Abdicate's Blog

I was on a forum where people were debating over something some TV preacher had said 15 years ago. I find that the church is so filled with the spirit of division, too busy “defending” their dogma to focus on God, that when a preacher/speaker/teacher says something it’s like they’re bound to it forever with no way to escape to the possibility of growth, maturity or a greater understanding. I’ve listen to people speak for 36 years and my own beliefs and understandings have changed over the years. What I find most irritating is that so many stick to the dogmatic teachings of their denomination instead of what the word of God says, interpreting some passage to mean one thing while someone else interprets it another way. Have you ever noticed that? Why would you think the Holy Spirit would allow such division? Simple, because they don’t ask Him. There is only one Truth and the Holy Spirit is the only way to find it out.

Here’s an example “I” had to go through. I did a chronological study of man from Adam to today using the scriptures as the foundation. Now, in my upbringing I was taught that Abraham left Haran after his father Terah died… funny though, that’s not what the scriptures say, but that’s how it’s interpreted. I had a real problem. The mathematics of the scriptures didn’t support the seeming contradiction of Gen 11-12 and Acts 7:4. Knowing full well there were no contradictions in the scriptures I could not reconcile this issue. It took me two years to find the answer. My study stopped all that time because I could not find the answer. Until I asked the Holy Spirit to sort it out for me. The next day I found (and many won’t like this) the book of Jasher and I read in it how Terah attended the weaning of Isaac. I knew it had to be an error, but the Spirit said read the Greek word for “father” in Acts 7:4. I found out that it also means “father: near or far, ancestor.” The math told me the “father” that died was not Terah but Noah! So I looked for a precedence in the scriptures and God Himself said that Abraham was the father of Jacob to Jacob when in reality he was his grandfather (Gen 28:13).

Still many won’t believe this, and that’s fine. It’s not that important since the puzzle kept me in the word of God. As christians mature, they realize what they knew years ago isn’t necessarily the truth now that they know better. This is why the word of God is alive (not the paper) but the message. The entire written word of God is a map to Jesus from any starting point of the reader. It is not the end of the whole story. But because of pride of so many readers, they reject those that see it from a different angle. It’s like the three blind men describing different part of an elephant, or five people explaining the car accident they all witnessed. Imagine the gems within the holy scriptures we are still discovering today, thousands of years later, like current events of dark matter being found in Genesis, because of its power!

See the thing is, the written word of God takes you to the all powerful, all knowing, all present God Almighty where there is no limit. John says that just the things of what Jesus did here on earth cannot contain the books that would be written about Him. The Holy Spirit knows it all and wants to share that information with the bride-to-be, we just have to ask. So what will happen: heresy! Why? Because there is so much more to God that some refuse to accept it solely because it wasn’t first written in a dusty scroll! Think about it: most of you believe the NT but what of those that never had it but only the OT right after Jesus returned to heaven!

Don’t accept everything everyone says (not even me) but ask the One Who can tell YOU the truth and let the others believe what they want. He is all that matters.

1 John 2:27 (KJV)
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Just a thought.

I hope you bear with me on this. I don’t drink alcohol, not because I’m against it, but because for me it’s like drinking medicine. You cannot tempt me with alcohol. Now, put a chocolate chip cookie out there and I’ll fight you for it (j/k). The point is, you cannot be tempted with that which you do not want. Women will never understand the power of a guy’s visual stimulation. So what’s the devil do? He puts every scantily clad girl out there on TV, internet, magazines (and I’m not talking porn here) but just in the supermarket. But here’s the thing, and it works, put it all under the blood. Sounds too spiritual I know, but you are a spiritual being and with repentance and the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ. How? Repentance is to change one’s mind and you’ve already done that because of the condemnation you feel. Now you just have to put the repentance into practice.

Do this practical exercise: take any magazine page and put it on a wall. Get some red paint and paint over it until you cannot read the page. Now that you have this visual process in your mind, recall every inappropriate image you can remember and paint over it in your mind – the “paint” being the Blood of Jesus. Claim in the Name of Jesus to be gone. This will work if you believe. Here’s why it works.

