Author: newlifenarrabri

How To Receive The Baptism In The Holy Spirit

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People often get hung up about how to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Here are 4 simple steps. Follow these steps in a posture of humbly receiving from God.

1. Ask

It is obvious that the Lord delights to give good gifts to His children. Often, all you have to do is ask. In Luke 11:11-13, Jesus says:

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

If you have never received the Holy Spirit, then ask your Father in heaven who will gladly give Him to you.

2. Believe

Faith is the key to every part of the Christian life. We receive when we believe.

Take hold of promises like Luke 11:11-13, and the other places where Jess promises the Holy Spirit. Read the book of Acts. Take hold of the promise that God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

3. Speak

The gift of speaking in tongues requires that you open your mouth and say something.

Some people really stumble over this. God will give you words to speak in your heavenly prayer language, but you have to speak them out. You might only get one word to start with but as you speak it by faith, more will come.

Some people see words in their mind, others hear words, yet others just speak fluently. God deals with each of us differently and according to our faith. So leet God give you the words to say.

To open your mouth and say something might involve a giant leap of faith, but do it anyway.

4. Listen

Our ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit is a two way street.

God is wanting to speak to us, and we need to listen. The voice of God often comes to us as a whisper that is so easily overwhelmed by the noise of the world and our own thoughts. We need to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Take time to tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Reflection on Matthew 10: 1-10

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Scripture

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received.”

Observation

Jesus Calls together the Twelve, and he gives them authority to heal every kind of sickness and to cast out demons.

He sends them out to Israel. They are not to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans. Their mission is to announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is here. They are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons.

Application

First Jesus passes on authority to the disciples. Then He sends them out to exercise that authority to demonstrate that the Kingdom of God really is here.

The signs of the kingdom are very powerful miracles. They are to:

* heal the sick. They have authority over every kind of sickness, so this is will not be a problem.

* raise the dead. This is a very powerful miracle, not seen everyday, a sure sign that God is with them.

* cure lepers. Leprosy was not just a physical sickness, but it caused social isolation as well.

* cast out demons. The Kingdom of God is much stronger than the kingdom of the Devil

This commission is still for Christians today. We are to tell people about the Kingdom of God, and the message is to be backed up by signs of God’s power

Prayer

Holy Spirit come and fill me with your power. May I experience your miracles in my daily life. Amen.

God Reports: Coronation: Charles to be anointed with oil from Mt. of Olives, handed Bible

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By Charles Gardner —

The coronation taking place in Westminster Abbey this Saturday is not just about the crowning of a new king.

If the service follows precedent, it will also be much focused on the King of Kings, the ruler of the universe.

This is symbolically reflected in the orb and scepter, part of the ceremonial regalia made of gold and decorated with precious stones, with the globe-like orb surmounted by the cross, representing Christ’s dominion over the world.

King Charles III will be handed a copy of the Bible as “the most valuable thing that this world affords” and will be anointed with oil from the Mount of Olives, where his grandmother Princess Alice is buried, and where Jesus sweated drops of blood as he agonized over his impending death for our sins.

Princess Alice of Greece, the late Duke of Edinburgh’s mother who became a nun in later life, was recognized as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ for saving the lives of a Jewish family during World War II by hiding them from the Nazis.

Charles, meanwhile, has shown much compassion to Holocaust survivors, regularly inviting them to special teas. In fact, he has reached out a helping hand to many struggling people over the years with practical ventures like the Prince’s Trust, funding business ideas for those who might not otherwise find such support.

One beneficiary told the BBC how Charles had literally saved her life. When she was suicidal and in prison, she prayed to God and with the help she received from the Trust, was able to set up a thriving business.

Charles clearly has big shoes to fill, but it is hoped that the 74-year-old will gain a greater personal knowledge of the Lord who was the Rock of his mother’s record-breaking reign.

As someone has pointed out, it is too much to expect him to live up to his spiritual title of Defender of the Faith if he has not been truly born again of God’s Holy Spirit (see John 3:3), so we must obviously pray for his salvation – that he will hear the “still, small voice” of the One who created the beautiful environment about which he is so passionate. (See 1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 46:10)

The story is told of a British king of earlier times who visited a chapel in Edinburgh with his entourage. They duly began chattering among themselves, but were sternly rebuked by the preacher quoting the words of the prophet Habakkuk: “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

I pray that, like Jesus, Charles too will become a servant king.

The Queen’s 70-year rule (1952-2022) mirrors the duration of Israel’s Babylonian exile and has seen the UK drift relentlessly away from the moral moorings of our Christian faith in spite of Her Majesty’s example. I pray that, as with Israel under Nehemiah, we will now recognize our folly in turning away from God’s commands and go back to the Bible.

Charles’ grandfather King George VI called the nation to prayer during the last war and God came to our rescue. Oh, that Charles would do the same! Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was also a dedicated Christian who is reported to have confessed to a chaplain that she would like to have witnessed the return of Jesus in her lifetime so she could place her crown at his feet!

Among the hymns likely to be sung in the Abbey is Jerusalem, which has become something of a national anthem here. William Blake’s words reflect a somewhat strange theology centered around the belief that the Messiah once visited these ‘sceptered isles’.

But if building Jerusalem in England’s ‘green and pleasant land’ means restoring the faith of our forefathers, I will be singing it heartily with the rest of them.

Beyond the pomp and circumstance, this great event is really all about Jesus. When he first came among us, the Wise Men asked: “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him?” (Matthew 2:2) And when he was nailed to the cross, even his enemies unwittingly acknowledged that he was King of the Jews.

