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| Keep Yourself in God’s Love |
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Keep Yourself in God’s Love How does the title of this blog strike you? Keep yourself in God’s love. For most of my saved life, I have always prayed that God would continue to pour out His love on me. Sounds like a reasonable prayer. But the point I would like to bring out today is, that we can keep ourselves in God’s love. Meaning, it’s our responsibility. I know, you are probably thinking, “No, not more responsibility!” . Trust me, it’s not that difficult to do.
GOD DOES NOT WITHHOLD HIS LOVE, EVER
Look at the following two verses:
1 John 4:8 (New Living Translation) But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
GOD IS LOVE
John 4:24 (New Living Translation)
For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
AND GOD IS SPIRIT
God, who is Love, and who is Spirit, is omnipresent. He’s everywhere, all the time. If we are feeling separated from His love, it’s not because he is holding it back. He’s not sitting up on his throne with his arms crossed waiting until you pray just the right words, or pay your tithes, or live a perfectly Holy life.
GOD IS ALWAYS TRANSMITTING
God is always transmitting. Think about radio signals. They are surrounding you right this very moment. You cannot see them, and unless your radio is on, you cannot even hear them. But they are there. If you have a radio, and you go turn it on, and it is tuned into a station, you will hear whatever the station is broadcasting. Now did they start broadcasting at the moment you turned on the radio? Of course not. They were broadcasting the entire time. It is your responsibility to turn on your receiver. As soon as you do, you pick up the signal that was there the whole time.
And so it is with God. His love is all around you, and in you, right this very second. If you are not experiencing that love, you might consider changing the station.
So, how, you might ask, do I do that?
BY PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT
A controversial topic for many, I know. But I am here today to tell you that it works! There are many, many verses in scripture that relate to this subject. It is not my intention here today to cover all of those topics. I am not even here to debate whether speaking tongues is for today. Praying in tongues is a very powerful way to keep yourself strengthened and in the love of God.
Look at these verses:
1 Corinthians 14:4 (New Living Translation)
A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
Corinthians 14:14 (New Living Translation)
For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
Corinthians 14:39 (New Living Translation) So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. We all want, need, desire, and were created to live in the presence of God’s love. Today, if you have never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by speaking in tongues, I encourage you to receive this amazing gift. Jesus is the baptizer. If you ask him, he will baptize you with the fire. Receive it in the very same way you did your salvation, by faith! Once you have this awesome gift then you will never have to feel separated from the love of God again. How so? Let’s let the Word speak for itself:
Jude 1:20-21
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
I LOVE YOU BROTHERS AND SISTERS, KEEP YOURSELF IN HIS LOVE
Thank you.
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| Oh brother! Did you have to open that can of worms again? {groan} You sound like everyone in my church! lol Funny thing is though, Michael, that my husband, since he has been saved (around 7 years I think), he has been in Pentecostal churches, and he has begged, pleaded, fasted, prayed...fasted some more, and he has never gotten it. He has never prayed in tongues or spoken in tongues or otherwise. And yet when I met him, he was praying several hours a day; and he literally glowed. You could see it in the natural realm. He was given words of prophesy sometimes, and knowledge, and even today he is still leading many to the Lord. My point is, what gives??? And me? I begged for it for a long time; then I just asked. Then I just decided I ought to learn to love first. I had a godly woman on me about it for over a year, how I was just "tongue tied". It drove me nuts til I finally carnally got mad and told her that I need to love first, and forget about that stuff. I wanted her off my back. See, in our church, there seems to be (and many other churches) this "I am holier and more spiritual than you" attitude when ppl pray in tongues, yet, I see some of these ppl are backslidden. The "gifts" are without repentance. And I have heard tongues I could imitate perfectly. Eg. Lalalalalalalala.....I will leave that up to God or not whether they fake it. Whatever. Can you tell you hit a sore spot??? lol It just doesn't make sense to me how some ppl get it, and others don't, even when they go after it. |
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Lara, did you have to beg God to save you? Of course not. You received it by faith. It's no different with your prayer language, or healing, or anything else.
Most people are waiting for the Holy Spirit to take control of their vocal chords. You have to put your mouth in motion. You start the process by faith and begin to make a sound, and the Holy Spirit will take over from there. And the devil will be fighting that every step of the way. Satan knows that once you begin to speak in tongues, you have elevated your spiritual walk to a new level. He does not want that to happen.
I will write more about this later, as I am sure will others.
I do think some people fake it. I have witnessed that many times. I can only speak for myself here, but when I began speaking in tongues my entire life changed. It's the language God gave me. Its beautiful. It's powerful. And no one can ever take that away!
