Conversation with God 4|10|12

LORD: "Do you love Me, Phil?"

Me: "Yes, LORD, of course."

LORD: "Then, will you feed My sheep?"

Me: "Yes, LORD, I would love to."

LORD: "Then, will you tend My sheep?"

Me: "Lord, you know that I desire it all. How can I tend Your sheep?"

LORD: "Always hold close to Me and let Me lead - I've chosen you because you do that so well, that is humility, and that is why I've been speaking that in your life - that you will learn to lean on Me, lean on Me, and keep on leaning. Any glory that you steal, I will take away. You haven't done anything wrong, My Son has covered you for that, you should thank Him, your Brother.

"I am showing you, because you have asked for it, what the life of a humble person is like. Are you willing to be behind the scenes? In the shadows? Are you willing that not a single person will praise you? I will be the One to comfort and you, not man. I will be the One to encourage you.

"I understand your desires, and that you want to surrender your body a living sacrifice. I am just putting you in a time of testing and seasoning. You and I both know that pride destroys and I hate it, and because I love you so much, I'm taking that away. Follow your Brother's footsteps - I've shown you humility."

Me: "Thank You, LORD. How can I know that You are really going to release Your fire to consume me?"

LORD: "Believe and it shall be."

Me: "But what do I believe, LORD?"

LORD: "Trust and obey Me when I say go here and speak this because this fire and power you seek is not for you, but for My sheep."

Me: "Lord, I am willing."

LORD: "No you're not."

Me: "Then make me willing!"

LORD: "Patience, son. I'm doing a great work in you. Trust Me, I know what you need and what you lack. Remember that I am always Faithful and True even when you aren't. That's why I suggest leaning on Me, because I love taking care of you.

"Remember when I told you that My timing is perfect? I really meant it."

Me: "Yes, I need to remember that. I am sorry for forgetting."

LORD: "My true rest is given to those who come to Me; those who come to Me for anything. There is a promise of My rest for you, Phil, if you can believe that I can take care of things and that I am a lot better at handling than you are."

Me: "Thank You, all I ask is that You would take all pride and that it would never come and return."

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life."

-Proverbs 13:12

Tarry Until

Pentecostal Baptism

by William Caldwell

(book I found downstairs owned by my parents)

Tarry Until

To tarry or not to tarry, that is the question in the minds of many who are concerned about the Pentecostal Baptism.

Jesus commanded His followers, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49), and "that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4).

The word "tarry" presents no difficulty if one considers the Greek word which is thus translated. It is kathizo, meaning to sit down. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon lists forty-eight instances where this word is used in the New Testament.

In all other instances except one it is translated sit, set, sat, ect. In the other occasion, Acts 18:11, it is translated "continued," but the marginal reading in some Bibles gives "sat," as does the Rotherham Translation.

Likewise, "wait" is from permeno, meaning to remain around. But neither kathizo nor permeno mean to prolong, delay, cleanse, purify, prepare, consecrate or sanctify. Rather, they imply that one must exercise determination or concentration upon a duty to be performed.

So Jesus actually told His disciples to sit down and remain in Jerusalem until they received the promised Holy Spirit. This does not necessarily refer to their posture. Rather, they were being directed not to busy themselves with other things.

The important duty was that they direct their attention toward receiving the Holy Spirit. They had nothing in the whole world more important to do, and this they were obediently doing. Indeed, when the Day of Pentecost came, there were sitting down (Acts 2:2), still in Jerusalem.

Since the Day of Pentecost, prolonged waiting for the Pentecostal Baptism is both unnecessary and unscriptural. The Day has fully come, hence there is no need to "tarry in the city of Jerusalem." Neither is there any need for Christ to remind us we "should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father."

After the Day of Pentecost no one waited, except in ignorance. As soon as they knew of the Holy Spirit they received Him, speaking in tongues as they did so.

