The Move of The Spirit

"He alone can know when the manifestations are best for the one who prays and the one who receives."

JESUS TRAVELED from town to town stirring up people's trust in the faithfulness of God. He sought to bring revelation of God’s desire to save and cleanse and heal and deliver all people, Jew and Gentile. Though He spoke in what was a tiny piece of the planet, His words and the miracles which followed it are still making an eternal impact. He is a Jew, born under the Law. He died on a cruel cross, although He'd never sinned. He rose again on the third day and breathed the breath of the Father, the precious Holy Spirit, upon those disciples He had loved and had trained to spread the news of a new and better covenant. John 3:16 came to life. All men could now be saved. But the fullness of what He'd come to do would come to pass at Pentecost. Jesus not only wanted to rebirth the heart or spirit of man, but He empowered us to go and do just as He did. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can lay hands on the sick and see them recover.

The manifestations of the Spirit are still working in us today. God's heart is to live and move among us all day every day. He is not with one man and not with another. But desires us to all walk in step with Him as a lifestyle.

There are many ways of travel. One can drive a car he owns or ride in one he pays the driver for their time and willingness to take him where he wants to go. Another can take a bus or ride a train or fly distances in some form of aircraft. What we choose to travel in is based on our need, our knowledge and ability, and our funds. What we do not use is avoided for the same reasons. We must use wisdom.

The manifestations of the Spirit or gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12 are given AS HE WILLS. These are the signs which followed Jesus’ preaching of the Word, and they follow our teaching and preaching today. As the Spirit of God knows they are needed and will work the goodness of God in individuals, He chooses their manner and use. He is the source of wisdom, the very beginning and ending of it, and He knows all men, their thoughts and intents, how spiritually mature they are or how dependent. So He alone can know when they are best for the one who prays and the one who receives. They are, in short, how God speaks to men and sends His power into men to heal and restore. And what God will not do is use His goodness to damage either the one praying or the one receiving.

The devil has deceived many into the lie that God does not heal anymore. But this is like saying electricity can only be used to run refrigerators but not to turn on lights. Even if laws were passed by men forbidding certain uses of electricity in the home, the same power that turns on the vacuum cleaner also runs the fish tank. It can power electric saws and also computers. God's eternal life heals the soul and the body and cleanses from sin. He sent Jesus to make us WHOLE. Without any broken and bad places. The manifestations the Spirit uses to change our inner man, to restore our bodies from illness and injury, and to guide us into His plans for our life, work only as He knows is best for all people involved, and they do a complete work

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living within you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give you the power to live victoriously here and now in your mortal bodies. This is accomplished by living in trust and receiving the power of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:11, Remedy)

We hunger for a "move of God" in our churches. We long to host His presence and to see the sick made well, but such a display of Him among us comes only absent of arrogance and ego and to hearts fully willing to set down their own ways and pick up His. They come to those who seek Him, who hunger for Jesus, and who carry the Father's heart for people. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are God of all men, and Savior of one church. We are one body worldwide, not one body per church denomination, or one body per church building. Our heart must be, at its foundation, for all men. Though He has given us to one congregation in our community, the manifestations of Him in all their mannerisms are not segregated or separated but are united across all barrier lines. When we seek Him to work among us and "circle the wagons," however, enclosing “us four and no more,” then we will limit what He does. Because as I've said, His motive is always pure and for our best interests. This is not to say He is intensely picky. And yet, if He were not sensitive to all needs, then He would not be God. He is sensitive to sin, yes. This has been stated in the church. But He is sensitive to our maturity, the finest points of our needs, and all things where we “come up short.” This is a good thing, not a bad one, as some have said. I like that I don’t have to explain things to Him. He knows all points about me in great detail.

So also is His heart for the church as a body and for congregations where He will move and pour Himself out. But we must seek Him as God and not simply what He can do. He desires a relationship with us and for us to mature and grow into our callings under His guidance. Because of Jesus, we are forever united to God and forever dependent upon Him.

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Image by Alexey Hulsov from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com