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God Not Under Man's Control
by BILL HUNT God is Sovereign and not under man's control; although, man appears to have a difficult time believing this. One man told how the Lord called him by name vocally from sleep early on three successive mornings. He rose, prayed prostrate, and repented before him. On the third morning, as he prayed in repentance, he suddenly experienced a spinning, cannon-like ball aflame with hundreds of tongues of fire shooting towards him. The white light surrounding the cannon ball was so intense, even his spiritual eyes blacked out from looking directly at the center of the vision. Tongues of fire spun off as the cannon ball came through his body, mind, and spirit. This caused a Pentecost explosion of incredible joy through his whole being. He knew instantly he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Soon after, he began to pray in the heavenly language, the gift of tongues. Everyone experiences this indwelling of the Spirit in a unique and personal way. The initial gift of tongues at the baptism of the Holy Spirit is received from God in a very personal way. The more you walk with God in your life, the more you realize you cannot "put God in a box." You can not insist he work in some dogmatic way man determines. One pretty young wife simply sat up in bed to pray in the middle of the night, opened her mouth, and prayed in tongues for the first time in her life. Her amazed, unbelieving husband next to her also awoke from his sleep and listened. The way to receive the Holy Spirit is to repent wholly before God and yield to Him. He is the one who gives the gift! The Spirit cannot be forced, simply invited. God's love is so personal. Jesus meets each person's need in an individual way. Every one of us is totally unique and special to the heart of God. No two people are treated in the same way. The love of the Father is too wonderful to fathom. "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you!" (1 Cor 14:18) This is a KEY to the use of tongues, the comment the Apostle Paul made in his epistle. If Paul spoke in tongues more than anyone, does this not indicate it must have some significant value? Most theologians refer to it as the least of the spiritual gifts. But Paul indicates its importance. Tongues is seen at the coming of the indwelling Holy Spirit first in Jerusalem at Pentecost, Acts 2:4, then in Caesarea, Acts 10:46, and then in Ephesus, Acts 19:6. Other manifestations are seen as well at the Spirit's second visitation in Jerusalem, Acts 4:31, the indwelling at Samaria, Acts 8:17, and Paul's infilling in Damascus, Acts 9:17. What is the true value of the gift of tongues? Why did Paul pray so much in tongues? There must be more to this amazing gift. Bill Hunt dedicated his marriage to discovering God's 100 million miracles in life. As a Christian Writer, administrator, and career educator, he writes true miracle stories and Christian teachings on FaithWriters and CornerRetreat.blogspot.com. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |