WHAT’S THAT HOLY SPIRIT STUFF?

People have said, “Don’t give me that Holy Spirit stuff. I just want Jesus.” Okay, but they just asked for the Holy Spirit. The angel told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). If you want Jesus to be Lord of your life, Paul wrote that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ apart from the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 12:3). It was the Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus to preach and do miracles. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind…” (Luke 4:18,19). How did Jesus open eyes or deliver people enslaved to sin and Satan? The Holy Spirit. In fact, how was Jesus himself raised from the dead? Paul wrote, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). Paul was a Holy Ghost man. Do you know who brings about the new birth so you can belong to Jesus? The Holy Spirit.

Jesus said six remarkable things about the Holy Spirit in his final message to them (John 14-16). Then just before lift-off, the disciples, still feeling like orphans and stunned that Jesus was leaving, wanted to know when the nation of Israel would experience a restoration. They were looking back. Jesus said in effect, “I am not going to talk about that now, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:4-8). When the Spirit came on Pentecost and filled the room and 120 bodies, they got it and never asked for Jesus back. 

Paul spoke often about the Spirit and His works. He said that the Spirit empowers us to live the Christian life. The Spirit gives us gifts to carry out the work of Christ, like discernment, wisdom, and healing. The Spirit produces the character of Christ in us (he calls it fruit), so we can represent Jesus to a broken world. The Spirit helps us in our weakness: “We don’t know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

By the way, who was the agent of creation? Genesis 1:2 says that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Who enabled the prophets of old to speak truth? Who wrote the Bible? “…men spoke from God as they were moved along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Then He can help us understand the Book He authored. It is the Holy Spirit from beginning to end. The Holy Spirit is God. Dear Brothers and Sisters, you are absolutely nothing without God the Holy Spirit. That is why we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!”

THE POWER OF HOPE

If you’re having a difficult day at work, but you were invited to a Twins World Series game in the evening, the day just got easier. If your week includes two difficult assignments, but you have a ski on the weekend, the week’s doable. If winter breaks records for the coldest and longest, a summer month-long trip to the Bahamas enabling you to endure well. If your life has included unbelievable setbacks, heaven looks beyond all imagination.

Destroy someone’s hope, and they start dying before they stop breathing. On the other hand, hope for tomorrow gives you a hold on today. Does anyone live that way? Listen to Paul: “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). You might feel like saying, “Who is calling my affliction ‘light and momentary’? It’s heavy and long-lasting.” I’ll tell you who–a man who endured far more than we ever will–multiple beatings, shipwrecks, sleepless nights, stoning, and more. If you have eight parts of affliction and only two parts of hope, the affliction overpowers you. But if you have twelve parts of affliction, and thirty parts of hope, you are being fueled by the future, and hope wins.

Do you know anyone who has blazing hope? I will tell you how they live. They don’t seem to be taken down by what takes down normal people. They have their share of hardships, but they don’t complain about them much. They are too busy praising God for his goodness, even in the midst of trials. They are not immersed in their circumstances; they are asking you about yours. It feels like they have one foot in eternity. They don’t–they have both feet.  Peter told suffering saints, “Set you hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). In other words, put all your marbles in the world to come. That way nothing today robs you of peace.

Oh, we’ll have some doozies. The man who called his hardships “light and momentary” said earlier in the same letter that “we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). For some life can become almost unbearably difficult. So while we “rejoice with those who rejoice,” we continue to “weep with those who weep.” But, we help one another not to abandon the hope that we are marked for eternity. Ninety years here is an infinitesimal fraction compared to forever.

Look who faced disabilities without letting it disable them.  Maybe they can give you hope rather than dismantled by difficulties. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for “lack of ideas.” Helen Keller was the first blind and deaf person to get a college degree. Marla Runyan was the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics–as a runner. Beethoven composed some of his greatest masterpieces while deaf. Christy Brown, an Irish painter and writer, could only use his foot for writing and painting. Albert Einstein had a learning disability and didn’t speak until he was three. John Milton became blind at 43 and still wrote his most famous work, Paradise Lost. Thomas Edison frustrated his teachers, too stupid to “get it.” Henry Ford went broke five times before he made it. Anchor your hope in eternity–and live with joy today!

3 THINGS GOD WILLS FOR YOU!

Young adults tussle with knowing God’s will. They change their major four times, often wonder whom God will send their way to marry, and many struggle with finding the right job. Well, Paul spelled it out: ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18). Can’t get any clearer. If we do these three things, tough issues we face just got easier. Guaranteed. Not that it won’t take concentration or time or sweat or waiting, but these three exhortations place us in the center of God’s plan for us, not on the periphery. Here goes:

REJOICE ALWAYS!

