A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (May 4, 2017)
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Acts 19:2-6)
I hope all our devotional readers had a chance to listen to the teaching by Pastor Robert Morris of Gateway Church. If not, the appropriate youtube link is provided below for a second chance. We highly recommend that each of you listen to this entire teaching by Pastor Morris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15TA1YVevJU
Some may question why we have had five devotionals on this subject. The answer is, because it’s very important! My wife and I have served as Evangelists and Chaplains for 35 years and there are two things that are the most rewarding about this work. The first is seeing someone born again. The second is seeing someone baptized in the Spirit. Those two things make all the hard work and challenges worth it all.
There are a couple of critical points in the teaching by Pastor Morris that I want to emphasize.
Religious Bias – We can build up such a religious bias that it becomes a stronghold in our mind which causes us to ignore or misread the written Word of God. That causes us to ignore the truth and miss the blessing of God. That’s not good!
Resistance to the Word – Resistance to a particular set of scriptures could indicate a stronghold. It’s like a red flag from God to stop and listen. Lay aside your bias and pay attention.
Pastor Morris shared about praying to receive the Baptism in the Holy Ghost but he had built up such a stronghold in his mind, due to previous teachings, that it was hard for him to receive. You need to listen to his testimony. It’s really funny, and I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I will not elaborate any further.
As Pastor Morris was sharing his testimony in his own church he said he felt in his spirit some resistance to his teaching on this subject. He then read a statement made by the great Apostle Paul which said, “I wish you all spoke with tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:5, NIV). He then asked his congregation this question. If the Apostle Paul wished that all the Corinthian church spoke with tongues, why would I not as Pastor of this church wish that all of you spoke in tongues? He went on to say that he did wish that everyone in his church would speak in tongues.
The other critical thing that Pastor Morris brought out was this. If you have a problem with reading a scripture from the Bible such as when Paul says “I wish you all spake in tongues,” or “I speak in tongues more than you all,” or “do not forbid to speak in tongues,” then you just might have a religious stronghold in your mind. The point being, we should be able to read the Word of God with an open mind and receive what God has for us without a religious bias. The religious elite (Pharisees) in the time of Jesus were wrong. The religious elite of our day can be wrong also. Just remember that.
Our job as Pastors and Evangelists is to make sure we are preaching and teaching the entire Word of God. Our heart is that you would come short in no blessing or gift from God; that you would put on the whole armor of God; and that all strongholds would be broken so that you can receive everything God has for you. That is our job and we will be about doing our job as long as we are on this earth.
