Devotion 8 Reasons for You to Speak in Tongues
8 Reasons for You to Speak in Tongues
by James F. Linzey | Aug 16, 2022 | Faith, Spirit-Led Living, Spiritual Gifts, Supernatural & Dreams
Charisma Media archives
If a person were to ask, “Why speak in tongues?” couldn’t we also ask, “Why pray?”
The Word of God shows a definite value in praying with an unknown tongue. Jesus tells us that “it is necessary always to pray” (Luke 18:1, MEV). Later, in speaking of prayer, Paul mentions two types of praying. There is praying with the understanding, when our minds guide the prayer in asking petitions from God.
Then there is praying in an unknown tongue, in which case the Holy Spirit guides the prayer in utterances unknown to the human mind. Paul tells us, “I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15, MEV). Both kinds of prayer are important, but praying in the Spirit will often be more efficacious in accomplishing the will of God.
The value of praying in the Spirit is emphasized by Paul who clarifies that the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:26, MEV). Since we do not know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit Himself helps us know what to pray for.
He makes intercession according to the will of God. There we have the two-fold privilege of the baptized believer—we can pray with our own understanding, or we can allow the Holy Spirit to guide the prayer according to His own will.
The last mention of tongues in scripture is Jude 20 where it says not to stop. After Jude we have the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John the Divine, but it is not discussed there. The command to continue speaking in tongues in Jude was given in AD 70, 37 years after the church was established on the day of Pentecost. So if tongues ceased, where is the historical line drawn in scripture where it says “stop?”
The New Testament era continues from the Revelation of Jesus Christ onward, and it is not over until Jesus returns. The Second Coming is the event at which the apostle Paul said that prophecy and tongues will cease (1 Cor. 13:8).
In AD 54, Paul commands the Church to speak in tongues in Eph. 6:18, 21 years after the day of Pentecost, showing continuance as Jude shows 16 years later. When one says “Tongues was only for the establishment of the Church,” we can reply, “Not 21 or 37 years after it was established.”
If we can say that Jesus was a “lunatic, liar or the Lord,” for claiming to be God, certainly we can say that pastors who decry tongues are “lunatics, liars or loutish” for denying that this present age is the New Testament era.
Any Bible scholar—liberal, evangelical or fundamentalist—will tell you that the New Testament era remains from the day of Pentecost to the Second Coming. But unlike standards of centuries ago when all pastors were Bible scholars, today many pastors descry scholarship and know little about it. Because we are in the New Testament era, every teaching, exhortation and command in the New Testament is relevant for the church today. Many pastors have “thrown scholarship under the bus” and teach false doctrine.
So, what is the value of speaking with tongues? Speaking in tongues is in the Bible for a reason. God will hold each of us responsible to answer whether our own lives have been lived in accordance with the Word of God. Speaking in tongues, sometimes referred to as praying in the Spirit (the terms can be used interchangeably), is a form of prayer.
In this prayer, a Christian yields completely to the Holy Spirit in worshipping Christ and receives from the Spirit a supernatural language. Speaking in tongues is a way of praying which frees the Spirit to operate within the speaker.
Speaking in tongues also carries responsibility. When most people think of glossolalia, or tongue speaking or the language of the Holy Spirit, they have a tendency to ask what the purposes might be for such a supernatural manifestation. The specific biblical purposes for such a language are many. Harold Horton, in his book The Gifts of the Spirit, page 31, presents eight scriptural purposes for speaking with tongues:
- It is the scriptural evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 19:6)
- It is a means for men to speak supernaturally to God (I Cor. 14:2)
- It is a way for believers to magnify God (Acts 10:46)
- It is a means for men to edify themselves (I Cor. 14:4)
- It is a way for our spirits as distinct from our understandings to pray (I Cor. 14:14)
- It is part of the gift of interpretation of tongues that edifies the church (I Cor. 14:12, 13, 5, 26)
- It is a sign to them that do not believe (I Cor. 14:22)
- It is one of the gifts divinely appointed for our profit, as a manifestation of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:7, Acts 2:4).