How about, “Rejoice sometimes?” I can pull that one off. When the team wins or when the neighbor asks for forgiveness for being annoying, it makes sense to rejoice. Why always? Because “always” says that what is threatening me is not a threat to God, that God is bigger, stronger, smarter than I am, that he is truly involved in EVERY detail of my life.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!

How do we manage this? I’ve been asking God to teach me how to pray unceasingly. Not there yet by a long shot. I don’t think it means non-stop prayer. It does mean that every circumstance in life, positive, neutral, negative, calls for prayer, an attitude of dependence that turns continually toward the Father for what the situation requires. That is doable if we remain childlike as we grow up. Praying in the Spirit helps us fulfill this command–when we rise, while driving, working in the garden, as we hit the sack.

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.

How is this different from the first command? We say, “Under the circumstances, I need to respond this way.” Question: what are you doing under the circumstances? We are told to live not by the circumstance but by the will of heaven. If we believe that some circumstances are able to take us down and maybe out, we just lost. Our God is not proficient enough to see us through, so we are on our own. Apparently the three young men who chose the furnace rather than bowing the knee knew that he was. In fact, he chose to show up in the furnace with them. Cool!

Okay, let’s face it. We cannot possibly fulfill these commands. Does God really expect us to pull off these impossible commands? Wait a minute. What command from heaven is doable? What about loving your enemies or overturning evil with good? We desperately need the Holy Spirit working in our emotions and wills to fulfill what God commands. The Christian life is supernatural from start to finish. Paul writes that “he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). The holy will of God is fulfilled IN us, not BY us.That is really good news. The Holy Spirit who works in bodies that have become his temple does the will and purpose of God as we yield to his supernatural influence in our lives. Come, Holy Spirit!

CHARISMA OR CHARACTER?

Which is more important, the fruit of the Spirit or the gifts? The Corinthians did “not lack any spiritual gift” (I Cor. 1:7), but they sure were immature. They couldn’t get along, were immoral, and were taking each other to court. Don’t think I would join that church. Maybe we can learn from our charismatic friends on the Grecian seacoast and experience authentic church. To do so we…

DON’T PREFER THE GIFTS OVER THE FRUIT.

The charisma of leaders may blind us to the lack of character. We need to fly with both wings, the supernatural character of Jesus (the fruit) and the supernatural ministry of Jesus (the gifts).

So we do as Paul said and we “follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (I Corinthians 14:1). To vote for the gifts over the fruit, as the Corinthians did, produced dissonance, “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” Gifts without fruit produces childishness. Gifts are tools, not toys, but my tools were the toys of my children as toddlers.

DON’T PREFER THE RESURRECTION TO THE CROSS.

Look at the advertising of conferences in charismatic magazines and see what they are broadcasting: powerful signs and wonders, healings, impartation. Wonderful! I have never read, “The power of the cross will be evident,” but that is what Paul majored in. We need both, as Paul made clear: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). But Paul did resolve to know nothing ”except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (I Cor. 2:2). We favor strength to weakness–and we get what we ask for. Paul chose weakness, and he experienced the power. How would he advertise a conference in our city?

DON’T PREFER PROPHETIC WORDS TO THE PROPHETIC WORD.

Peter wrote, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). The surest prophetic word comes straight from the Word of God and from the greatest of all prophets, Jesus Christ. If I am hankering for a now word but not planted in the eternal Word, I am thrown off balance. We are urged to seek after the gift of prophecy, but that very urging comes from the Word that is “forever settled in heaven.”

DON’T PREFER THE SPRINT TO THE MARATHON,

the short-cut to the endurance run. Hearing about the promise at a conference of impartation, I am both blessed and cautious. I do know that gifts, healing, and empowering can be given through the laying on of hands, but let’s be careful not to promote the quick fix or the fast-food blessing because that is what people want, or we short-circuit the way of the cross. When Peter tried an end run around the cross, Jesus delivered the strongest rebuke that disciples had ever heard. Simply put, no shortcuts exist. Charisma can come fast. Character takes years.

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK…

…for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Really? Put a cash value on that. I think Jesus is talking about the future new earth, as it was created before the fall. No weeds, no aggressive animals killing others, beauty beyond what we have ever seen but imagined. Multiplied trillions. And just for being meek?

What is meekness? It is

• Not controlling others but controlling yourself
• Thinking the best during the worst
• Bottom up rather than top down
• Using words to encourage rather than to discourage
• Good news rather than just good advice

Why is meekness rewarded in such a phenomenal way? Because we are being like Jesus, who was meek. He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28,29). Some folks add to our load just by our being in their presence. It is all about them, their goals, their struggles. It’s hard to relax with them. You get tired just listening. They make statements rather than asking questions. They don’t know much, but they want you to think they do. They give easy answers, as if you should be doing better.

Not Jesus. You breathe easy. You come away refreshed. He is lifting you out of the hole, not making you feel like an idiot for falling in. He “restores your soul.” His words are gentle, not abrasive. He knows how difficult a place the world can be and how much you need rest. He doesn’t make assumptions; he just knows. The burdens he gives are actually easy to handle.

Someone who is not the Good Shepherd might have said instead, “Blessed are the ambitious, those who go for it, the successful, those who make it to the top.” And some would have said, “I doubt if that’s me.” Jesus goes after the broken, the tired, the disappointed, the burdened. His words are anything but condemning–they are inviting. We say, “He knows me. He knows what I am going through. And he doesn’t offer advice, then send me away. He gives me rest, knowing that life has made me tired. And he knows that I need soul rest, not just a good nap. He gives me rest within. He quiets the voice of accusation inside and out that says I am a loser. He doesn’t tell me I should be trying harder. He gives me his yoke, so we walk together, and he shoulders most of the load.

People that are meek like Jesus are a pleasure to be around. And they have a great future. God sees how they are living, is pleased, and will reward them a million-fold. So live for what is not yet–and you will be gloriously happy. How “Blessed are the meek…”

 

THE POWER OF GRATITUDE

But first–

THE PROBLEM WITH INGRATITUDE

It closes the heart to receiving. The elder brother said, “You never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends” (Luke 15:29), and he didn’t expect it from a stingy dad. Ingratitude brings two dangerous outlooks–victimization and entitlement. They will paralyze you! Guaranteed.

Ingratitude puts you in bad company. Jesus said that His Father “is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35). I wouldn’t put those two words in the same sentence—but Jesus did! Ingratitude brings you into a stinking crowd. Paul said that “there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful…” (2 Timothy 3:1-4). He concluded with a warning: “Have nothing to do with them.”

Ingratitude places you in the enemy’s camp. No one has ever shown greater ingratitude than Lucifer, the most beautiful creature God ever made. And yet he envied God and staged a coup on the throne. How stupid can you get?!  Ingratitude turned him into the ugliest creature in the universe. And he’s never had a grateful thought since. So would you agree with me that ingratitude is serious, not a little sin? On the other hand–

THE POWER OF GRATITUDE

It makes you shine. Thankful people are fun to be around and exude a radiant countenance. I don’t have to tell you that ungrateful and grouchy people are at the opposite end. Would your friends call you a grateful person?

Gratitude allows you to receive grace from heaven, because you don’t feel like you are entitled to it. When you have a grateful heart, you always feel like you are being blessed. You can’t help it—God simply pours it on. Think prodigal. If you don’t enjoy healthy, holy, happy relationships, ingratitude may be a root cause.

Gratitude connects you to important people–like parents. If you want to draw closer, express thanks for what they have done, not what they haven’t. (And if they are still drawing breath, it’s not too late). My friend Jacob did it as a college freshman. I asked why he was not looking forward to thanksgiving. He answered, “They don’t talk about spiritual things, and they still treat me like a teenager” (which he was). I told him to write a letter of gratitude, make it long, and write it out freehand, because Mom will treat it as a trophy. He did. I’ve seen the parents four times since. Every time they bring up the letter. It changed their home–for years. Way to go, Jacob! Gratitude is powerful!!

Gratitude and generosity are siblings. Generous people cause thanksgiving to rise to heaven: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous to every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11). If you have learned generosity, you probably picked up gratitude along the way.

When? “O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever” (Psalm 30:12).

Why? “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 118.1).

How? “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” (Psalm 100:4).

Who? “Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name” (Psalm 140:13).

HERE YOU STAND!

We’re in a war, not on a picnic. Sometimes I forget that. These Scriptures help me remember.

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…” (Eph. 6:11,13,14). The call is to a posture of war, of resistance. Armor is defensive. Some might think that we are to attack.  We are called to stand, used 4 times. Then we pray, the offensive side of war.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (I Cor. 15:58). What could move you?  “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love” (I Corinthians 16:13). Being on your guard means staying alert, not falling asleep. Love and courage are siblings. If you want to grow in courage, grow in love.

“Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering” (Hebrews 10:32). Standing is hardest when suffering is greatest. Suffering builds endurance—or it takes us out. Suffering refines us and frees us from sin (I Peter 1:7; I Peter 4:1) or it brings discouragement and despair. Discouragement is a luxury we dare not entertain if we’re here for others.

“You too be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:7-11). Hope enables us to stand. We can endure the present if we know the future is good. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). God gives rewards to those who endure in the face of trials. When you suffer, look forward, not backward. It will enable you to pass the test. Lot’s wife looked back—and lost big.

“It is by faith you stand” (2 Cor. 1:24). We need faith, not just will-power and guts. “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you” (2 Thess. 2:15). Truth helps us to stand. When we abandon truth, we lose our position. What we believe is more important than what we feel. We are looking for truth, not for experience.That will come–with truth!

“He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Col. 4:12). It is good to pray that our friends will stand. Some will not. We stand firm in prayer so others stand firm in life. “I have written to you briefly…that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it” (I Peter 5:12). We stand in the truth, by faith and through grace, which empowers us to obey.

“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (I Peter 5:9). We take a posture of resistance. We have determined that we will stand. God is not picking on us; everyone goes through all kinds of suffering. No one is exempt, not even the Son of God. You are not a victim. Stand!

WORK IT OUT!

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…”

This is no light assignment. People are often too casual about their salvation, some so flippant that they lose it. They fall asleep. The five foolish virgins were naive and unattentive–and missed the Party.  I can take the gift of salvation lightly and not invest in my future.

Am I indifferent to the truth that Christ was obedient to death, that he took abuse and injustice for my salvation? How cruel to stomp on the work of Christ by my indifference or neglect. How easy to take our salvation for granted because it was won in a battle that we did not fight.

“Fear and trembling” does not describe the frame of mind that we sometimes take toward our salvation. Passivity is a killer. Jesus would not let the helpless father off the hook. When a distraught parent thrust his boy at Jesus in desperation, asking Him to do whatever He could, Jesus threw the responsibility right back at him. He said, “If you can. All things are possible to him who believers” (Mark 9:23).  Faith without works is not faith. Jesus proved it by calling the father to responsible faith. A passive investor found out that burying his gifts (and the master’s money) did not please his employer one bit. He was called “lazy” and “wicked,” two words I probably would not have used in the same sentence (Matthew 25:26).

I told a young man I was once working with that he had a huge part to play in his destiny. He was saying, “God is going to make me a dad. I’ll have kids. I am trusting Him.” In a reality session with him I said, “It’s not going to happen unless you make a hundred good decisions in a row. You have made some bad ones, yet you expect God to come through. You can’t do it without God, and He won’t do it without you. Don’t underestimate the part you play in your destiny. Faith is empty unless it is accompanied by what Paul calls ‘the obedience of faith.’”

Paul says that God gives the gifts of the Spirit sovereignly “to whom he may” (I Corinthians 12:11). So do we sit back and wait for Him to make His choices? Not even close. We are commanded to “eagerly desire the spiritual gifts” (14:1).  Our very passion for one or more may even indicate God’s sovereign choice. There is cooperation between heaven and earth.

“…for God is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

This statement is as positive as the first phrase is pointed and serious. From a warning to a blessing. From “be careful” to “be encouraged.” Here is what you do because here is what God is doing. Putting them back to back gives power to both statements. They support each other because they are two sides of the truth. Work it out because God is working it in. Grace and truth. If we only heard what God was doing and not what we are called to do, we may chill out and not take our assignment seriously. We have a part to play and it is a sober one. To ignore that is to fail to see what God is doing to make it happen.  We see human responsibility and divine sovereignty in two powerful phrases. Both are important. Divine sovereignty without human responsibility turns God into a detached deity with an ironclad will. The Bible gives us a very different picture. There is a dance between heaven and earth and both sides are true and necessary for scripture to mean what it says. Paul takes very seriously how we are to behave and how important grace is. Have at it!

CONTROL ISSUES?

The elder brother of the prodigal had them too–and didn’t know it. If you are a controlling person, you probably don’t see it–but everyone near you does. They feel it when you try to control the time, the conversation, the meeting, the phone call.

“The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control.” The more self-control you possess, the less you need to be controlling. The more out of control you feel, the more you may try to control whatever you can. If you struggle with needing to control other people,

1)  You feel entitled to your opinion, but you don’t want theirs. You trust your outlook.

2)  You assert yourself with anger, one of the major methods of controlling. And you are mad when people don’t follow your advice or expectations. The elder brother was like the Pharisees, who were out of control but presented themselves as in control. Controlling others masks insecurity. Think Martha, who tried controlling her sister.

