-GOD’S HEAVENLY LANGUAGE

 In Acts 1, after Jesus’ resurrection to heaven and return to earth, he appeared to his followers for 40 days and talked to them about the things of the kingdom of God.  One particular day, he was in their company and eating with them and he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised of which he said you have heard me speak,

For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

They were asking Jesus a lot of questions about coming events and timing of his return, but it seems like he was trying to get them back on the subject at hand, which was the promise of the Father, to send the Holy Spirit because he began his public ministry with (Dunamis) power after the Holy Spirit came upon him!

 Dunamis is the Greek word for power and is rooted in our word for dynamite!

Jesus said to them: “But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the very   ends of the earth!”

 Chapter 2 says they were all together praying when the day of Pentecost came when suddenly there came a sound from heaven in the house where they were sitting and there appeared to them tongues, resembling fire, which were distributed and settled on each one of them….

 (Fire in the Greek language figuratively represents transforming what it touches.)

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues and in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance!

 Because it was Pentecost, Jews were gathered from every nation and they heard the disciples, many in their own language, TELLING OF THE MIGHTY WORKS OF GOD!

 Jesus described the Holy Spirit in John 15:26-27:

 But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor,

Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, He will testify regarding me, but you will also testify and be my witnesses….”

Jesus was sharing all the different ways this power source, THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY, would help them!

Jesus said, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send him to you.”  John 16:17

When we give our lives to the Lord and receive him as Savior, we are baptized into his Body and become one spirit with Him.

Jesus told his disciples to go and wait for the Gift, the Promise, which was the Holy Spirit they would receive who would indwell them and empower them dynamically to be his witnesses after he went back to heaven.

 Speaking with tongues is the unique spiritual Gift identified with the church after the day of Pentecost and is beneficial in all areas of life for us today.

 Jesus told his disciples:

 And these signs shall follow them that believe.

 “In my name they shall cast out devils; and

 They shall speak with new tongues….” Mark 16:17-18

  The Apostle Paul asked some of the followers on one of his mission trips:

 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”  They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  So, Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”  John’s baptism,” they replied.  Paul said:  John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance.  He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.”  Acts 19:2-6

Paul said, OK.  Let us get you baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit!

The believers in the Upper Room at Pentecost received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit while praying—

and

As above, some followers of Christ received by the laying on of hands!

Some of the benefits of speaking in tongues are:

Communication with God in heaven’s language:

1 Cor 14:2 “For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things (not obvious to the understanding).”

V4. “He who speaks in tongues edifies and improves himself….”

Jude 1:20 “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith, and pray in the Holy Spirit.”

I heard someone say, praying in tongues is like charging your spiritual battery.

The longer you do it, the stronger you get!

Romans 8:26. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning (sighs) too deep for words.”

1 Cor. 14:15. “What am I to do?  I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.”

The Holy Spirit knows what to pray concerning God’s will and plans for our lives that we do not always understand or know about in our natural lives!

Romans 8:27 “And he who searches hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God.”

“But as it is written:  Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him, But God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God.  1 Cor. 2: 9-10

Receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is a means to receive all that Jesus died for us to receive, the deep things of God that He wants us to experience that we have not even thought about!

God’s gift was his Son given for the redemption of the world and Jesus gave the Holy Spirit as a gift to his church.

Our Holy Spirit language gives us wisdom for ourselves and how to minister to others!

1 Cor 14:18-19 the Apostle Paul said, “I thank my God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, but in the church (setting) I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.”

He was saying how vital praying in tongues was to him personally and his ministry; however, in church he would speak with his mind so that all could understand what his message to them was.

He obviously knew the believers around him prayed in tongues, but he apparently felt the need to stress the importance of doing so by saying:  I pray in tongues more than you all!

Jesus said, “When the Holy Spirit comes, He will lead and guide you into all truth.”  John 16:13

We do not always know the best course or action to take, but the Holy Spirit has been given to us to help keep us on course!