The prayer in an unknown tongue does not necessarily have to be an utterance in a language understood by someone present to hear it. Sometimes that happens, and the one hearing the language is spoken to directly by God. But the Word of God is quite explicit that anyone “who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit” (I Cor. 14:2). When we speak with a tongue given us by the Holy Spirit, we are speaking directly to God and He is the only one who needs to understand us.
Dr. Jonathan Goforth, missionary of the Canadian Presbyterian Church and used mightily of God in Manchuria, wrote, “the Scriptures convey no other meaning than that the Lord Jesus planned that the Holy Spirit should continue among us in as mighty manifestation as at Pentecost.”
James F. Linzey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies at Vanguard University of Southern California (1979), and a Master of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary (1983). He hosted Operation Freedom television and radio programs worldwide on the baptism with the Holy Spirit. He authored The Holy Spirit, A Divine Appointment in Washington, DC, and with Charisma author Verna M. Linzey co-edited Baptism in the Spirit by his father Stanford E. Linzey, Jr. He is the chief editor of the Modern English Version Bible translation. Listen to the full episode of “The Value of Speaking in Tongues” with Chaplain Jim Linzey on the Charisma Podcast Network here. Visit one of his websites at Pearls of Gold, the Poetry of Verna Hall Linzey.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 8:34-38 Either Both Or Neither
John 8:34-38 – Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you are seeking to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak of the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”
“Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” It is often thought that Jesus was saying that everyone who commits an act of sin is a slave of sin. But that is not what Jesus is saying. The ESV better states translates the verse as “everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” We all sin (hopefully in decreasing measure). But the one who “practices” sin is the one Jesus is talking about. The one who is caught in a sin and continuously submits to it is whom Jesus is talking about. The one who keeps in a sin is not a servant of God but a slave to that sin. Oh Family and Friends let us not think that sin has no power. It has the power to put us in a web that we cannot break free of, such as pride, all sexual sin, drugs and alcoholism. The only way to break free from the sin is through the freedom that Jesus gives to those who love and serve Him. Our streets are filled with the tragedy of those who have become slaves to sin. Yet even they are not without hope because if they truly repent and come to Jesus “He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.” A slave that lives in a house had no promise of being there forever. He is there at the will of the master of that house, and can later that day be sold to another and belong to another house the same day. But a son of the house will belong to the house, to the family forever. Even if the slave serves the house better than the son, the slave may only be there temporarily but the son always has his place in the house. The house spoken of is not the house of God, because that would make Jesus the son of a cruel taskmaster. No Jesus came to earth to save us, He arrived sinless and lived His entire life sinless. Sin came through Adam but the second Adam, Jesus, came to set us free from the original curse. He lived sinless so He could ultimately save us. Besides Jesus is God with Father from eternity past (John 1:1-3). Jesus came to free us from what we could not free ourselves of, sin. (Romans 5:6)
“So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” Slaves cannot free slaves. It takes some one is not a slave to free a slave. So freedom from sin comes from the one who never knew sin and so never practiced it. Jesus was the only man after Adam who was not born with the sin nature Adam chose. He never lived in a house of slavery. His Father was not a slave trader, but a house of the free with free wills. Jesus came with authority of the Father to set the captives free. No other person can claim to be one who sets people free, only Jesus can truly set one free. (Acts 4:12) Not only from sin, but from practicing sin. Praise God and His divine plan. Praise God that salvation is free and simple under His plan. Love and obey Jesus and one is immediately spiritually free by the declaration of God. The outward sin of our freedom diminishes and drops away as our love for Jesus grows. Obedience comes from loving Jesus. (John 15:14, 14:15)
“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you are seeking to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” The Jewish authorities taught that they had salvation based on the fact that they were physical descendants of Abraham. But Jesus told them that who they truly are was evident by what they did. God had one plan to free man, only one, and it works perfectly for all who repent and come to Jesus and live their lives loving and obeying Jesus. Those who refuse to obey never knew Him and those who never knew Him will not live in eternity with God. Jesus is the only way. (John 14:6) The Jews who rejected Jesus and sought to kill Him could not believe what Jesus taught them because they rejected His and His Father’s words. By doing that they reject what the Father told Jesus to tell the world. Therefore these people, trapped in sin, rejecting Jesus and His teachings never knew the Father since they refuse the only remedy for sin and the only prevention from eternal death. They have denied the will of God to save them and insist on their right to go forever to the Lake of Fire. Very terrifying.