In the Scriptures there is nothing to endorse a typical "tarrying meeting," where a number come to tarry and generally go away un-baptized, to return and try again. There is no record where some received and others did not. There were no such failures in the Bible. Every believer received.

There is no suggestion, either, of waiting until they were "good enough." How absurd is the position that one can be saved and ready for heaven if he should die, and yet be unfit to receive the Holy Spirit. If one is ready for the end, he is certainly ready for the means to that end. Who can deny that the Holy Spirit is a means to that end, when he must minister to us from our conviction to our translation.

The 120 received "suddenly," not as the attainment of a spiritual or emotional climax. If there is a level of spirituality one must attain, then the justice of God would demand that all arrive at exactly the same level to receive. But were the 120 of equal spirituality? Were the Samaritans? Were they of Cornelius' household? Why didn't someone tell those poor Caesareans about tarrying?

In waiting till they feel "good enough," people mistake sentiment for spirituality. Feeling holy is like feeling humble. Holiness and humility are usually "felt" only after they have been lost.

Building a Christian character is the work of s lifetime. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the result of a moment of faith. Christ baptizes us on the moment we believe, "Every one that asketh receiveth" (Luke 11:10).

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the word "tarry" is derived from a medieval English word meaning "to irritate or hinder." The complete modern usage is as follows: "(1) to delay or be tardy; linger; (2) to abide at or in a place; stay; specifically, to rest in anticipation; to wait."

In hardly any way could the word be applied in a complimentary sense to the typical "tarrying meeting." Prolonged tarrying makes a virtue of unbelief. Unbelief kept the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years, when they might have marched right up to Canaan in a matter of several weeks.

When people are taught to wait, they expect to wait. But if there were merit in prolonged waiting, then the longer one waited the quicker he would receive - an impossible situation.

If tarrying alone is sufficient, then everyone who has ever tarried would have received. But many thousands have tarried without receiving; they have gone away again and again, unfilled and discouraged.

Among those who have received the Holy Spirit in our revivals are some who had begun tarrying fifty or more ears before. How much more fruitful might those lives have been had they been led into a life of Pentecostal power a half a century sooner.

The chief lesson usually learned by prolonged, legalistic, unbelieving tarrying is that we need not to have thus delayed our receiving. So many have remarked, upon receiving after tarrying a long period, "If I had only known it was this easy, I would have received the first time I asked."

And this is something we often see in our evangelistic crusades, new converts immediately receiving their Baptism. These sometimes speak so fluently that we have interrupted them to make sure they were not speaking in a foreign language with which they were already familiar. It seems incredible that anyone should suppose these might have done better had they been driven away from the "burning bush" for a period of probation.

However, if one does not receive the first time he asks, he dare not throw the whole doctrine overboard and forget about it. The Baptism is still his responsibility. He must then "tarry until" in the proper sense. That is, sit down and give primary attention to receiving the Spirit. Go about it earnestly, diligently, fervently. Do not allow your interest or efforts to be diverted elsewhere.

In the event of seeming failure, do not be discouraged. Do not condemn yourself. "There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Build up your faith by feeding on "faith food," that is, Bible truths.

This does not mean a delay, but rather a hastening of that moment when you exchange your doubts for faith and permit the Holy Ghost to fall upon you in Pentecostal power.

The Glory Within [Sections]

THE GLORY WITHIN

Corey Russell

The Call To Fellowship

So here are the facts: If we have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and made Him our Lord and Savior, then right now—whether we feel it or not, whether our circum-stances are good or bad, whether our relationships are positive or negative—we have the very Spirit of God dwelling deep within our spirits. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, the God of Genesis 1 who spoke the universe into existence, lives in us. Jesus Christ now dwells within all believers, regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their background, or their struggles. And not only is Christ in us, but more than that, we are in Him. Our lives are hidden in Christ, and right now, in the presence of God, we are clean as Jesus is clean, and we are close to the Father as Jesus is close to the Father. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (see Eph. 1:3). We are one spirit with Him, which means that His thoughts, His desires, His plans, and His life are now ours.