Following is a powerful prayer Kenneth Copeland Ministries suggests we pray so we can become established in our heavenly language:

Heavenly Father,

I am a believer.  I am your child and You are my Father.  Jesus is my Lord.  I believe with all my heart that your Word is true.

Your Word says if I will ask, I will receive the Holy Spirit.  So, in the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, I am asking You to fill me to overflowing with Your Precious Holy Spirit.  Jesus, baptize me in the Holy Spirit.

Because of Your Word, I believe I now receive, and I thank You for it.  I believe the Holy Spirit is within me and, by faith, I accept it.

Now, Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I praise God.  I fully expect to speak with other tongues as You give me the utterance.

He also adds:

Begin to praise God for filling you with the Holy Spirit.  Speak those words and syllables you receive—not in your own language, but the language given you by the Holy Spirit.  You must use your own voice.  God will not force you to speak.  Do not be concerned with how it sounds…. It is a heavenly language!

 

Diana Sykes

www.dianasykes.com

 SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE SERIES:

 

THE FORCE OF FAITH VERSUS THE FORCE OF FEAR           

 

Faith forecasts what we do want and Fear forecasts what we do not want!

 

Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  By it, men of old gained approval!”

 

Luke 12:32: “Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

 

Can’t you just hear God’s heart and desire to be involved with peoples’ lives?  Jesus urged his followers not to fear because it was the Father’s pleasure to do good things for them and Hebrews says people with faith got God’s attention and approval!

 

I heard someone say this week that when we have faith in God and his promises, it gives him so much gratification! 

 

That is great news because Hebrews 11:6 also says: “He is a rewarder of those that earnestly and sincerely seek Him.”

 

Sounds like spending time with our Father and having Faith in His Word is a WIN/WIN proposition! 

 

But, where did Fear originate? 

 

The first-time fear is mentioned in the Bible is when Eve believed the lie Satan told her about God.  The lie basically was:  God does not really have your best interests at heart!  In Genesis 3: 9-10 “But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?  He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

The lie is still perpetrated today because many people throughout the world do not believe God is a good God and that He not only wants them to experience an abundant life but his Son paid for it to be able to happen.

 

In my book. “Detox:  Spiritual Cleansing for a Fulfilling Life,” one of the chapter titles is: “The biggest lie ever told: “What you do not

know won’t hurt you!”

 

God desires us to know about all the good things He has prepared for us and we get to experience them more fully when we acknowledge who He says we are in Christ!  We are co-laborers together with God!

That is BIG!

 

Without this knowledge, however, we and others will experience life circumstantially rather than purposefully and miss out on the true reason for our being on the earth to bring pleasure to God! …

 

So, what you do not know will definitely hurt you but what you do know and act on will definitely benefit you and others in your sphere of influence.

 

1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God and that is what we are.”

 

Paul said: “I pray that the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Philemon 1:6

 

Quite frequently I say, “Father, I acknowledge every good thing that is in me in Christ Jesus and I believe by faith I will participate in these good things today!”

 

He said, if we want our faith to be effective, it must be communicated…. we must talk about it!  He wants us to talk about what Jesus did for us and learn what he wants to do through us!  The Scripture says that these good things must be acknowledged!  It is interesting too that Paul said we should acknowledge EVERY good thing.  Seems like he wanted all the bases in our lives to be covered!

 

Faith is simply talking and acting like God’s word is true.

 

It is enormously powerful to think about what Mary, the Mother of Jesus said: 

 

“Be it done unto me according to your Word.” Luke 1:38

 

She had to accept and acknowledge the good news the angel brought to her.  She had a choice and so do we!

 

On the other hand, we must keep in mind also that fear is talking and acting like Satan’s word is true!

 

So many people are not knowledgeable of the truth that there is a God who loves them and that they can depend on.

 

Jesus said in Matthew 24:12:

 

“Because of the increase of wickedness and lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.”

 

Many are filled with fearful and cold hearts right now.

 

The wonderful news is, however, we have the antidote to share with others concerning these happenings.

 

The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment.”

 

Some of the characteristics of fear are torture, distress, harassment, to buffet as waves, vexation, and fretting!

 

In other words, no peace!

 

We could just as easily say:  There is no fear in faith!  Faith that originates from the knowledge of the love of God.

 

The quality of life God intends for us to enjoy is spoiled and robbed by fear because it has torment, lack of peace, confusion, control, etc.

 

God wants fear eradicated from our lives and replaced with faith! 

 

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

 Romans 10:17

 

One key to great faith is when we hear and read the word of God, we take time to internalize His words and make them personal and applicable to our lives and those we pray for.

 

2 Timothy 1:7 says: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

 

This clearly shows us that fear is not just an emotion or fleeting thought process but is a spirit that brings with it torment!

 

It is important to note what God has given us:

 

The Spirit of Power

The Spirit of Love

The Spirit of a Sound Mind - the Mind of Christ!

 

Final Thought:

 

It is not only special to know that our faith in receiving what God has gifted us with pleases and gratifies Him, but in the following Scripture, it is powerful to note that He, himself, IS WORKING IN US and we know that has to be good!

 

“For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13

 

 

THE POWER OF WORDS!

 

SERIES:  SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE

Today’s Subject:  THE POWER OF WORDS!

WORD in Hebrew, which the Old Testament was written in, means:  To Construct!

 

Scripture:  John 1: 1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made!

 God has given us the gift of the Word, Jesus, and words to frame our world!

 Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed and prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

Words are life giving forces.  Jesus said in John 6:63 …” The Words I speak to you they are Spirit and Life.”

This is so powerful because Jesus was letting us know when he said his words were spirit that the breath or wind of God was resident in what he said.  He always spoke the end result or what He desired to happen. The Greek word for spirit is pneuma or air, wind or breath.  As we know, when the wind blows you cannot see the wind but you sure can see its effects! 

If we follow Jesus example when we speak, we can be part of changes being made in our lives and our sphere of influence. 

It is important to take note that Jesus in that same Scripture said:  The words I speak ARE Life.

The meaning of Life in Greek is:  Possessor of Vitality; Active and Vigorous

Consequently, Jesus was saying the Words He spoke carried vital life. They transported and impacted situations with the life-force that was in them.

For instance, if the weather needed changing, he spoke what he wanted to see happen.  He told the wind: “Peace, be still.”

Again, words are especially important because we can construct, build and establish our lives through what we speak.

This is extremely exciting because Jesus, who now lives in us and whom we are joint heirs with, gave us the example of how to build our lives in accordance with the Word of God.

Realizing how important what we say is, as well as what others say, can bring the abundant life Jesus paid for us to have or words can cause less than desired results to happen.

Would you like for God to marvel and be amazed at your words?

Let us look at the following story to understand how important words can be to us and others we desire to help.

Matt 8:5-13. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help.  “Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The Centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof but just SAY HE WORD, and my servant will be healed.  For I am myself a man under authority with soldiers under me.  I tell this one, ‘Go’ and he goes and that one ‘Come’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven but the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside in to the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

THEN, Jesus said to the Centurion, “Go!  Let it be done just as you have believed it would.”  And his servant was healed at that very moment.

Some powerful things to glean and apply to our lives concerning faith-filled words from this story are:

The Centurion honored and worshipped Jesus by acknowledging Him as Lord.

He humbled himself when Jesus asked if he wanted him to go to where his servant was to heal him.  He did not come with a sense of entitlement because he had position.

He gave glory to God by letting Jesus know he acknowledged the power in his words to change things when He spoke! 

He understood that Jesus’ words were servants that did exactly what Jesus told them to do just as his servants did exactly what he told them to do!

Jesus marveled and was amazed and said that He had not found that kind of faith or understanding in Israel….in other words, he was looking for someone who had faith in the SPOKEN WORD!

Jesus said many of the people he had ordained to receive kingdom blessings would not, because they did not understand the power of who he was, and the power Words carry to change lives and circumstances.