“I speak of the things which I have seen with My Father Jesus tells the Jews that what He does and what says to them, and us, is what the Father gave Him to say. So accept what Jesus said and live with the Father and Jesus forever or reject what Jesus said and thereby simultaneously reject the Father.
“Therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” Claiming to children of God the fruit of their lives did not bear witness to that. They are doing the will of their father the devil who wanted Jesus to die by his hand and not by the will of the Father’s plan. They personally resisted Jesus and blocked the salvation of others by attempting to block their path to the Lord. The people whom belong to the Father come to His Son. The people who don’t come to Jesus belong to neither Jesus nor the Father because they reject both.
Being free of sin is made hard by us. Jesus already did the work to be free of it. We need to grow in our love of Him and by doing that we will be free from sin. It takes time. Not because the work is incomplete, but because of our flesh. Just don’t resist God drawing us close and His work will cleanse us. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 8:12-20 Return Of The Light
John 8:12-20 – Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in your Law it has been written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” 20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come.
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”” King David said of the Lord God “For you are my lamp, LORD; and the LORD illuminates my darkness.” (2 Samuel 22:29) Jesus, the long sought after Messiah came into the world. The Apostle John, in his prologue to this Gospel, says of Jesus “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.” (John 1:4) Psalm 119:105 says of the Lord “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God the Father sent Jesus His Son to be the light, the Word of God to lights up the path and directs us back to the Father. It is Jesus who is the salvation who makes a way back to the Father. It is He that showed us, by His own being, who God was. Jesus said to see Him is to see God because He and the Father are one. It the will and pleasure of the Father that we should return to Him as long lost reprobates and prodigals. (Luke 15:11-32) Jesus came to proclaim God’s truth to mankind. To see who was Jesus was to see who the Father was. Jesus was to later say that those who have seen Him have seen the Father. (John 12:45) The world, since the fall, is a dark place and we do not see it as it is. It is not until a dark room has light fill it that one can see his surroundings as they are. Jesus lit up the dark places so that everyone can see God the Father. (John 14:9) Jesus is the light that leads all who would come to the Father.
“So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.” The Pharisees, in general, couldn’t jump from swamp to faith. They always thought with their minds and believed man-made traditions. They didn’t know how to think spiritually. The first and most important thing to understand was that belief and obedience to Jesus was essential. But that came at the loss of control of their life and submitting to and obeying Jesus, which they were unwilling to do. The scriptures, over and over again, tell how the things of God are only understood as God reveals them. Now, in our times, the Word of God is truly revealed by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:10-14, John 14:26, 16:13, 15:26) We yield to God and ask for understanding from Him that is a request that pleased God and He blesses. (James 1:5)
I wonder how many people in our world could say where Jesus truly came from and where He went to. Do they know where He is? But by the Spirit, we know.
They celebrated the Festival of Booths which was a time God led them as a pillar of fire. (Exodus 13:21-22) He was their light. This same Shekina glory later filled their temple (2 Chronicles 7:1)
“You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.” The Pharisees accused Him of giving false testimony of Himself because they did not believe that He and the Father are one. If they had believed Jesus, then they would have understood, but because they did not believe Him, that means they also did not believe the Father, who testified of Jesus coming. All the things Jesus spoke of, including Himself, were words from the Father. So the words that they heard from Jesus were the Father’s words and Jesus’ words. Because of their hard hearts they couldn’t understand.
“Even in your Law it has been written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” Jesus said it clearly to them now. Jesus told them that His Father also testifies about Him. So Jesus has two witnesses, both Jesus and the Father, which satisfies their requirement for two witnesses. The scriptures and the Father and Jesus testify of Jesus. A purposely blocked mind does not understand.
