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The Amish Voice 4

form (1 Cor. 13:10). Others believe and

teach that all the gifts are in operation,

just like they were in the early church.

Some believers have become so caught

up in the supernatural gifts that they have

thrown out the foundational doctrines of

the Bible. Additionally, they have made a

religion out of the God-given gifts and

become worshippers of the gifts rather

than the Giver of the gifts. For these sad

reasons, other believers have chosen to

walk in the opposite direction and have

quenched and suffocated the power and

supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. For

that reason, let me add the following

portion of scripture:

Though I speak with the

tongues of men and of angels,

and have not charity

[love],

I

am become as sounding brass,

or a tinkling cymbal. And

though I have the gift of

prophecy, and understand all

mysteries, and all knowledge;

and though I have all faith, so

that I could remove mountains, and

have not charity, I am nothing. And

though I bestow all my goods to feed

the poor, and though I give my body

to be burned, and have not charity, it

profiteth me nothing

(1 Cor. 13:1-3).

The Holy Spirit speaks directly to and

through believers. It is quite clear from

reading the scriptures that the Holy Spirit

is able to speak like a human being.

When He speaks, the Bible commands us

to listen to His voice. Consider the

following instances when the Holy Spirit

shows up and speaks to mankind in the

flesh:

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, go

near, and join thyself to this chariot

(Acts 8:29).

As they (the church) ministered to the

Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,

Separate me Barnabas and Saul for

the work whereunto I have called

them. And when they had fasted and

prayed, and laid their hands on them,

they sent them away. So they, being

sent forth by the Holy Spirit

(Acts

13:2-4).

...take no thought beforehand what ye

shall

speak,

neither

do

ye

premeditate: but whatsoever shall be

given you in that hour, that speak ye:

for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy

Spirit

(Mark 13:11).

The Holy Spirit adds a second nature.

Before we were born again we had only

one nature—the flesh nature. Our

decisions and choices were based on our

own flesh and desires. After the new birth

we have two natures—flesh and Spirit.

This simply means that as born-again

believers, we wake up in the morning and

have to choose which nature we want to

walk in. If we choose to walk in the flesh

nature, we will often appear to others as

one who has never been born again. If we

choose to walk in the Spirit, we will

appear as one who has experienced the

new birth.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and

ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusteth against the

Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:

and these are contrary the one to the

other: so that ye cannot do the things

that ye would

(Gal 5:16-17).

Walking in the Spirit means walking in

harmony with God and others. We must

guard our heart and tongue from

bickering, bitterness, and conflict. We

must learn to rest in Him, and let Him

fight our battles.

Those who truly walk in the Spirit will

find the following list of fruit appearing

in their every-day life:

But the fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,

temperance: against such there is no law

(Galatians 5:22-23). The fruit spoken of

in these verses cannot be faked or

manufactured by the believer. Our part is

to yield and trust; God’s part is to

produce the fruit. (See John 15:4-5).

WHAT I WAS TAUGHT

GROWING UP

In the next couple of paragraphs, I would

like to share some of my background and

how I understood the Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit. I was born and raised in an

Old Order Amish community in

Ohio. My parents took me to

church every other Sunday and

there I learned a lot about the

Father in heaven. By the time I

reached 15 years of age, I knew

a great deal about God the

Father. In my mind, He was

rigid and ruled from heaven with

an iron hand. As far as I could tell, He

never smiled, nor did anything slip

through His fingers. I was taught to obey

Him or else He would punish me like He

did the children of Israel when they

turned their backs on Him and went their

own way.

I also learned about Jesus. I learned that

He was God’s only Son, and that He died

on the cross, was buried, and rose from

the grave three days later. To some

degree, I was taught to believe that the

Son was of lesser value and not to be held

to the same level as the Father. For this

reason, I focused more on the Father and

who He was than I did the Son.

As for the Holy Spirit, He was hardly

mentioned at home during prayer times

or in church. Truthfully, about the only

time I remember hearing about Him is the

day I was baptized in the name of the

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. As far as I

was concerned, the Holy Spirit was of

little to no value in our everyday lives. It

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit,

and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the

flesh. —Gal 5:16