Few believers truly understand what now dwells in within them. We have treasures living inside of us—all the riches and glory and strength of God Himself deposited within our spirits (see Eph. 3:16), and so many of us don’t have a clue. I say this often: We have a billion dollars in our bellies, yet most of us live on 20 cents a day. The great preacher and revivalist Leonard Ravenhill recounted a conversation he had with theologian A.W. Tozer concerning this reality:

I think again of a statement A.W. Tozer made to me once. He said, “Len, you know, we’ll hardly get our feet out of time into eternity that we’ll bow our heads in shame and humiliation. We’ll gaze on eternity and say, ‘Look at all the riches there were in Jesus Christ, and I’ve come to the Judgment Seat almost a pauper.’” For God had not only given us Jesus Christ—He has with Him freely given us all things (see Rom. 8:32).

We’re living as starving beggars, and we don’t even know it. We spend millions of dollars on counseling and self-help, yet we see so little fruit in our lives. We wear ourselves out with religious activity, and still we find ourselves trapped in cycles of fear, depression, rejection, and self-hatred. As a result, we turn to comfort zones of overindulgence found in alcohol, entertain-ment, food, ungodly relationships—all of this to run from the poverty of our souls.

At some point, each of us has to take an honest look at our lives and ask: Where is the breakdown? If I have been given the fullness of the life of God, why don’t I experience it? If I have everything in Christ, why do I walk in so little love and joy and peace? Where is the breakdown? Hopefully by now the revelation of all that we have been given in Christ is creating a deeper hunger in our spirits and a prayer is growing inside of us: How can I access the life of God in me? How can I begin to see the Holy Spirit break out of my spirit and transform every area of my life—body, soul, and spirit?

This question is what John 15 is all about. In John 15, Jesus states that He is the Vine and we are the branches. Think about the analogy Jesus used. The vine contains the life source—it contains the sap—and the vine also contains the branches. In the same way that the branches are connected to the vine, we are in Christ. We are in the vine, yet Jesus still gives us this command as branches. He calls us to abide in the vine. This means that, even though we are already in Christ, we must, through an act of our own will, consciously and deliberately draw on the sap of the life of God within us. We must draw on the sap, the life source, the power that has been placed within us through deliberately fellowshipping and communing with the Holy Spirit.

Many of us think that when it comes to our transformation, God will do everything and we don’t have a part to play. The truth, though, is that God has a part and we have a part. We cannot do God’s part, and God will not do our part. This is a major stumbling block on the road to maturity and transformation. We are all guilty of passivity—so many of us sit around wishing that our lives were different while refusing to go on the treasure hunt to discover what we’ve been given and how to access it. The author of Hebrews states that God rewards those who diligently seek Him, which means this: If we answer the call to actively fellowship with God, then we will see the power and life of the Holy Spirit break out of our spirits and spread like wildfire, transforming every area of our lives.

Now that we’ve looked at what we possess in Christ, felt the sting of the gap between what we possess and what we experience, and heard the call to deliberately access what we have been given through fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, the question remains: How do we fellowship with the Holy Spirit? How do we access the glorious riches dwelling deep within us? This question haunted me for years, but as I searched the Word of God, I found a clear roadmap. The way to access the life of God is very simple, so simple that few actually practice it. I want to highlight the three specific practices that I discovered in my journey of fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit. All three have been a significant source of life and breakthrough, but I will focus specifically on the third. The first is meditation on the Word of God, the second is dialogue with the Holy Spirit, and the third is praying in tongues.

The Testimony of Paul

In First Corinthians 12-14, Paul was addressing a group of sincere yet immature believers. The Corinthians were zealous for the gifts of the Spirit, but their immaturity created confusion in corporate settings. In the Corinthians church, believers would simply shout in tongues without providing any interpretation; the result was a lot of chaos and very little edification.