“So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” The Pharisees and hard headed people from then to now claim they know God but they do not. They reject God’s word in whole or part and then say they know God while rejecting His Word and so thereby are calling Him a liar, or denying His omniscience. Those who reject His words, His Son and His Spirit reject God and those who reject God don’t know Him. Jesus said if someone sees Him one has seen the Father, because they are one. So you cannot see and know Jesus without also seeing the Father. All believers should understand this.
“These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come.” This scene had played out during the Festival of Booths and it is good to remember that as we read these verses. This festival celebrating God taking care of them as He freed them from the slavery in Egypt. When they were in the desert God led them a pillar of smoke during the day and a bright burning fire during the night. (Exodus 13:21-22) They didn’t need candles because He lit up their camp. Later their temple was filled with the presence of God and so, as in the desert, the Lord their God was with them leading them. (2 Chronicles 7:1) Then because of their sin the glory of the Lord left their temple. They light of God that once filled their temple had departed. (Ezekiel 10:18) Now Jesus came and stood in the temple and the Light of God had returned. Yet the rulers had become blind and could not see the return of the Light. But some did. The symbolism of Jesus the Light that had led them safely through the desert was back, but because of the hardness of the heart, they didn’t receive Him back. So sad, so very sad. May our hearts be pliable, are ears listening and our eyes open to see the movements of God in the world. Let our lamps be ready. (Matthew 25:1-13) May we be found loving the Lord when He returns. (Revelation 3:5) He is faithful and will reward those who remain faithful to Him. (Revelation 22:12) Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 4:1-16 All Remembered, All Pursued Part 2
John 4:1-16 – Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
To God what is most important is our eternal life. He knows that we can allow the affairs of this life to blind us to what is most important, and that is our relationship with God. He knew that the Jews intermarrying with others would very likely bring idolatry and false doctrine into their lives. Since their relationship with Him (and that means their eternal salvation), the Lord was protecting the Jews. The same way He is protecting His children today. We ought not be quick to condemn the Samaritans since don’t we also disobey the Lord’s command to not intermarry with non-believers? It is not a rarity among those who are called by His name, but rather an all too common error. Even single parents who are believers can set bad examples of this. Praise God who forgives us. Yet we must remember that God has no need to forgive something that is not a sin. We wonder why our children are drawn away from the Lord while we pay for their weddings to non-believers and send them to schools that tear away at their faith. Okay, I know what is written may bother some who will confirm that other people’s kids sin while they excuse the sins of their own kids. Yet too, too often those who do such things then accuse God of bringing suffering after they do not follow His rules. Let’s not excuse sin (after all sin is an offence to our loving and good God) and should we sin, let’s quickly repent, ask for fd try to not repeat our sins. Let’s love God more than anything or anyone else. Being right with God is better than any other blessing.
Concerning the intermarriages of the Samaritans, much of this was because ruling Assyria forced it upon the captive northern kingdom of Israel. Their marriages were often forced upon them by the reigning government and that brought about what the Lord wanted to protect them from, idol worship and false Gods. When God says “don’t” to us it is for our benefit. Like a parent teaching a young child not to play in the street, it is for the child’s protection. So the “don’ts” and “do’s” from God to us are for our protection, physical and importantly, spiritual.