Jesus said to the Centurion: Go!  It will be done for you just as you have believed……

What did he believe?  He believed Jesus’ words had the power to heal his servant and he said so! It came to pass just as he told Jesus it would!

His belief and spoken affirmation was a servant for healing!

Jesus acknowledged that Words were Servants and now we will see what Jesus says about Words also being Seeds!

Jesus said in Luke 8:11 “The seed is the Word of God…”

I was recently studying about acorns which are seeds from the Oak tree of which worldwide there are about 400 different species. 

The oak tree begins bearing seeds around October and they have very hard shells that when planted will, in about a week or so, begin to open up and sprout pushing their way through the soil to become large trees.

Interesting though, a large portion of these acorns get eaten by squirrels and various bugs before they can get planted to become a tree.

Did you know that God refers to people as “Oaks of Righteousness?”

Isaiah 61:3 says, “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting for the Lord for the display of His splendor.”

The Bible often speaks of natural things like seeds and trees in relation to our lives.  God wants us to become strong, vibrant word filled people to display and release his glory, but circumstances often try to circumvent that just like the “critters” that get to the acorn before it can be rooted and planted. However, as the Bible says, with our faith, our believing and words released through knowledge of what Jesus did for us, we can become strong and vibrant and all He created us to be.

It is extremely interesting that when Jesus spoke in the temple in Luke 4:18, it says He found the place where it was written and spoke what was written about himself and then sat down.  He said, “Today these Words have been fulfilled in your hearing, he was fulfilling what had been spoken about Him 100’s of years prior.

Did you know it is important for us to find the places where it is written about us and decree the Word concerning our lives?  Do you need healing?  Find the place where it is written: “By His stripes I am healed.”  Claim it as yours and water it frequently with praise and thanksgiving.

Do you need peace or salvation for family members?  Find where the promise is of the gift of peace that Jesus said I leave with you and also the promise that says:  You and your household shall be saved!

These are about you and so many more and as I have heard, 7,000 promises to be claimed as our own that cover every area of life.

Let us look at the significance for us today of the proclaimed Words in Isaiah 61:

He said the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me BECAUSE the Lord has anointed me to bring GOOD NEWS to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted [This means those that are weighed down with the pressures of life.], to PROCLAIM [proclaim means to acclaim or praise enthusiastically] liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound [This means physically and emotionally.]; to PROCLAIM the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified!

So much of what we are seeing and hearing today around the world is symbolic of what Jesus said He would be coming to fix! As listed above, He came to set people free so they would be trees of Righteousness!

Our part is to use our Words to agree with God’s Word and just like the acorn has the potential within it to become a large tree, it must be planted to keep the “bugs” away. We do the same by planting our Words of faith knowing that God said, He had put potential in the Word of God that we speak or plant to bring a 30, 60 100-fold multiplication.  These are blessings He paid for us to experience but we must do the planting!

In Mark 4:15, Jesus said the seed that had been planted in people was of such great importance that Satan came immediately to steal the word that had been sown.  This is symbolic of the “bugs” that steal the life from the seed before it becomes a tree! 

However, God’s Word, as mentioned above sown in a tilled heart, one which recognizes the power of Words, keeps it by faith from being stolen and great results are experienced!  That is exciting for not only us but the Holy Spirit.  The Word says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”  Luke 12:32

FINAL SIGNIFICANT POINTS TO THINK ABOUT:

God’s Word, according to Hebrews 4:12, is ALIVE, POWERFUL and ACTIVE! 

When we find the Word that pertains to a need or circumstance we want to experience change in, we apply it by speaking it.  By doing so, we are using our words to build and construct needed changes or improvements and we are also releasing these Words to be our servants just like Jesus did!

In Matthew 4, when Jesus was confronted with a variety of opportunities and decisions, He said: “IT IS WRITTEN” and quoted God’s Word.

…In the Beginning was the Word and as John 1 says, “Nothing that was made was made without the Word.”  Give the Word first place, keep planting it, watering it with praise and thanksgiving and in due season, get ready for great things will happen!