Many believers today look at these chapters and conclude that Paul preferred prophecy over the gift of tongues: “Prophecy is better than tongues, so why bother with tongues at all?” But in context, this is not what Paul says. When tongues are not interpreted, then prophecy is better in a corporate setting because believers understand what is said and are edified, and unbelievers are not freaked out! However, Paul did not denounce the gift of tongues. He affirmed the glory of praying in the spirit while establishing guidelines to create a culture of honor—a culture that made room for the gifts of the Spirit while serving and respecting the Body. Paul’s message to Corinth can be summarized thus: pray in tongues as much as possible, but not in a manner that will dis-rupt the corporate meeting.

Let’s look at this verse again: “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all” (1 Cor. 14:18). This is a bold and significant statement. It reveals how heavily Paul relied on praying in tongues to build up and edify his spirit and connect with God. In his epistle to the church in Thessalonica, Paul commands the believers to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Paul was a man who lived in unceasing prayer, and in this verse, we have a glimpse of what that looked like. Whether he was traveling, working, discipling, or in prison, he constantly prayed in tongues. We cannot overlook this: the mightiest apostle in Christian history declared that he prayed in tongues all the time. What did he understand about the power of praying in the Spirit?

A Personal, Devotional Prayer Language

The subject of speaking in tongues has been controversial throughout Church history. Could it be that the gift that has stirred some of the greatest debate and division within the Body of Christ is actually the greatest key to unlocking the power of God in the Church in these last days? Could it be that the devil has worked overtime to make this point of contention because he understands the power it will release? The enemy doesn’t spend his energy on things that don’t matter, but on the realities that can potentially destroy his kingdom. This is why, I believe, the subject of our prayer language has so much warfare around it.

Let me take a moment to put a few disclaimers out there. When talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, I like to think of Him, with us, in us, and upon us. He is with us prior to and after salvation, He is in us at salvation, and He comes upon us at the immersion into the Holy Spirit. The question of whether or not a believer speaks in tongues is not a question of salvation. Praying in the Spirit is not evidence of salvation. That day you said yes to Jesus, you received the Holy Spirit completely on that day, and by the power of your confession of Jesus Christ as your Lord, you are saved. The purpose of our immersion or baptism in the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of power in ministry, and I believe there are several of these encounters that release greater authority in our lives over a span of one’s life. Looking at the Book of Acts, we see that speaking in tongues is prominently featured as a sign of this baptism.

In First Corinthians 14:27-28, Paul gives directions to individuals who wish to speak in tongues:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

In these directions, Paul assumes that there is an experience of the life and power of the Holy Spirit available to all believers: the personal, devotional gift of tongues. He taught the Corinthians that when we speak in tongues, it is a private conversation between our spirits and the Spirit of God. Paul considered this expression of tongues so important that, earlier in the chapter, he declared that he wished all believers spoke in tongues (see 1 Cor. 14:5a).

I believe that God is bringing a generation back to this gift that fueled the man whose conversion and apostolic ministry is one of the strongest testimonies of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul’s testimony is not the only apostolic testimony when it comes to the power of tongues. The same witness exists in recent history. John G. Lake, a missionary and revivalist who moved in powerful signs and wonders, declared that “tongues has been the making of my ministry.” It is said that Smith Wigglesworth, a great leader of the Pentecostal revival in the late 19^th century who was noted for his healing ministry, spent at least an hour every morning praying in tongues.

We are hearing a lot in recent years about restoration of the apostolic ministry, and I am convinced that at the forefront of this restoration there will be an exponential increase in praying in the Spirit, I desire to see this reality sweep across the Body of Christ, transcending denomination and affiliation.

Our Death and Resurrection

Acts 2:38-39

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

1. Believe
2. Repent
3. Baptism
4. Receive

This goes for anyone, Peter says. There is no achievement to receive anything that has already been done for everyone. All it comes down to is believing. And by believing, recognizing the conviction of the Holy Spirit to repent of all sin. Finally, after repentance you will be baptized in the name of Jesus, or submerged/immersed/buried. Once baptized, you receive the Holy Spirit.

