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The Amish Voice 10
work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ:
Why?
Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Why?
That we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of
men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive (Ephesians 4:11-14).
First, the Holy Spirit gives you a specific gift;
He equips you for what He is calling you to
do. Once He has placed His gift in you, He
calls you to do something in the body of
Christ. Do you know what your gift is? Are
you obeying your call? Can it be said of you
what Jesus said about the centurion?
When Jesus heard these things, He
marvelled at him (the Gentile centurion),
and turned him about, and said unto the
people that followed him, I say unto you, I
have not found so great faith, no, not in
Israel (Luke 7:9).
Who are you following? Another man? A man
-made religion? A culture? Your parents? A
certain church flavor? Or are you a sold-out
follower of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to
have your life changed to reflect God's agenda
for you, or do you expect God to fit into your
agenda? Today, you and I fit one of the
following types of followers:
1. The rich young ruler who was not willing to
give up all and follow
Now when Jesus heard these things, he
said unto Him, Yet lackest thou one thing:
sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: and come, follow me. And when
he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for
he was very rich (Luke 18:22-23).
2. Peter who gave up all and followed
immediately. Then Peter said, “Lo, we have
left all, and followed Thee” (Luke 18:28).”
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND YOU
The Holy Spirit in prayer
Praying always with all prayer and
supplication
in the Spirit
, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints
(Ephesians 6:18).
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on
your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy
Ghost
… (Jude 20).
I know this will be a hard pill for some to
swallow, but praying in the Sprit is not
reading someone else’s words from a book,
even though the words might be powerful and
were from the writer’s heart. They are not
mine or yours. Real prayer in the Spirit is
getting with God and speaking from your heart
and from the deepest parts of your soul.
CONCLUSION
We can never enjoy the fullness of what God
has ordained for us as Christians without the
help and power of the Holy Spirit. My utmost
hope and desire is that this study has excited
your interest in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Truly, one study is far from sufficient to give a
full and detailed description of the ministry
and person of the Holy Spirit. Do not stop
here. Dig deep into the Scriptures to learn all
there is to learn about the blessed Holy Spirit.
Joe Keim
PO Box 128, Savannah OH 44874
(419) 962-1515
Holy Spirit, continued
We all have our own ideas
of what we think love is.
The apostle Paul writes this
on the expression of love:
Charity suffereth long, and
is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth
not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave
itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things (I
Corinthians 13:4-7).
If we focus on this expression of love, we
will overcome hate and condemnation
toward others and ourselves. It is written that
God is Spirit and also that God is love. Jesus
became that expression of love as an
example for us. He taught us to love others
the way we want to be loved and treated.
This is how others will know if we are His
disciples: by observing how we love and
treat others. I recently read this: “A rose
offers her fragrance to Christian, Muslim,
Buddhist, and Atheist alike. It does not stop
its perfume because of what one group
believes, even if that rose is crushed
underfoot.” We are to become that
expression of love to others. Jesus taught us
to love our enemies and to do good to those
who hate us. If we do not agree on beliefs or
interpretations of the Bible, that should not
become a wall or division between us.
Instead, we should love others and treat them
with respect for who they are.
We cannot change the beliefs of others, even
if we think we are right. Thoughts of
condemnation and judgment will only put up
walls of discrimination and ill feelings
towards others. Our expressions of love and
kindness will speak for themselves. Is it fear
that separates? Perfect love casts out fear.
Paul taught that in Christ “we live, and
move, and have our being; as certain also of
your own poets have said, For we are also his
offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that
the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or
stone, graven by art and man's device” (Acts
17:28-29).Can we grasp this? This is
awesome! We are the offspring of God, who
is love! This is our DNA. We are loved and
accepted unconditionally by the One who is
love. If we abide in that reality, knowledge
and fruit will take care of itself. Remember,
if you pass by an orange grove, you don't
hear the trees straining to push out lovely
oranges. They simply are what they were
created to be. What were we created to be?
We were created to be the expression of the
love of God in the earth.
Are we constantly having ill thoughts of
others, or are we having kind and loving
thoughts of others? A smile or a simple
acknowledgement may make a difference in
someone’s life. We don't know when a small
act of kindness from someone else may make
a difference in our lives. How we think about
and treat others is a seed that will eventually
become a harvest in our lives and the lives of
others.
I am not writing this because I am trying to
teach you what I already do. I write this
because I, too, desire to follow this advice
from the Scripture. May I encourage others
to join me in living this life of love in God?
To become a success, we need to help others
succeed. Peace and blessing to all.
— Marvin Hershberger
Love
—Marvin Hershberger