My thoughts today go to the need for a greater move of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, the church. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, takes up residence inside the believer, where we have been given a new spirit and a new life through the power and working of the Holy Spirit. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, a “Pentecostal People” must walk in the “fullness” of the Spirit. The Bible makes it very clear in Acts, that is to say – the Gifts of the Spirit must be evident in our daily lives and Church services, in order to maximize the success of the Gospel to reach the lost for Jesus Christ.
As children of God, sons and daughters, we are born of God’s own nature, a new spirit, and yes, a new life. We are partakers of the extraordinary and divine power that belongs to God; given from God, distributed to the believers, by the Holy Spirit. In our human reasoning, promises are only as good as the person keeping the promise. And even then, our experiences have taught us not to count on the promise until the promise is complete or fulfilled.
You can be assured all the promises of God are, Yes and Amen. God has always been faithful in His Word and through His Word. Faith in God and in His Word is dependent upon our relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Again, let me say, the very promises of God written in the Bible have been proven time after time to be true, alive, and active. Yes, God is faithful to those who are faithful. Faith is to believe. Faith is trust. Trust is built upon a relationship in good standing. Belief comes from the working of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
You might say FAITH IS BUILT UPON THE WORD OF GOD and fulfilled by the promises of God. These promises are fulfilled in the believer’s life as we believe, follow His Word, and walk in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we must keep the faith. In other words, maintain our relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. With that said, the God that we worship, the God of the universe, does not lie and does not fail to keep His Word, His promises, not even once. We can be assured that a promise from God is a declaration of certainty. God’s promises, you might say, are tangible gifts. As a believer, God has ultimately promised Eternal Life in His family an end to suffering, troubles, and transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit. A purpose and meaning in mankind for eternity, forever. I am so looking forward to that day; how about you?
The promises throughout the Bible were given from God to all spirit filled believers to use right now; for they, the spirit filled believers, are fully equipped to lead the life for which God has called them. Since we are equipped, as spirit filled believers, we are encouraged to grow and use these “special abilities”. Let me make this perfectly clear, these “special abilities” are given to spirit filled believers by the working of the Holy Spirit. They are to be used exclusively for that of encouraging and building up the body of Christ, His people, the believers, the church. These special abilities are given from God, distributed by the Holy Spirit and the workings of Christ in the believer.
The purpose of the various Gifts is stated in Ephesians 4:12-16, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love (KJV).
As stated in 2 Peter 1:3-15, His (God’s) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them, you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (NIV).
- “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love (NIV).”
- “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”
- “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have (NIV).”
- “I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure, you will always be able to remember these things (NIV).”
As stated above in the scriptures, it is of the utmost importance for our mind, body, soul and spirit to be in tune with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Yes, built upon the Word of God, prayer, building our relationship, from faith to faith. Truly it is our daily walk with God that will keep us built up in faith. We as believers are partakers of the divine nature of God, as Christ is in us. Yes, we have access to God and freedom to exercise the divine powers that belong to the family of God as the Holy Spirit wills, through the working of the Holy Spirit. This is what is meant, Christ in us. As Christ is in us and we yield to the working of the Holy Spirit, we will be productive in and for God’s Kingdom.
Here lies God’s Recipe for Power: Jesus said, but when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere… (Acts 1:8) This is God’s recipe for the power to be a divine witness and testimony of Christ in us. Every Christian needs this power and should desire it and seek it earnestly – sincerely! In Acts 1:4 (NKJV) Jesus COMMANDED them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father…And in John 14:15 (NKJV) Jesus said, if you love Me, keep My commandments. There are commandments throughout the Bible for all believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here is one of these commands as stated in Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV)… be filled with the Spirit,
Let’s briefly look at the promise of the Holy Ghost and His characteristics produced in the believer. The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit as stated in: Galatians 5:22-23, are the characteristics of the Holy Spirit, which should be produced in every Christian. But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The main point that I would like to make in this writing is that there is a lot more to Pentecost than speaking in tongues…a a lot more! Speaking in tongues is for the purpose of praying to God when we don’t know how to put it into words. It provides peace and assurance in our spirit. When praying in tongues, we are praying to God through the Holy Spirit that bonds our spirit with God’s spirit. The gift of tongues is for all believers who are immersed/ yielded and totally surrendered to the Holy Spirit, and it is used for their individual times of prayer.
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