THE POWER OF TONGUES

I read this super encouraging article by Bill Hammon and want to share it with you because it's life- changing! It's called:

"The Greatest Supernatural Gift" - Bill Hammon

Did you know that more than 600 million believers have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, yet most people do not utilize this precious gift to its full potential? It is like receiving a million dollar gift and only using a fraction of it.

Our spirit language is the major key that unlocks the door to our spirit life and all of the attributes and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. If we would dedicate at least thirty minutes a day to the Holy Spirit for praying in our spirit languages, we could begin to change our world! Tremendous power would be released in the Church worldwide, and the Kingdom of God would be demonstrated in every nation as a witness of the Lordship of Jesus.

What is "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit" or "the Gift of the Holy Spirit"?

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for every believer to receive and practice, just as every believer in Jesus is to be water baptized. It is an experience received when God baptizes a believer's born-again spirit with the ability to pray in an intelligent language that his or her natural mind did not learn and does not understand.

Our spirit language is motivated, covered, and directed by the Holy Spirit, yet it is my spirit or your spirit that is actually doing the praying. The Holy Spirit's gift of the spirit language enables a person to communicate with God directly from spirit to Spirit. This gives the believer a private communication line direct to God's throne that cannot be understood or hindered by the devil or natural man.

It is the greatest gift a Christian can receive, for it is the giver and operator of all the other gifts and graces of God. There are so many reasons for us to pray in tongues, but the biggest reason is that Jesus paid a great price for us to use this most valuable gift.

I have found from my in-depth studies and a lifetime of experience that there are at least 70 reasons for every Christian to be praying in tongues every day. Let me share a few of those with you.

The Holy Spirit directs our spirit language to pray prayers in accordance with the will of God. Probably the only time we can be assured that we are praying 100% in the will of God is when we are praying in our spirit language. God always answers requests made in alignment with His will.

Our spirit language activates our supernatural new creation nature and sets us aflame with heavenly passion. This opens the door into God's storehouse of wisdom, power, revelation, and supernatural ministry.

Speaking in tongues does the same thing for our spirit that our heart does for our body. Our heart beats and pumps blood throughout our entire body for life and health. Speaking in tongues pumps the presence of God throughout every cell of our being.

Praying in tongues turns the light of revelation on in our minds, enabling us to hear the voice of God and see what Jesus wants to do.

As believers receive revelation and increase their faith in God and His Holy Spirit power within them, then we will begin to see the miraculous power of God manifest.

Sandy Catalano, an elder at our church, was praying in English and then switched to her spirit language. Suddenly, all the things and people that she had planned to pray for started flashing through her mind faster than the frames of an old movie reel. Sandy though, "Lord, it is going too fast. There is not time enough for me to pray about each one of these requests at this speed."

God spoke to her and said, "When you pray with your natural mind and language, it takes place at the speed of sound. But when you are praying with your God-given spirit language, you can pray and communicate at the speed of light."

All nine of the fruits of the Holy Spirit are activated and increased within us by praying in our spirit language: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you really want to grow in love, then invest more time praying in tongues.

Worshiping and singing praises to God in tongues causes our inner being to be filled with the presence of God. You can sense the peace of God flooding your soul as you pray in your spirit language.

Praying in our spirit language is mainly for edification of the individual. However, the remaining "gifts of the Spirit" are given to believers to meet the needs of others. They are the nine manifestations of the Spirit: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, gift of faith, gift of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, various tongues, and interpretation of tongues. The gifts demonstrate that our God and Savior Jesus is alive and active in the world today. Praying in tongues with our spirit language can activate the gifts of the Spirit and it is the activator that produces the faith needed to believe for the manifestation.

Speaking in tongues is the key to our victory, because faith is the victory that overcomes. The more we pray in our spirit language, the more we charge our spirit with faith and power.

Our redeemed spirit, saturated with the Holy Spirit, is like a power-generating dynamo within our being where all of Jesus' gifts, graces, power, and attributes are generated within and through us. The more that we pray in tongues the more power the dynamo generates.

We could also say our spirit language "uploads" our desires, petitions, worship, and heart longings to God's hard drive. Praying in tongues also downloads mysteries from the mind of Messiah and imparts them into the hard drive of our spirits. Praying in tongues empowers us when we are weak, comforts us when we are saddened by life's circumstances, intercedes for us according to the will of God, and is a faithful friend on whom we can always depend. When we do not know how to pray as we ought, we can just turn the praying over to our spirit language and the praying will go directly to the heart of the matter with the wisdom and power of God to meet the need.

What can 30 minutes of spirit language praying do? Our Spirit-filled psychiatrist said that if he could get his patients to pray in the spirit for at least thirty minutes every day for thirty days, then they would not need to see him anymore. Why? Because the spirit language prays from the subconscious area of man. The Holy Spirit sheds God's light on those hidden areas of the subconscious, and then the spirit language roots them up and washes them out of the soul. Praying in tongues has even been found to give a boost to our immune system!

How do you receive the Holy Spirit? The same way you received the gift of eternal life.

First, you must receive revelation and understanding that the gift is for you. Second, have confidence that what you ask the Lord for is exactly what He will give you. Third you must receive by faith. Ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, then exercise the faith to begin speaking in other tongues.