Though mostly all Jews looked down upon the Samaritans (who returned the animosity back to the Jew) Jesus showed that He had come to also be their Savior, which was surprising to His disciples and a point of contention to the Jews. In John 4:21-24 Jesus taught the Samaritan woman at the well that the Samaritan do not understand the truth but the Jews did. (Remember they did not hold to the whole truth of God.) But then He said to her “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” In saying this He was revealing that a whole new truth was being revealed through Him as was foretold in Ezekiel 36:26-27 and Joel 2:28. God will give them a new heart that loves and serves Him. The way of worshipping God has moved from following external laws to being guided by the Holy Spirit that lives within. Jesus moved us from a relationship struggling to obey rules to a place where God within us allows us to live out His will from a changed heart within. Barriers between God and man and between man and man are torn down and peace shall be between God and us and between us with each other. Praise God! Peace begins with Jesus. (Isaiah 9:6) His peace is simple to have. Love God, through Jesus, with all that are and love each other. Praise God who, for all, fully made the way! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 4:1-16 All Remembered, All Pursued Part 1
John 4:1-16 – Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John.” Why did Jesus leave when he found out that the attention of the Pharisees was switching from John to Him? Although there are other reasons supposed it is a fair to day that He left to avoid confrontation with the Pharisees. Jesus was aware of the timing of “His Time” and kept guard to not disrupt God’s timing. John 2:4 “And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” John 7:30 “So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”
“Although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.” Jesus did baptize His Apostles but His Apostles were doing the baptizing of others.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) This was an incredible moment. The Jews ostracized the Samaritans and considered that they were so detestable that touching or communing with them would cause a person to need to go through purification rites. Also, Rabbis did not publically speak with women. In fact, this rule was so strongly adhered to that Rabbis were commonly known to not even speak to their wives in public. So Jesus speaking to a Samaritan woman was quite taboo for at least two reasons. Jesus was not bound by the traditions of men. He was guided by the Spirit and doing the will of His Father and His will was to minister to this woman for her benefit, and the benefit of her town.
It is said “Rabbis have a saying: ‘Coincidence is not a Kosher Word.” It is an incredible saying. It speaks of the sovereignty of God. He who knows all and is everywhere cannot be surprised. Since God is omniscient and He does not change, then He has always been omniscient. (Isaiah 46:10) Since He has always been omniscient and since He does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). He has always known everything since eternity past. God knew the Pharisee’s would realize that Jesus was rising up as the ministry of John the Baptist had already begun to diminish. Remembering John 3:16 we know that Jesus had come to earth as Savior to all the world. While the Jews had judged the Samaritans as contemptible, God found them no more contemptible than the Jews. It is true that the Samaritans were further from the truth of God (more prone toward idols, only honored the Pentateuch and so ignoring the prophets, and even changing some of the scripture) but they were never far from the heart of God. (1 Peter 3:9)
Yes, Jesus came to Sychar on a mission. He came to seek and save the lost. There are none whom God did not die for. None. He came to seek and save all who had lived and all who were living. He also came to save all who would ever live. Today there are none that God wants to perish. The work of Jesus was perfect for the salvation of all and its work has not waned in its efficacy. God does not want any man to perish. Jesus gave up His life for all and He hurts for those who will not repent and come to Him.
Whatever the circumstances of our lives, when things seem hopeless and when it seems we have been left behind, know that God sees us and loves us and has left anyone behind. His eyes were on Samaria and you can be sure His eyes are on you. Praise God who loves us so greatly and whose eyes are always upon us. (Psalm 34:15) Take hope, God is near. Always He is near. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion Isaiah 41:10 Keep Doing, Keep Going
Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for i am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
When you think nothing is happening in your ministry, your little ministry, stop that! When you think that the wheels are falling off your big ministry, stop that! When you think that those little acts of love that flow from your heart to others, even homeless strangers, amounts to nothing, stop that! Our God sees. He is watching. He is caring, providing and guarding. He is blessing what we do unto Him. And if it seems like all we do is for naught, stop that! God always has a plan. (Jeremiah 29:11) God always has a reason for what He has for you to do. And our Lord had a reason for choosing you to do it! Before the creation of all creation God had a plan for you, He had a journey for you, and in these, He had blessings for you as you walk out His very personal calling for you. How wonderful and awesome is that! Praise our God who individually loves us so much as to plan out a journey for us to bless us, and for us to bless others! Praise God! Walk your custom journey, hand in hand, with our most Holy Father, with Jesus our Savior and Lord, and with the one who guides us, Holy Spirit our beloved companion. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
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Devotion Jeremiah 29:11 A Plan Of Peace, Joy And Love
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I have in the past, and sometimes now, not liked myself. I was, and still am to some extent, a dreamer. I was the kid who would lay on the front yard grass and look at the sky. I would think about everything under the sun and everything beyond it. I would dream silly child dreams of superhuman abilities and everybody loving and admiring me, like Superman. I think many kids do, but really, I was extreme in that. I thought, dreamed and hoped for the “what ifs.”