I would also add, that I am talking about a private prayer language Lara. I am not talking about praying in church or in front of others for show. Do I pray in tongues in church? Occasionally. But the majority of the time when I am praying in tongues it is in my own private prayer closet. (not really a closet BTW). Why would I fake such a thing when I am all alone?
Love you in Christ Lara! |
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Oh brother! Yeah, like a very godly man at church (and he really is; I respect that in him)...he says God gave him the words "moo moo." I burst out laughing when he told me that because it sounded hilarious to me. Yeah, they try to "teach" you how to speak it, but I don't believe in it this way....and never will unless God Himself shows me; and it ain't in His word clearly; just like the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues isn't crystal clear in distinction to the "gift" of tongues. i read a whole book on it by Dave Roberson I think it was; and I a lot of it didn't sit well in my spirit. He loves the Lord, yes, but that doesn't mean he is 100% right. I believe in tongues the way it happened to my mom way before she ever really got saved (and it stuck). She was at this rally thing where Israel (Nicki Cruz) was speaking. She was up at the alter, and next thing she knew, she was on the floor laying there, uncontrollably speaking in tongues. She didn't control it, and couldnt' stop. Then the rest of the day (after about 2 hours of this) she was preaching Jesus to ppl....then she went back to her sinful life the following day. She had no control over it. THAT is how I believe in it. I have faith in that. OH, and yeah; these ppl who "pray in tongues", some are and have been living like the devil. So I don't think their walk is elevated at all. Yet some ppl (you must be one of them) have awesome stories of how they get baptised in the Holy Spirit and their whole walk is revolutionized. I got so upset in a home group back about a year ago, when someone told me I don't receive because I want to understand it first. Oh, I was not a happy camper. I really wasn't. God is NOT an author of confusion.....but people are. Oh man, Michael! Your blog is my sandpaper....or hemmoroid....lol. |
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Deb |
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December 17, 2007 at 4:14pm |
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| This is an excellent blog Michael. It is our responsibility to stay close to God. It is all too easy to be distracted in this life and pulled away. I have seen it happen time and time again. It does take a little work, but it is well worth it. |
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Cyn |
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December 17, 2007 at 7:38pm |
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God's love comes in part when we are born again. If you were to ask most Christians what they know of God's love for them, they'd sayr, "I know God loves me because he gave his son to die for me." They would quote John 3:16: "God so loved the world, he gave his only son, so that whoever believes on him wouldn't perish, but would have everlasting life."
God has always loved both his son and us -- because his love is as everlasting as he is: God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation..." (2 Thessalonians 2:16).
The knowledge of God's love is meant for your comfort, your strength. It will set you free and keep you free. |
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Cyn |
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December 17, 2007 at 7:39pm |
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| aweome blog! |
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That's a great testimony Kim. Thank you for sharing that with us.
God is a God of faith. We all know that, at least I hope we do. He will meet you wherever you are. If you do not believe in healing; then there's a pretty good chance you are never going to be healed or witness a healing. If you do not believe in casting out demons; then there is a pretty good chance that you will never witness or cast out a demon. Likewise; if you do not believe in speaking tongues; chances are you will never receive your prayer language.
You cannot go somewhere that you haven't already accepted in your mind. |
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Hey Michael,
Another good blog! The overall point, it is our responsibility to remain in the sphere of God's love. Far too many people complain that God is far from them, they feel isolated and alone. But God promises never to leave or forsake us! No, it is we who wander, not God.
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Thanks Mike, it's good to hear from you again!
And you are correct, that was my overall point. God is not holding out any good gift from us!
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Brothers and sisters, please allow me to rephrase a portion of a comment I made earlier in this blog. A very good friend emailed me a few moments ago, bringing something to my attention and I think it bears credibility to respond.
Here was my previous statement:
"Satan knows that once you begin to speak in tongues, you have elevated your spiritual walk to a new level."
This was not the best choice of words on my part. That statement sort of implies that God is going to love you that much more if you pray in tongues. Or that you become some sort of "super saint". That's was not my intention. I think a better way I could have said that is "praying in tongues does not change God's heart towards me, it changes my heart towards God".
I personally feel a deeper sense of intimacy with God when I pray in my prayer language. That the point I was really trying to make.
I don't claim to have all the answers. I just try to speak from experience. |
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Michael, You brought up some excellent points............
We must still "walk in the love of Christ" regardless of our "giftings" or "blessings"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the blog.... |
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