3)  You don’t plan on changing, but others need to. Unfortunately, you are clueless to your control. You just have better ideas and more wisdom, and you want to mentor others and show them how it is done. The Pharisees thought they had things to teach people. In fact, they had nothing right, nor did the elder brother.

4)  You have many relational conflicts, which should be a clue to your problem, but you tend not to see your issues while you point out the flaws of others. The elder brother had a conflict with his brother and with his father. He didn’t know how to do relationships. The prodigal and the father did. The emphasis of controlling people is more on functions than on relationships. The prodigal was mending a relationship. The elder brother had no idea relationships needed mending. He didn’t know his father as a father; he was his boss. Entitlement reduces a relationship with God from father to boss. And their picture of Him is skewed by their wounding, perhaps a demanding mother or father. The elder brother had a good father but but he didn’t know it. He tried telling his father how to run the family, how to control his over-the-top younger brother

If you have read this far and think you might have some control issues, you probably do, and they are most likely bigger than you think. Here are some helps to walking in freedom from the need to be the CEO of the universe:

 

• Focus on yourself. Notice Paul calls it “self-control.” You are not required to control others, and you are not as good at it as you may imagine. Every one of your problems has a common issue–you. Quit thinking the world is out to get you. It just wants you to quit trying to manage their life. That is demoralizing and degrading, especially since your life is out of control. Think about it: the more we walk with self-control, the less need we feel to control others.
• Consider God. He is the most powerful person of the universe–and the least controlling. The father of the prodigal is a picture of God. The son made an illegitimate request–and the father honored it. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe he could see that the son had already left and needed to learn what the world was really like. He did–and he came home to experience non-controlling compassion. So will you.

 

DISCOURAGEMENT–A SIN?

Really? A young man I mentor spent a large portion of his life discouraged. It had never occurred to him that it might be sin. Seemed like it was a condition brought on sort of naturally by adverse circumstances. You accept it and work your way through it. But if it is sin, then it can be overcome, because that is what Jesus died for. Made sense to him.

Some would say, “It can’t be sin because you can’t help it.” Could Elijah have helped it? He ran south under the threat of Jezebel. He surrendered to discouragement. It seemed out of character for one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament.

What about John the Baptist? “He must increase and I must decrease.” As he starts to decrease, it doesn’t feel good. Could he have avoided it or was discouragement inevitable? He received a gentle rebuke from Jesus. He didn’t have to give in to discouragement. He could have kept his eyes on Jesus during his imprisonment, but discouragement blinded him.

Can you avoid it or do circumstances stack up in such a way that losing your joy, your fire, your concentration, your ability to praise the Lord at all times evaporates? Satan has something to do with discouragement. He steals, kills and destroys.

Here are two ways to not be discouraged.

1.YOU DECIDE NOT TO BE. “Oh, come on. Not that easy.” Okay, how does a person overcome the temptation to cross the line and sleep with his girlfriend at 1 AM in her apartment? He decides. He leaves rather than playing with fire. It’s all in his mind. Same with any sin. You choose not to. After giving in too often to discouragement, I chose not to be discouraged when a ministry we had for ten years was going down–little by little. I had to lock the door on discouragement each week. I knew it was not inevitable. It wasn’t going to help me. It was going to render me incapable of helping others during this difficult time. It is selfish for a pastor, a parent, a leader, a mother, a young adult to give in to discouragement. When my friend saw it as a decision, it encouraged him that he could do it–and he did!

2. YOU SPEAK IN TONGUES. “Are you really saying that? You just speak in tongues?” Yes. The Bible says, “He that speaks in a tongue edifies himself.” That is one incredible Scripture that we read, smile at, and go on. Wait a minute. Do you know anyone overdosing on encouragement, that needs a little discouragement in his life? Okay, do you know anyone who is battling discouragement on a daily basis and needing to be built up? The infallible, unalterable, unchangeable Word of God tells us we are built up when we speak in tongues. “Doesn’t work for me. And it doesn’t build me up that much. I don’t feel any different actually.” Right, and because you don’t, you only do it once in a while, and you do not do it in faith. The greatest apostle the world has ever seen said, “I am glad that I speak in tongues more than you all.” Do you think that has anything to do with his response in the back of a dungeon, locked in clamps unjustly, beaten without cause, and it’s midnight? He leans over to Silas and says, “Do you know any good choruses?” He was choosing not to live by his circumstances but by the Word of God. It will work for you as well.