All throughout the scriptures the word says to guard against your thoughts. Jesus said this:

Matthew 5:28 (KJV)
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus equates the sin of adultery with looking on a woman with lust. How so? Well, you see a pretty girl, and in an instance, your MIND is racing scenarios of what she might look like nude, or in compromising positions. This is done on the movie screen of your mind. This causes all kinds of physical reactions, hormonal increases, releasing addictive endorphins … These fantasies rewire your brain so that you can produce these endorphins every time you fantasize and because of that you become more addictive, creating a vicious circle of sin, condemnation, frustration, repentance, sin, condemnation, frustration, repentance, sin, condemnation, frustration, repentance… So why doesn’t the repentance stick? We’re not warring correctly. We can’t do it in the flesh. Read this slowly:

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (KJV)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) ; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Your strong-hold (and 99.9999999% of all guys) is this issue of lust in today’s loose society. You must cast down imaginations and every high thought and bring it into captivity (through the blood of Jesus). And when, not if, when the temptations arise, you close your eyes, paint the Blood of Jesus over it and claim the power of His obedience. This is having an active mind and not a passive mind. An active mind is controlling the thoughts you have, focusing all the time on the task at hand. This is why the word says to meditate on the word day and night, why to have a song in your heart, praying without ceasing, they are ways to keep your mind active and focusing on Jesus. This is how you first, submit to God, and resist the devil.

James 4:7-8 (KJV)
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded.

You’re struggling, like we all do, because you’ve not dealt with this sin in your life, and until you do, you’ll always remain in this vicious circle until you either win or surrender and stop trying, searing your conscience with a hot iron. So read these verses and learn what God is trying to say:

Philippians 4:7-9 (KJV)
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

The war you’re going through is the same for everyone, some with alcohol, other with feelings of inadequacies and binging on ice cream until they’re 300 lbs with diabetes. Everyone has a vice, and these tendencies are the meaning to this verse:

Exodus 34:7 (KJV)
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].

Since our parents didn’t deal with their sins, the tendencies towards one or another are in our DNA, scientists have proven this. They’ve also proven that we can rewrite our DNA by doing just what the word of God says to do, have an active mind. Now this only works because you’re a Christian through the Blood of Jesus. There are indeed benefits to the lost too, but they’ll never overcome. So take comfort, it is indeed in your mind just like Paul says:

Romans 7:21-25 (KJV)
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

I pray this helps, it did me  that’s why I know it works!

As children we are born innocent, ignorant of the law. We grow up and our parents, our teachers, our baby sitters, our pastors, and society as a whole teach us about laws: God’s law, physical laws, governmental laws, acceptable societal laws, and our own experiential laws. As we grow older we begin to pick and choose how and when to obey laws based on our experiences and beliefs.

If the governmental law says that the speed limit is 25mph and as soon as we go past 25mph we are criminals. That’s the law, plain and simple. Societal laws say that going over the limit by 5mph usually won’t get you noticed by the law enforcers – the police. We take that thinking with us where ever we go. Some think “As long as I don’t get caught, I’m innocent.” Then when and only when they are caught, they repent, but only enough to reduce the fine or talk their way out of punishment. Why not, it worked on our parents. But as soon as they’re let go with a firm warning or a light fine, they’re back to their old ways.

Paul says “…for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.” God said not to lie (bear false witness) and because He said so, now it’s a law. Every time we “stretch” the truth, or omit the truth we are lying to others and to ourselves thereby breaking God’s law. In God’s eyes, anyone who breaks His laws must die. The payment for breaking God’s law is death. That’s it, plain and simple. It is just like being thrown into a debtor’s prison until the funds are raised to get you out of debt. If there’s no one that is willing to help you raise the needed funds, you’ll die there, in your debt. Except you’re thrown into this prison from birth! How fair is that? It isn’t! So a loving God sent His perfect holy Son to live in the flesh, like us, and live in the flesh without breaking God’s law, and then to pay for our debtor prison’s fine – death. His innocence was transferred to your account and your debt was transferred to His account, and He died for you, and you were set free. In God’s eyes, you died with Christ. If you’re dead there’s no law and if no law how can you be accused? If your great-great-great-grandfather is dead, how can the police arrest him for anything! That is how God sees you when you accept the gift of His Son. Unlike being dead in society, Jesus rose from the dead and since we died with Him on the cross, when He rose from the dead we rose to newness of life!