What an awesome responsibility we have to allow the spirit language to accomplish all God's purposes, appropriate all His benefits, and empower us and demonstrate the power of God and Lordship of Messiah Jesus. Amen and Amen.

MOSES SPOKE OF THE END TIME TRIBULATION

Too many believers have bought into the "Pre-Tribulation Rapture" theory. Just that word "theory" should give us a clue as to how scriptural it is. It is UNSCRIPTURAL. That's right, the Pre-trib rap theory is ONLY that --a theory. And it is an unsciptural theory with NO foundation. It's an animal with NO LEGS TO STAND ON. It's FICTION.

So, why am I getting so riled up about it? What does it matter what people choose to believe?

Jesus got riled up about it! He made good and sure that we were warned and prepared to go through the "Great Tribulation". Any half-serious reading of Matthew 24 word-for-word will result in an exact time line of end-time events. It may not give exact "time" but it shows the sequence very clearly. All we have to do is open our eyes and read it the way it was written. (I prefer the good ol' King James Version because "tribulation" is an important word to plot the sequence. It's a key word.)

You know where else we find that word "tribulation"? It's as far back in the Old Testament as Deuteronomy. It came out of the mouth of the man who spoke to God face-to-face and led the Children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses.

Moses prophesied to the Children of Israel before he died that there would a tribulation during the "latter days" or "last days" or end time or, in other words, "these days we're living in now".

Here's what Moses said in Deuteronomy 4:30 & 31: (It's a promise for all of us believers.)

"When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God:) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them."

You might think that the word "tribulation" shows up a lot in the Bible and it doesn't necessarily mean the same tribulation Jesus prophecied about in Matthew 24.

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." - Matthew 24:21

According to Cruden's Complete Concordance, there are 22 verses that include the word "tribulation" in them, at least 7 of which refer directly to the "Great Tribulation" Jesus spoke of. So, yes, the Bible talks about tribulation in other instances besides the "latter days" tribulation, but only about a dozen times.

It seems to me that this "Great Tribulation" is something that has yet to happen and has yet to happen to God's people. Here are a few reasons I believe the "Great Tribulation" is for US. You and Me.

1. In Deut. 4:30, Moses was speaking to the children of Israel as followers of God and advising them that if they would turn to the Lord thy God and be obedient to Him, when in tribulation, he would not forsake them. Honestly, does that sound like the tribulation is for the devil's crowd or the unsaved and disobedient? 
2. The main reason for the tribulation is to tribulate the saints. It's not designed to persecute the followers of the Antichrist. In fact, it's because they went through the tribulation that the saints were dressed in white robes. (Revelation 7:14b "...These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.")
3. Revelation 14:9b and 10a says, "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God..." By reading that verse, doesn't it sound as though there's a choice about receiving the "mark of the beast"? What happens to those who choose not to worship the beast and his image? 
4. Revelation 12:17 says, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." This verse specifies very clearly exactly who the Devil is fighting against during the tribulation  period. (Us!)
5. Speaking of the Antichrist/Beast, Revelation 13:7a says, "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. . ." Who are the saints? We are. You and me.
6. The same chapter says that everyone on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8)
7. Daniel 8 also talks about the Antichrist and exactly who he wants to destroy. Daniel 8:24 "And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people." If we are "raptured" before the Great Tribulation, who are these holy people that Daniel is speaking about? Well, I can tell you, if you'll receive it. It's US. You and me. 

I'm going to leave it at 7 for now because 7 is God's number. I could write out another 21 reasons, but maybe in another blog. The main message of this entry is that the Great Tribulation is not something to fear or escape from or bury our heads in the sand about, or even hope we die before it happens. No. It's something to look forward to, to prepare for, to be wide awake about and to rejoice about.

WHAT? Are you serious?

Yes! I am! If you believe in Jesus, you have to believe what His Word tells us. He gives us plenty of advice about these situations, beloved. He wants us to be prepared.

Matthew 5: 10 - 12 says, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

Rejoice about being persecuted? Yes. Because, when you are under persecution, the Spirit of God falls on you. The power of God is present to anoint you as a witness. That's what that word "martyr" means. And, believe it or not, for on-fire believers and followers of Christ, their main purpose, desire and motivation is to preach the message and be a living testimony of the Love of Christ.

What greater testimony can a Christian give than to surrender his life as a witness to his faith in Jesus? What greater privilege is there than to die as a martyr? ---To look up, as Stephen did and see Jesus standing at the right hand of God? Did Stephen scream out in agony when his persecutors gnashed on him with their teeth?

Acts 7:55: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."

Whether or not you will be a martyr for Jesus depends on God's will for you. Martyrs or not, our job, as believers in Christ will be to get out the message. Some of us will be alive on the earth when Jesus returns to gather together his elect. In fact, Revelation talks about the "woman" which is a representative of the (true) church.

Revelation 12:13 "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth."

This is a scenario, not of a pre-tribulation rapture, but of a provision of protection for the bride of Christ. At least, that's how I see it. How about you? It sure looks like a picture of God's mercy and protection over his own.

Whether we go into tribulation or fly into the wilderness for the duration of the tribulation, may we be on-fire, brave, bold, Spirit-filled, powerful witnesses for Jesus in these troublesome times ahead. And, now. It's already happening. Some of us are being martyred, imprisoned, tortured and tribulated right now. I believe, personally that we are at the 5th seal: Revelation 6:9-11.