Over the years my thoughts and dreams changed. Too much time I spent frustrated at who I was. Somethings I, even now, would change some things (not all, but some). Oh I have wished were different. I am still a minority, still short, still not spectacular, and still just average in most ways. I’m not brilliant, not charismatic, and did not have a sports career. I still can’t sing, am not wealthy and am not kind or nice as I should be. Now I would have changed some of those things, but not all of them. Some things I can still work on and by the grace of God I still do. But what I had hoped and dreamed to be isn’t playing out the way I wrote them in my dreams.
But God had a plan. I love that phrase “But God.” It is so overflowing. God had a better plan than mine. Like Popeye, I am what I am. But unlike Popeye, it’s not all that I am. Something dramatic has happened. Jesus, the one who loves me most, called to me until I came. He has never given up on me. And once I knew Him as my best friend, the one who loves me just as I am with all my faults, He began to show me things more special than I had ever imagined. He shares His plans for me with me and now I love “dreaming with Him!” As I commune with Him, my dreams change. I change. His plan became my dream and I live for it. Oh I am not what I hoped to be, and that’s a good thing! I have exchanged what I hoped for my life for what God planned for my life. In fact, I began to realize, that life within me was given by Him. My life was really not ever only “my life.” I discarded my plans and was thrilled to walk on the journey He had designed for me. Yes, sometimes I take wrong turns, but I am thrilled to be on this journey with Jesus. He is the friend closer even than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24) Family and Friends, I am happy. I have joy, I have peace. I am loved by a good God. I threw my plans away in exchange for a life serving Jesus. This may sound strange to some, but many have done the same and understand. And please know that God has a very special plan for you. Better than your plan for you. He knows best and He is able to bring it about if only you will love and honor Him. He is always good and He always loves. Now I want His plan wherever it will lead. May I honor His plan for me with the honor it deserves! And, by the way, I have seen Him work supernaturally through me. Not because I am super in any way, but because He is. So, maybe my dream was a bit off, but not that far off? Thank you Jesus! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
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Devotion Numbers 22:18-19 It Is Impossible To Have Both
Numbers 22:18-19 “But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God. 19 Now spend the night here so that I can find out what else the Lord will tell me.”
Even though Balaam said this words, he was not committed to obedience to the Lord. His obvious desire to disobey the Lord is on full display. He is clear in his knowledge that God does not desire the Israelites to be cursed. What is he hoping? Is it that God may change His mind because the reward to Balaam will now be higher? Why does Balaam, having this personal relationship with the Lord, consider anything of the world worth having above or equal to the blessing of God? Or did he think he may have both? Even today too many who profess to love and follow Christ also, like Balaam, want both, the blessings of God and the things of this world. But The Lord’s Word is clear “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17
1 John 2:16-17 was also expressed by Joshua “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15) Both of these verses instruct us to make up our minds to love God above all else and don’t be wishy washy. Jesus told us that we can love the world or we can love the Lord, but we cannot love both. (Matthew 6:24) The problem is that people think they are wiser than the Lord. They think they can figure a way to do both. Jesus said that is not possible. So believe either Jesus, or the lies of corrupted hearts (Jeremiah 17:9) and the lies of the enemy (John 8:44). What God said is true and anything and everything that contradicts God and His Word, is wrong, it is a lie from the enemy. Of that, there is no exception.