Now begins the war. When Jesus died for you, He died for your soul and spirit, but your flesh (body and mind) is still doomed until His return. You see Adam was the ruler of all, but when he chose to follow his own thoughts and disobey God, everything in the universe was infected with sin. Your body, just like the flower in your garden, or your dog, even the sun, is subject to the sin that Adam committed, and is cursed by God. While this might be hard to swallow [pun intended], but Adam saw that nothing happened to Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit, and not being deceived, willfully ate the fruit, and everything became infected with sin. So now when Adam and Eve had children, they too were infected with sin. This is why Jesus was born of a virgin, the sin-infected DNA of Adam wasn’t passed to Jesus.

So about this war… since we are dead, what war? Well, we still grew up with laws and the way of thinking about them directs our choices, good or bad. Most of those laws are wrong and so as we learn the truth through the written word of God and His Holy Spirit that lives within us. Therefore, we have a lot of things to unlearn. Romans 7 spells out this war. And while we are dead to sin, we must not allow it to continue to reign in our lives. The way to overcome them is through the knowledge of the Holy Spirit’s truth and renewing our minds every day. Paul says that we want to do good, but still inside is this desire to do the old ways, and sin. Sin is still in our bodies until we are free from it and that can only happen when the body succumbs to physical death or Jesus returns and gives us bodies like His. Read this:

Romans 7:22-24 (KJV) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Notice this war is in our thoughts. The decisions we make are all based on these life-long teachings, these laws, that we’ve accepted throughout our lives. “I know I shouldn’t, but I so want that cupcake!” Exaggerating the truth is still a lie and most people do it out of a lifetime of habit. These are the battles, the war, we fight in our minds. We are to take captive every thought and useless imagination. That means we’re to have an active mind, not a passive mind. A passive mind is one where you’re reading a book and you know you’ve read page, but at the same time, you were thinking about your kids, or work, and you don’t remember what you read. Or you’re walking down the street and you’ve walked a mile and didn’t even realize it because you were thinking of everything except your surroundings. Have you ever drove on “auto-pilot”? All these things are passive. This is why so many people are unhappy. They’re either thinking about the future or the past, and that means anything other than living in this very moment.

I guarantee you most people won’t have made it this far in this teaching, and if you have, you’re more active in your thinking than most. As a final thought [pun intended] let’s read the answer to Paul’s (and our) dilemma:

Romans 7:25 (KJV) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

You are dead to sin, don’t let the devil whip up thoughts of condemnation. How can you be condemned when you’re already dead! Paul warns not to let your liberty (your freedom) from sin be an excuse to sin. You’re an ambassador for God and your mission is to bring men to God and God to men – reconciliation. When you deal with the sins in your flesh you’ll reap the reward of peace. They call it a “conscience” but it’s really the law of God written on our hearts. So when we don’t listen to what’s written within us, we’re not at peace.

Just my two cents. I hope you enjoyed it. I learned a lot 😀

Is lying wrong? Is stealing wrong? Is murder wrong? Is hate wrong? Who says so? What right do you have to tell me that killing my neighbor and eating him is wrong? It’s done in other parts of the world. What makes it okay for them and not me? Yesterday the law says “this” is wrong and today the law is changed to say that “this” is right. Under what authority do they have to make or change the law? Society, they say. Well, what if all of society decides that the best way to deal with dead beat welfare people is to eat them? Is that right or wrong? Who says so? What right do you have to say “this” is wrong or “this” is correct?

60 Minutes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRvVFW85IcU) found a study recently on babies to see if they knew right from wrong. And to the amazement of everyone they did! How? They can’t even communicate. How then? The only answer is Moral Law, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpMSP-jWoH0). What is Moral Law? The law that God wrote on all our hearts, Romans 2:15; Hebrews 8:10; Hebrews 10:16. We call it a conscience. Now, if one rejects what the conscience is saying then they are making themselves hard towards the truth and reject anything they don’t “feel” is right or wrong instead of what they “know” in their heart as being right or wrong, Zechariah 7:12. This is the fundamental reason evolution was created: to deny God exists so the conscience could be rejected without conviction. No God, no conviction.

