I’ve been a student of the Bible since March of 1974, and the reason I became interested then was because of the love in the hearts of the people that I found myself around and it’s never let up in all these years. Such was the case this past weekend in the North Georgia Mountains at our Fall Advance, sponsored by Harbor Light Fellowship. The people in attendance take God’s Word very seriously and with the freedom to express themselves, with Christ in them, it makes them a lot of fun to be around.
I was asked to pray publicly at a small meeting the Sunday morning of the Advance called The Morning Watch. One of the things that I said was that “it still blew my mind that I was able to operate spiritual power.” And it does! Jesus Christ himself said in John 14:12:
John 14:12: “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
The greater works he was talking about was speaking in tongues and tongues with interpretation, which were not available until the Day of Pentecost. The works that he did included seven of the nine manifestations, which is spiritual power. Operating spiritual power trips up a lot of the Christian world today because dealing with spiritual matters to them is dealing with the unseen, the unknown and it’s hard for the senses to comprehend unless you’re rightly taught.
That was not the case at our Advance because everyone there takes scriptures like Ephesians 1:3 to heart.
Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
All spiritual blessings include the manifestations of the spirit as listed In 1 Corinthians 12: 7-10. These are the works Jesus Christ did minus speaking in tongues and tongues with interpretation. To operate these requires love and believing and when you get a large group of people together who understand that, the fellowship is very sweet. One of the greatest things of the whole weekend to me, was watching the children get taught in the children’s fellowship. What wonderful little people they are and they get to hear it from the get go.
This is what I refer to as the Power for Abundant Living lifestyle. That lifestyle actually began on the Day of Pentecost and prevailed for a certain period of time in the First Century and then faded into the dissemination of different denominations. The Power for Abundant Living lifestyle consists of not only being born again of God’s spirit but understanding what the new birth means to an individual. It is certainly not considering yourself to be born again of God’s spirit and then living in condemnation and frustration wondering whether you’re good enough to talk to God or to do any of the things He says you can do. In Philippians, we are told,
Philippians 4:13: ” I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
This is not a promise made to frustrate the seeking Christian. If you study the context of this verse, you’ll see that it’s referring to all things according to God’s Word: nothing negative in there. And you can do all things according to God’s Word. Jesus Christ did them daily without hesitation. What it takes is great fellowship with our Heavenly Father and believing.
There was a resurrection of God’s Word that started in Ohio back in the 1940’s, with the Biblical teaching, research and fellowship ministry of Victor Paul Wierwille. Dr. Wierwille fell asleep in 1985, but the ministry of God’s Word which he put together by God’s grace and mercy, still stands today with many people, and I personally saw the manifestation of that this past weekend in the hearts and lives of all the wonderful believers. I just cannot see how anybody who wants to have wonderful fellowship with likeminded believers and enjoys a peaceful environment, would not have wanted to be there.
Romans 10:15: “…How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.”
How true! I believe that anybody who truly loves God and His Word and His wonderful son, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, would want to preach the gospel of peace and to bring glad tidings to those around them. I heard a young man who had been witnessed to in recent months by a wonderful believer, speak in tongues and interpret in Spanish and it just melted my heart to hear that because it told me how much he loved God and His people and the fellowship of the believers around him.
Such is usually the case when believers get together who have heard the truth of God’s Word and endeavor to work it in their lives. We want to build our believing, energize our prayer lives, operate spiritual power and look forward to the return of Jesus Christ.
The next time you get a chance to get together with a larger group of people in a Power for Abundant Living life style Advance, take the opportunity and treat yourself and the other believers because they’ll love your fellowship!
Funglimpses and all! Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted, Will Grove