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| The Nountaineer |
The Spiritual Gifts from The Holy Spirit are provided to believers when they receive Eternal Life through Faith in their LORD and Savior, Jesus The Messiah who is also "The Word of God", who set aside His Prerogative to remain seated on the Throne of Glory, at the Right Hand of The Father. He then chose to be born a human being, who are created in the image of God. It was Love that caused Him to do this and pity for this vast sea of humanity who were like sheep without a Shepard, wandering to and fro without hope. Mankind had been cursed along with all of creation and without a sinless Savior to become the Final and most complete sacrifice, there was no hope for mankind. After Our LORD paid the Great Price for our salvation, He then returned to Glory and 10 days later He sent the promised Holy Spirit at the time of Pentecost which meant that Jerusalem was filled with those who chose to worship the God of the Jewish people. This was the beginning of the "Church" which is the body of Christ, Also known as the "Bride of Christ" who will someday be snatched away to meet The Lord in the air or upper atmosphere which is called the "Second Heaven". Actually, it could be anywhere, from where the clouds are to the outer atmosphere or "space".
Now back to the "Gifts of The Spirit". Each "true believer" receives at least one spiritual gift and these are available in the books of 1st Corinthians chapters 12, and 14, 1st Peter chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4, Romans chapter 4 and of course in the book of Acts which describes the coming of The Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and who still empowers new believers at the point of their salvation with a spiritual gift, at least one and possibly more. Apart from the gift of "Discerning of Spirits", I am not quite sure what the secondary gifts in my life are. It is more important than most Christians realize to find out what their "Spiritual Gifts" are and then to put them to work within the Body of Christ. At this point, in America, the Church is not much of a threat to Satan, which means, "The Adversary", and therefore the Church members are weak and unable to obey the commands of Our Savior! Jesus said : "if you love me then you will obey my commands"! Are you obeying His commands? Do you even know what His commands are? The main command that True Believers would remember is to: "go into all the Earth and preach The Gospel". Are you aware that there are many others? It is long over-due that the Church finds out what they are! We must then truly put them into practice with the help of the Holy Spirit and "His Gifts". Can you find these things without regular daily Bible study? The answer is no for most Christians and unlikely for the rest!
We in the Body of Christ need to get beyond the attractions of this wealthy society with all of it's temptations and distractions like sports, sex, gambling, food and a miriad of others, and get back to the Bible. The church is stale and in general, not at all pleasing to Christ. We are to be his body here on Earth and do the things that He taught His deciples to do and say! We are Christ's representatives and ambassadors here in this world because we are In this world but not Of this world!
That holds true for true believers in Our Savior! The Book of Revalation starts with Christ's introduction and then procedes with the letters to the "Seven Churches". We are not one of the better churches like the Church in Philadelphia, in fact we are like the luke-warm church that Christ is about to spew out of His mouth! Please take heed and listen to voice of the Lord to the "Seven Churches"!
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Today is a time like no other in the history of the Earth. The battle is raging for the hearts, minds, and souls of our children. The enemy of all mankind has conceived all manner of traps, snares, and deceptions to keep or prevent as many human beings from knowing the Truth which is God's Truth and no other. The battle is on Earth yet the primary players are in another realm or dimension. This takes an incredible amount of "Spiritual Discernment" as well as caution when defending against an invisible enemy who hates all of humanity because we are created in the image of God and God is their primary enemy. That which makes it even more difficult to understand is that the battle has already been won by "The Word of God", when He died on the cross and paid the sin debt for all who will believe a simple yet astonishing truth. "We are "Saved By Faith". All other religions are in one form or another, "works based" in their understanding of what is "good" and what is needed for atonement, of one sort or another.
The description of this spiritual battle in the Bible has proven to be absolutely true. I know this from personal experience yet it has taken decades for me to even begin to understand why I have seen and experienced all that I have. I finally turned to the Bible after God personally stepped into my life at the age of 30. There was a long interval where I was like a ship without a rudder because I received Christ as my Savior at the age of 6 and for a variety of reasons why, it took a long time for me to look to "The Book" for some answers. It is now like daily food that is every bit as important as food for the body. The better the nutrition for the body then the healthier will be the body, and it is the same for our soul and spirit! Without daily feeding on God's word, we become not only malnourished but leave ourselves open to attack by "the enemy". This does not mean that we are not attacked daily any way, it means that we are better prepared to resist the attacks. I have found that for me it is necessary to listen to the audio Bible daily if possible and also listen every evening to as many of my favorite Bible expositors as possible. Since I live alone it is possible for me to spend most of my waking hours filling my mind with God's truths. It is something like immunization. The enemy still tries to get a foot-hold in my life but when his attacks happen, I know why and do not turn and run but stand my ground with the addition of spiritual armor from God and can even use the LORD's offensive weapon which is God's Word!
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