Family and Friends, Jesus, the Word in the flesh, and the written Word are always right and never needs to be updated. As if God didn’t know what sinful man would be saying in our days. Believe God and have eternal life. Don’t believe Him and perish. It really is that simple. (John 3:18, 36). Jesus said all the law hung on the two laws of love, to love God with all that we are and to love each other. (Matthew 22:37-40) If we truly love, then we obey. (John 14:15) If we don’t obey, we don’t truly love. (1 John 5:3, 1 Samuel 15:22) Sound harsh? Well it’s not harsh, it is pure truth given with love to save our souls. Trust God and be eternally blessed God. (Proverbs 3:5-7) The key that opens the doors of heaven is to love and obey Jesus. We must truly love God and then we will cast the world aside as our love is totally focused on Him. And God has made it easy, because it is not our works, but rather it is trusting solely on the work of Jesus. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
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Devotion Jude 9-10 An Understanding, But No Fear
Jude 9-10 – But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
“But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” It is always dumbfounding to hear someone say to the devil “I rebuke you” or “I command you.” It is a clear misunderstanding of who the devil was and is and who we are. The devil was a powerful archangel who did not grow proud for no reason. Not that he (or anyone else) had a good reason, or sufficient reason, to grow proud and rebel against the Lord. But, among angels, it seemed that he had as much reason as any other angel. Ezekiel 28:12b-15 states of the enemy “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.” Anyone who would think that they, of their own self, can boss around the devil doesn’t understand how powerful he is. And what of 2 Kings 19:35 when the angel of the Lord slayed one hundred eighty five Assyrians in one night? None of us are able to do the same of our own might. Family and Friends, do not be deceived, we, as mere human beings, have no inherent power to beat back the devil, or his demons. Thinking that we do shows a lack of understanding about what demons are and who we are.
However, we are not powerless before the evil one. Jude mentions that when the powerful archangel Michael was contesting with the devil he did not try to defeat the devil on his own power but instead only under the authority and power of the Lord. Since that is how Michael handled a confrontation with the devil, so that is likewise how we should handle resisting the devil. Yet we know that we belong to the Lord and devil can do nothing to us outside of the will of God (Job 1:8-12) and we can trust the Lord that he has drawn a line how far the devil can go and the devil can go no further. (Job 1:12) Also we are confident that the Lord is in control and that His eternal love for us, and also that His purpose, will dictate how far the enemy can go in attacking us. (Romans 8:28) And the most important thing is that, the devil cannot separate us from the love of God and from His grace that we receive though Jesus our Savior and Lord. (Romans 8:27-39) We, in and of ourselves, are not as powerful as the devil is, but in Jesus and in His will, we are much more powerful and can resist him. (James 4:7)
“Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.” People not under the umbrella of Jesus who speak about spiritual things, and attempt to oppose celestial beings, are acting like a base animal who acts by instinct rather than by rational thought. They follow base animal instincts with have no wisdom that comes from God. And those earthly instincts lead to their own destruction. But not us Brothers and Sister, we have a sure calling to Eternal Life that is not based on our feelings or strength, but on the promise of God. (1 John 5:13) So let us be humble when we consider ourselves and let us by guided by the Holy Spirit who lives within us who love Jesus and who will guide us all the way home. Family, today, we are one day closer to being in Heaven with our God. Oh, what a great and sure hope it is! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
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Devotion My Insufficient Ability
Oh Lord My God I don’t know how to express
My need for You and my Love of You.
Oh Lord You are:
The rising sun after a very dark night.
A cool breeze when sweat from life covers me.
The strong arm who pulls me up when I am collapsed.
Mountaintop rest after a long climb.
Expansive ocean,
And the breeze off the top of it,
While in the midst of the desert.
Ice on a freshly scalded tongue.
Songs of comfort to a weary soul.
Soothing balm for life’s injuries.
Heavenly pardon for ungodly mistakes.
Chocolate to sweeten life,
Assurance of love through life’s toughest moments.
Exactly when I most need it.
Firm shoulders to catch my tears.
A supportive palm on my back to straighten my posture.
Vision when my eyes can’t see.
Firm foundation on slippery ground.
Sure redemption for my errant ways.
Hope when hope in not on the horizon.
Strength when my legs won’t carry me.
Smiles when frowns abound.
Love that never leaves me.
The Promise that has no “if” in it.
You, because no-one else is.
Oh Lord,
This and so much more,
Than I can express,
Are you my lovely God.
I can’t explain all that You are,
But I can thank You,
Thank You!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withWarning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /homepages/4/d182552187/htdocs/b4g/wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php on line 399
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