Oh what POWER!!!
Onto more books!!
Last night I started I Believe in Visions by Kenneth E. Hagin which is an amazing book and a personal testimony. He had a miraculous childhood, living with a heart condition. Then when he was about 16 yrs old, he died. Then quickly came back to life. This happened 3 times within a short period of time and he was able to remember and retell his experiences. He wasn't a Christian and being saved from the agony of hell, he committed his life to Christ. He was also bedridden at the time and prayed, believed and received healing to walk again. Which he did.(which took a while as his muscles were very weak) He started attending a Full Gospel church that believed in miraculous healing, prophecy and speaking in tongues. He was then convinced that speaking in tongues was in scripture. He went to his pastor and asked that he pray over him that he would be baptised in the Holy Spirit/that he would speak in tongues. His pastor told him to wait, for he had to wait 3 and a half years before he spoke in tongues. He pointed to some scripture that showed no signs of waiting then they both prayed, he believed and received then spoke in tongues for an hour and a half.
I want to speak in tongues. Not because it sounds cool or because I want to be different. But because of what the bible says about it. All the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, teaching/preaching, evangelism, prophecy, healing.....are for edification of the Body. All except speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is personal edification, its encouragement for the individual, its praising God in a language that has not been defiled, it recharges you, and can be evidence that you've been baptised in the Holy Spirit (as opposed to baptism in water or in the name of Jesus). I want to be encouraged and 'recharged'.
I've been learning a lot about the Holy Spirit lately: about that great power within us, about being filled and baptised in the Holy Spirit and how that's different from being baptised in water, about the work being done in me, through me and for me.
I stopped reading and prayed. I prayed that not only would I be filled with the Holy Spirit but that I would receive. I prayed that I would speak in tongues that my spirit would be recharged. I didn't speak in tongues. Immediately the enemy mocked me for trying. I simply have a lot of growing to do, which I'm okay with. But its so hard to ignore the enemy's doubts and discouraging words when you are trying to process things. I wondered what I had done wrong. Did I not pray the right words, were my intentions pure and God-glorifying, did I just need to wait? I don't know, I'm okay with not speaking in tongues for now. The enemy would really have to fight a lot harder than that for me to doubt God's word.
I decided that that book would need to be more for meditation and pondering....read a bit slower, so I took another book to work. Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love by Jerry Bridges. Reading the first part of the first chapter caused me to think a bit more about last night and my efforts towards speaking in tongues. So far he's talked about how we perceive grace, that we see grace end at salvation and rely on our own efforts for the rest of our Christian walk. The first part is right, its by grace that we are saved. But its also by grace that we do this, that and everything else. I think about the difference between Christians who have been raised up in the Church and those who are recent 'converts'. I've always wanted to be one who hadn't grown up in the church because they always grasp the concept of grace. They've experienced what its like to be without Christ and have truly felt what its like to be saved...rescued. The rest of us, those who've grown up in the Church, are like spoiled children not realizing where they were headed without Christ. We are the ones who don't understand grace, we are the ones who think we don't have to rely on Christ for everything. But we do.....and I wonder if when I prayed to speak in tongues if I wasn't relying on Christ 100%. I wonder if I was saying to myself subconsciously, "Okay, I'm ready now, I'll do it." Of course I asked, but maybe my prayer was more asking permission instead of asking that He work in me, that He would take over.
I'm okay with continuing to grow and learn!!
Last night I started I Believe in Visions by Kenneth E. Hagin which is an amazing book and a personal testimony. He had a miraculous childhood, living with a heart condition. Then when he was about 16 yrs old, he died. Then quickly came back to life. This happened 3 times within a short period of time and he was able to remember and retell his experiences. He wasn't a Christian and being saved from the agony of hell, he committed his life to Christ. He was also bedridden at the time and prayed, believed and received healing to walk again. Which he did.(which took a while as his muscles were very weak) He started attending a Full Gospel church that believed in miraculous healing, prophecy and speaking in tongues. He was then convinced that speaking in tongues was in scripture. He went to his pastor and asked that he pray over him that he would be baptised in the Holy Spirit/that he would speak in tongues. His pastor told him to wait, for he had to wait 3 and a half years before he spoke in tongues. He pointed to some scripture that showed no signs of waiting then they both prayed, he believed and received then spoke in tongues for an hour and a half.
I want to speak in tongues. Not because it sounds cool or because I want to be different. But because of what the bible says about it. All the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, teaching/preaching, evangelism, prophecy, healing.....are for edification of the Body. All except speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is personal edification, its encouragement for the individual, its praising God in a language that has not been defiled, it recharges you, and can be evidence that you've been baptised in the Holy Spirit (as opposed to baptism in water or in the name of Jesus). I want to be encouraged and 'recharged'.
I've been learning a lot about the Holy Spirit lately: about that great power within us, about being filled and baptised in the Holy Spirit and how that's different from being baptised in water, about the work being done in me, through me and for me.
I stopped reading and prayed. I prayed that not only would I be filled with the Holy Spirit but that I would receive. I prayed that I would speak in tongues that my spirit would be recharged. I didn't speak in tongues. Immediately the enemy mocked me for trying. I simply have a lot of growing to do, which I'm okay with. But its so hard to ignore the enemy's doubts and discouraging words when you are trying to process things. I wondered what I had done wrong. Did I not pray the right words, were my intentions pure and God-glorifying, did I just need to wait? I don't know, I'm okay with not speaking in tongues for now. The enemy would really have to fight a lot harder than that for me to doubt God's word.
I decided that that book would need to be more for meditation and pondering....read a bit slower, so I took another book to work. Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love by Jerry Bridges. Reading the first part of the first chapter caused me to think a bit more about last night and my efforts towards speaking in tongues. So far he's talked about how we perceive grace, that we see grace end at salvation and rely on our own efforts for the rest of our Christian walk. The first part is right, its by grace that we are saved. But its also by grace that we do this, that and everything else. I think about the difference between Christians who have been raised up in the Church and those who are recent 'converts'. I've always wanted to be one who hadn't grown up in the church because they always grasp the concept of grace. They've experienced what its like to be without Christ and have truly felt what its like to be saved...rescued. The rest of us, those who've grown up in the Church, are like spoiled children not realizing where they were headed without Christ. We are the ones who don't understand grace, we are the ones who think we don't have to rely on Christ for everything. But we do.....and I wonder if when I prayed to speak in tongues if I wasn't relying on Christ 100%. I wonder if I was saying to myself subconsciously, "Okay, I'm ready now, I'll do it." Of course I asked, but maybe my prayer was more asking permission instead of asking that He work in me, that He would take over.
I'm okay with continuing to grow and learn!!
posted by Korryn at
12:14 PM
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