Is having sex with your neighbor wrong? Is having sex with your stepmother/father wrong? Is having sex with your neighbor’s husband/wife wrong? Is having sex with your sibling wrong? Is having sex with the same sex wrong? Is having sex with an animal wrong? Well if you answer yes to some and no to others, then you’re picking and choosing based on the winds of fluctuating feelings of society. But! If you believe the written word of God is indeed from God, then all these things are wrong, absolutely without hesitation. Why? Because the written word of God says they’re all wrong and God specifically says same sex is an abomination. So, when I say these things are wrong, I’m not judging someone, I’m only reiterating what the foundational word of God says. It is our owner’s manual for life on earth. It is for OUR benefit to believe and follow what it says. Do you like to be lied to? Why not? Everyone does it, they say. Yet, when you catch someone in a lie you’re furious. Why? What right do you have to be angry? God wrote it on your heart and you choose to accept that as truth: not telling the truth is wrong.

So this is the crux of the matter: do you believe God or not? Believing IN God isn’t enough. You have to believe what He says too.

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

This verse pretty much sums up the spoken and written word of God. The word “quick” isn’t about speed, but to live. The word of God is powerful meaning it has the ability to effect change. “Sharper” here is the meaning of a single blow to divide instead of “hacking” away at something. A two-edged sword is one that when used not only divides in two downward, but can divide going upward, saving so miniscule, and sometimes vital, amount of time from having to twist one’s hand to position the blade correctly in order to divide. Now comes the amazing part, as if what was stated wasn’t enough, of the word of God. This verse shows the three parts of man: body, soul, and spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart – aka soul

I’m going to start with the last part and work backwards to show the importance of this one verse. “… discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” There are over 800 verses on the “heart”. Here are a select few:

Proverbs 16:9 (KJV) A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

Psalms 139:23-24 (KJV) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Proverbs 6:18 (KJV) An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

Proverbs 14:30 (KJV) A sound heart [is] the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

Proverbs 17:22 (KJV) A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Proverbs 23:7a (KJV) For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he…

Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?

The word of God knows the truth about the thoughts and intents of the heart. As you can see from these few verses the heart is literally the “heart of the matter” concerning mankind. The “heart” is the consciousness of a person, not the physical organ beating in our chests. Whatever is in the heart is what they do which is why there is so much evil in the world. We are born with a great deceit in our hearts, Jeremiah 17:9. This is why a child’s heart is bound by foolishness, Proverbs 22:15. When someone loves another, they’re blind to the truth, a matter of the heart. When someone set out on a determined quest, it’s first born in the heart. David asked God to search his heart for any wickedness that might be lurking there. It takes God’s word to overcome the heart and to reprogram it. Thoughts are seeds planted and intent is the fruit of those seeds. This is why David asked such of thing of God. This consciousness is where our physical bodies are affected. While physical heart transplants¹ have shown that not everything changes to the donor’s way of life, the “heart” is the center of one’s decisions; a combination of both mind and heart, the soul of a person. A great read is found here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/heart.

When you read “soul” in the Hebrew Scriptures it’s referring to this consciousness. The same word in Greek is psyche. In Hebrew the word for heart is “leb” and the paleo-Hebrew picture is two letters: lamed and beit giving the picture of a shepherd’s staff – authority – and a house meaning “in”. So the “heart” in Hebrew is the “authority within”, our consciousness. Interestingly the word “dog” in Hebrew is ka-leb – meaning “all heart”; very fitting for man’s best friend.