Let's start backwards. We ask the question - how can I receive the Holy Spirit, being clothed with power from on high? We are brought to steps 2 & 3 - repent and be baptized. Repentance and baptism work together. What is it? It is the dying of the flesh and emptying of self. It is our death to self. Repentance is the working of the cross, baptism is the working of the burial. This must happen before the receiving of the Holy Spirit - the resurrection, the new life.

Repentance contains 4 things (the 4 C's if you will):

1. Conviction
2. Confession
3. Contrition
4. Change

The Holy Spirit brings the conviction (John 16:8). He shines the light on us, on things either hidden or brought out before Him. Then it is our duty to confess before God, or admit the things we have done wrong. Contrition is the feeling of remorse and penitence over sin. But the result of repentance is most of all change. Repentance literally means "to change one's mind". Most commonly in the church it means to turn away from sin and to walk in the direction of the Father's will. Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Change is an alteration, a transformation of self.

Again, repentance is our death to self on the cross. Baptism is the burial of self. This is the way to receiving the Holy Spirit, step 4. But the most important is the first - Believe.

Believe. Study this word. This is what causes the next 3 steps to happen. This is all that it takes. Believe.

And this is the Gospel - Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. He paved the way for me. The work has been finished! Now my death is through repentance. My burial is through baptism, and my resurrection is through the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Today Is The Day

D a y 4 0

What Will You Wear?

This has been a thought of mine for a while, but I am now convinced that there is a truth to this.

I believe that what you wear will affect your soul; the way you think, your motives, your personality, your decisions. You.

One day I dressed nice: H&M slacks, H&M dress shoes, skinny tie, white dress shirt, and a comfy sage green wool winter coat. No matter how much I tried, I acted differently and could not escape the fact that I looked "rich".

Might have been that same day where I changed because I was thinking on this: Jeans, t-shirt, flannel, tennis shoes. Now I wasn't distracted. Somehow, I was able to keep the focus away from myself all of a sudden. Whereas, with my other attire, I couldn't get the focus away from me. With this attire, I seemed "poor" in a sense.

This is really shaping the way I look for clothing. I don't usually anyways, but what if the world, or at least the Church saw this? I am not saying that we should not purchase nice clothing. But why are we? Who are we impressing? Even in church. I know for myself that I love dressing up for God, but then I forget what other people think.

I believe there is a trend (always has been at least) in Christianity. Fashion.

Let's be honest: Toms shoes. I love them. I love their purpose. But it has become a trend in the church. I am not even saying it is right or wrong, but am just pointing out the obvious.

I wonder what it would look like if our generation dressed in lower class. Or at least not paying so much attention to how we look.

My Thoughts

"Humility is the path towards Holiness. Pride is the path towards separation."

"Serving is always the better option. The greatest one serves with a meek and gentle attitude."

"Time is one of the greatest sacrifices offered to God. Waste is very precious His sight."

"Humility says, 'I need God's grace'; Pride says, 'I can do this'."

"When I am strong, I can move. When I am weak, God can move."

"As a 'leader', the most important thing I can do is unconditionally run after God's heart."

"A true leader is one whose primary focus is staying close behind Jesus."

"The greatest leader is the one who becomes least."

"Fear and Faith are opposites. One who fears is one who believes they are without God. One who has faith is one who believes that God is in them."

"Fear positions myself to believe that I am a child of Satan. Faith positions myself to believe that I am a child of God."

"Power is given to the meek."

"Balance is never a good word. Only use it to describe humility; I'm either low and God is exalted, or I am exalted and God is low.

"Meekness is one who has the power that comes from believing, and humility that comes from understanding; power entrusted to the one who seeks only to do the will of the Father."

"Love is an unending puzzle. True lovers stick with the puzzle until it is finished."