But he is also King of the Universe, the name above all names, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Quote for the Day

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You see, when we look at Isaac’s own willingness to yield his life freely to his father in complete trust, we see an image of Messiah Jesus Himself foreshadowed in Isaac. Like Isaac, an adult who willingly offered up his life in obedience to his father, Abraham, so too does Yeshua willingly offer up His own life in obedience to Father God. Kirt Schneider

Reflection on Matthew 9: 35-38

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Scripture

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great but the workers are few. So pray to the lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him send more workers into his field.”

Observation

Jesus travels through the region teaching in the synagogues and preaching the Good News. He has compassion on the crowds, because they are confused and helpless.

Jesus tells His disciples that the harvest is huge, but there are so few workers. He tells them to pray for the Lord to send more workers into the harvest field.

Application

Jesus is motivated by compassion for those who are lost and helpless. He said there is a huge harvest, but not enough people to bring it in. This is a chronic problem even today, whether the harvest is fruit, grapes, cotton, or wheat.

Jesus tells us to pray for the Lord to send more workers into the harvest fields. He doesn’t tell us here to go and do the work of evangelism. He tells us to pray.

This reminds us that evangelism is a spiritual activity from start to finish. The conviction of sin and recognition of the Saviour only happen in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must pray for the holy connections where the right witness connects with the right listener.

Praying for the lord to send out workers is also an expression of readiness to be used by God. The prayer to send out workers implies a readiness to say “Send me.”

Prayer

Lord I am available to be used to bring people into your kingdom. Show me the one person you want me to talk to about you today. Amen.

Steven Strang: Four Truths About Speaking in Tongues

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Most Christians know the church was founded on the Day of Pentecost and many liturgical churches celebrate the day. But many ignore or overlook what happened that day—the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was given, including speaking in tongues.

There were many foreign visitors in Jerusalem that day and they heard their own languages. But this practice died down over the centuries until the modern Pentecostal movement that began with the Azusa Street revival of 1906 and which has swept the world.

Nevertheless, speaking in tongues has continued to be misunderstood and even controversial in many circles.

There are some genuine misconceptions about what speaking in tongues looks like and what purpose it serves the believers. No doubt Christians are divided about whether this gift has ceased or not, and there are even debates about when the proper time is to speak in a prayer language. Instead of debating with one another about tongues, I think it is best if we look at the four truths that are pertinent to this gift that I write about in my new book Spirit-Led Living in an Upside-Down World, which releases May 16.

1. Speaking in tongues is neither unbiblical nor outdated. Although not all Christians believe the same thing about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and its accompanying evidence of speaking in “other tongues,” nothing in New Testament Scripture restricts or confines speaking in tongues to being only a first-century exercise.

The benefits of receiving a supernatural prayer language are profound. When we do not have the words to express our need, we can use our prayer language—a language understood by the Spirit, who speaks through us to the Father, and understood by the Father, who empowers the Spirit to work in our lives to give us victory.

2. Speaking in tongues is not a transcendental experience. There is really nothing weird about praying in a language we have never learned. As Jack Hayford puts it: “The ways of God in dealing with His redeemed children may be supernatural in the source of His operations, but they are not weird in their ways of working. To speak in tongues is not to resign the control of one’s mind or indulge one’s emotions to a point of extraction. The exercise of spiritual language does involve a conscious choice to allow God’s assistance to transcend our own linguistic limits, but it does not surrender to any order of a mystical, trance-like trip beyond oneself.”

3. Speaking in tongues is not a status symbol. There have been some abuses of tongues, including those who act is if they are spiritually superior to those who have never spoken in tongues.

The Bible doesn’t tell us tongues are to be used to impress other believers with the spiritual maturity of the one who speaks. The Bible tells us, “Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you by some revelation or knowledge or prophesying or doctrine?” In another place, the apostle Paul says, “So tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers.”

4. Speaking in tongues is not a substitute for spiritual growth. Using our prayer language and speaking in tongues will not cause us to grow spiritually even if we do it seven days a week and 24 hours a day.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all believers, not a select few. Just as we receive new life in the Son of God by a definite act of personal faith, so we receive supernatural power in the Spirit of God by an act of conscious faith.

Stephen E. Strang is the bestselling author of God and Donald Trump. The founder and CEO of Charisma Media, Strang was voted by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. He has interviewed four U.S. presidents and has been featured on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBN, Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, theDailyCaller.com and in many Christian outlets.

Quote for the Day

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When we see paintings of Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice, the art usually tells the same story—we see Isaac as a young boy, perhaps eleven years old or less. But according to Rabbinic Judaism, when Abraham offered up his son as a burnt offering, Isaac was not a little boy—he was thirty-seven years old! Kirt Schneider

Reflection on Matthew 9: 27-34

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Scripture

Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord, “they told him, “we do.”

Observation

After raising the girl from the dead, two blind men follow Jesus asking Him to heal them.

Jesus asks them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes,” they reply.

And so Jesus tells them that their faith has healed them.

A demon possessed man who could not speak is brought to Jesus. Jesus casts out the demon and the man can speak. The crowd is amazed because nothing like this has ever happened before.

Application

All through the gospels, we see Jesus encouraging people to express faith before He heals them. He doesn’t do this for His own benefit, but to grow the faith of the person being healed as well as the faith of the people watching.

Part of the reason why we see so few miracles these days is that we have such little faith for healing. We need to practise faith and encourage it to grow .

Faith is like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes.

One way to do this is to pray for even small and trifling things Pray out loud and command that cold or pain to go in Jesus’ name. When we do this, we can start to believe for bigger diseases, and even for apparently incurable diseases.

It takes faith, a conviction that Jesus is able to and willing to heal us.

Prayer

Please grow my faith Lord so that so that I can trust to heal to heal any disease. Amen.