The power of the heart is unstoppable. God changed man’s language because whatever a man can imagine there’s nothing to restrain it, Genesis 11:6! This is very evident today with the fulfillment of prophecy, Daniel 12:4, because the English language as the de facto language of the world unites everyone allowing great advances in, well, everything. Now with the maturing of the Internet, knowledge can’t help but increase even more, but then so can evil. And without the word of God to rewire us, the deceitful heart will rule. The damage is done to those people who do not follow after God’s ways by being unstable in all their ways, James 1:8. The imagination of a fiction writer in India could spark an idea in a scientist in California to find a cure for leukemia. Certainly the work of 1960’s Star Trek spawned a whole generation of kids to see beyond what they were taught in school to create cell phones, 3D images, non-evasive diagnostic medical tools. Jules Vern provoked the idea of man going to the moon via rockets and an underground transportation system we call subways today. All back in the late 1800’s! Studies after studies show that people who want to achieve have a vision of what they want on the inner TV screen of their mind. In the military, they’ll tell you to imagine all the bullets going through the center of the target. When that vision is clarified within that inner TV screen, the body executes the success. The imagination is the breeding ground of ideas. Businesses call it brainstorming and Google has dedicated a whole lab to it. In fact, one of the six things that God hates is an evil imagination, Proverbs 6:18.

The word of God is able to separate the thought from the intent – the idea from the reason for its execution. What motivates us to do what we do is what the word of God can tell us. So powerful is the imagination that Jesus says that lusting in the heart is the same as executing the lust in physical form, Matthew 5:27-28! John says if we hate, we’re a murder, 1 John 3:15. We are told to take captive every single thought, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, and focus on whatever thing is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of any virtue or praiseworthy or of good report, think on these things. These thoughts will rewrite your thinking and give you peace and joy. And when you have these things, your heart will be merry and a merry heart is medicine to the body, Proverbs 17:22, and life to the body, Proverbs 14:30. It is very evident that too many are just walking zombies and not actively using their mind taking control of their hearts and minds but becoming slaves to them.

The power of the “heart” is just now being examined by scientists², though they call it the mind and although it may be just that, it is the same thing as the whom in who we are. They have found that after just eight hours of mindfulness meditation the subjects “showed a range of genetic and molecular differences”. Mindfulness meditation is focusing on the moment with all the senses, no passive-autopilot thinking, not “emptying of the mid” but using the mind to focus on the task at hand. An example of this type of meditation is taking a single raisin and studying it with your eyes, then with your fingers, then with your ears (even though it makes no noise, you take note of it), then the smell of it, and finally with your mouth, savoring the taste, noticing the texture, the sweetness of the liquid that comes out. The idea behind this kind of meditation is to live in the moment and not letting it pass by, not focusing on tomorrow, yesterday or even something else, but enjoying the moment. Now you might be thinking that’s preposterous. Yet the word of God says it’s true!

Matthew 6:34 (KJV) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

Philippians 4:6 (KJV) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Proverbs 23:7a (KJV) For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he…

Whereas the scientists are looking at meditation – as defined as living in the moment – the Scripture uses the word “to mutter” as in “meditate the word of God” as God instructed Joshua, to focus on God’s word:

Joshua 1:8 (KJV) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

To meditate is the speak under your breath the word of God and thereby gaining more faith in the things that God says.

Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

All the day long we are bombarded by people talking to us about their ideas whether in person, on the radio, TV, reading articles on the internet, or even your own thoughts. If you sleep 8 hours a day, that leaves 16 hours of bombardment. In that amount of time, how much is dedicated to the word of God? Now you can see how the scales are tipped against you. But if you take just one verse in the morning and think on it, mutter it under your breath, all day, what a huge different that’ll make.

Please read this study on meditating: https://abdicate.net/blog/?p=161

References

1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1299456
2 http://www.tunedbody.com/scientists-finally-show-thoughts-can-cause-specific-molecular-changes-genes

The problem with Christianity is one thing: humans. We are prejudice, discriminatory, and racists. We’re quick to judge anything as negative, or at least sceptical, if we have not experienced it for ourselves. My wife is a Spaniard and it took three Thanksgivings before she’d even try a piece of pumpkin pie. Why? Because in Spain you have pumpkin soup or eat pumpkin seeds as a snack, but not pumpkin as a pie. It just wasn’t in her culture. Now she makes some of the best variety of pumpkin pies I’ve ever eaten and my belt testifies too loudly that point. In her eyes pumpkins were not for making pies. She had to overcome, learn and adapt. Humans are, for the most part, not amenable to change. Whatever we grew up with believing, tends to stay with us.

Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We Christians are judged by the world for our actions, like it or not, and we do the same thing to other Christians. But just like the world, Christians are fleshly in beliefs and in actions as well. Everything under the sun will be exploited and exaggerated. Healings are real. My wife was 100% healed from a condition I didn’t even know about until I had to translate a question from a Godly woman about my fiance’ neck. If it hadn’t happened to me, it would have stayed a belief “from the Bible” only. Yet there are “pastors” that pay people to be “healed” to boost ratings and rake in the money. That doesn’t make healings false.

Speaking in tongues is one way the Spirit prays through us for things our flesh would only get in the way.

Romans 8:26 (KJV)
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

It is also the means by which the Spirit communicates to someone you’re speaking to that neither of you speak a common language.

Acts 2:6 (KJV)
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

Paul gives us guidelines for speaking in tongues but far too many that use it use it incorrectly, to make a show and bring attention to themselves instead of to Jesus. Paul says if tongues are used in public, they should be interpreted, otherwise, what good is it, except to communicate with God in your closet. As with a chaotic church service with people falling all over the place, or stoic church stifling the movement of the Holy Spirit, mob mentality tends to rule.

I absolutely LOVE John MacArthur! He’s an awesome teacher, but he doesn’t believe in the manifestations of the Spirit at all. I was like him until I experienced the Holy Spirit for myself. So who’s correct? We both are. See, all you have to do is look at creation and see the myriads of differences to understand that every human being is different. We’re even sealed as such by God in our fingerprints.

Job 37:7 (KJV)
He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.

Smith Wigglesworth was a great man of God in the early 20th century and has documented raisings of the dead, including his own wife. He healed tens of thousands and yet he could not heal his deaf daughter. God deals with us as differently as He does with creation. Even God’s choice to convey His message are from two diverse languages you can get on earth. Hebrew is a wonderfully creative language. Using root words, you can create your own word – much like we do in English using -gate to depict a scandal like Watergate, and people will understand you. Greek is a very structured language with a lot of rules, saying what it means and means what it says.

We claim to follow Christ, but most of the quotes we make from the Scriptures are from Paul. Paul was a radical. Paul only had the Hebrew Scriptures and yet we quote him more than anyone else, even Jesus. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yet just as different creation is throughout the world, so is His dealings with us. What Paul said in his day cause him to end up in jail as well as all those that repeated his words. We have a promise from Joel that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on ALL flesh.

Joel 2:28-32 (KJV)
And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

This started at Pentecost:

Acts 2:14-21 (KJV)
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is [but] the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But who said it ended? If it’s recorded in the Word of God then is can happen again. John warns us that the world could not contain all that there is to be written just about Jesus’ life on earth, how can we dismiss what’s written of in the Word of God as being phoney baloney in the lives of people today? Enoch was raptured, was it only meant for him? Before Elijah, one could easily preach as such! But no, it’s not just for Enoch because Elijah was raptured. Jesus was raptured. Paul’s friend, John, Daniel, and Philip were raptured, albeit temporarily. So if someone talks about being translated, who are we to dismiss it as not possible just because we ourselves haven’t experienced it. Elijah saw the Lord’s army but his servant didn’t – until he prayed for him to see. So when someone says they see angles and you don’t, that doesn’t make them better than you and it doesn’t make you worse than them.

Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

So if people have entertained angels unaware, some have entertained knowingly! In whatever you do, do it for the glory of the Lord. We are “sons of God” yet that title was reserved for the angles of the OT. Yet, that isn’t the end of us! There waits something else for us!

1 John 3:2 (KJV)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

An amazing fact. But be content. If you’re happy with milk, enjoy the milk, get a milky mustache, and give thanks to God. If you want more, there’s more, take it. God loves you. Delight in Him and He’ll give you the desires of your heart, because your desire will be Him and He’ll come to you!

Hebrews 10:19-25 (ISV)
Therefore, my brothers, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great high priest over the household of God, let us continue to come near with sincere hearts in the full assurance that faith provides, because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us continue to hold firmly to the hope that we confess without wavering, for the one who made the promise is faithful. And let us continue to consider how to motivate one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another even more as you see the day of the Lord coming nearer.