Tyler Greene

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

– Ephesians 5:1-2

At its root, our greatest problem is an identity crisis. The problem occurs when we confuse our calling with our identity. We often seek to define ourselves by what we can achieve and produce, by which leaders we follow, or by what we can contribute. However, we must see our callings as derived from an identity that is not of our own making. Our identity, in Christ, is beloved children of God, and we have been therefore called to be imitators of God by following our self-giving Lord.

Rande Greene

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

– Galatians 1:10

We become the servant of whomever we are trying to please. Our well-being is controlled by those whose approval we seek. If I obsess Sunday after church services about whether or not my preaching and or teaching met the approval of those in attendance I have become the servant of those who were present. If a parent is driven by the opinion of their son or daughter they have become the servant of their offspring. The sad and reprehensible thing about both of these scenarios is that in neither case is the servant doing justice to their responsibility. Neither I or the parent are serving in the manner we should. We are controlled by the opinion of others or by our need of acceptance we are shirking our calling. This can happen to the best of people.

Rande Greene

“Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! “

– Psalm 143:1

Prayer is a spiritual discipline. It is a way that God communicated a measure of His grace to us. There are spiritual paths I won’t walk until I pray. There are blessings beyond me until I pray. If the goal of prayer is to get things from God we are missing the mark. God is the goal of prayer. There are people here today the Lord has been dealing with about your prayer life. Maybe you’ve committed to a more consistent and passionate prayer practice in the past only to fail after a while. The attitude I have about prayer going into it is important. If I’m doing it as an obligation or necessary chore I may do it without the requisite joy. I do it but is not the refreshing fountain of life it should be.Because God is a God of grace there are many times I start to pray with a cold, unenthused attitude but He meets me and it turns into a joyous thing. Then there are times when I pray and I have to exercise faith that He heard me. I don’t sense anything. But, If I go into prayer with a view that I am entering a land of pleasure and enjoyment, I stand a chance of being more faithful to it. Getting to enjoy the Lord is the best reason to pray. Enjoying Him is reason enough.

 

Rande Greene

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

-1 Corinthians 12:4-11

The gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues.To recap last week there is more than one kind of “tongues”. There is the speaking in tongues that occurred in Acts 2, 10,and 19. This is not the same as what Paul is referencing in 1 Corinthians. Anthony Thiselton. “…there is more than one unitary phenomenon that may be called a tongue.” You determine which species of tongues by the context of the scripture where it is found.

Before we turn our scope of study strictly to the gift of tongues and what should always accompany it, the gift of interpretation, we will look again at clarifying the distinction.

Anthony Thiselton: “At least five distinct view about speaking in tongues find a place in scholarly literature. These include tongues as: (1) angelic speech, (2) miraculous power to speak foreign languages, (3) liturgical or archaic utterances, (4) ecstatic speech, (5)mechanisms of release, especially in releasing longing or praise.”

Rande Greene

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

– John 3:1-8

Albert Einstein: At the age of four watched the needle of a compass. He already recognized there was something behind things. A four-year-old realized there are invisible things at work behind visible things. Our Lord used the most brilliant analogy in illustrating the truth of spiritual reality. “The wind”. The wind is not a visible thing. You cannot hold the wind in your hand. The effects of the wind are quite evident though. There is a realm that is illustrated by the analogy of wind. It is unseen by real and active. Being “born again” or “being born from above” depends upon the fact that there is a spiritual realm. There is a reality unseen. It is so real and powerful that entrance into it will radically change our visible life. The unseen realm and its influence and power will radically alter our relationships. The unseen realm is resident with power so great that a broken and failing marriage can be put right. A person who fails in important things like character, honesty and integrity can afterwards live according to those principles. Those whose lives bear the marks of sin can be changed completely because of the Holy Spirit. There is a spiritual reality that can revolutionize the everything.

 

Rande Greene

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.”

– 1 Corinthians 14:14

“Unfruitful” has also been interpreted “barren”. The tongues speaker is blessed spiritually without any understanding of the words they spoke meant.

Speaking in a Spirit-inspired language is not a product of the mind. The source is the Holy Spirit. It is spiritual language.1 Corinthians 12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Speaking in tongues is a “manifestation of the Spirit”. The gift list in 1 Cor. 12 is referring to the “gift of tongues”. Speaking in unknown languages is not restricted to the gift of unknown languages. There is speaking in tongues that is not the gift of tongues. There is tongues speaking that is an evidence of Holy Spirit baptism.

Rande Greene

“And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52  for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”

– Mark 6:51-52

They experienced the gracious help of God in people physically being fed. They had been nourished by the miraculous feeding and were basically unmoved. Being unfazed by the goodness of God is a sure sign of hardheartedness. Should we see a lack of gratitude and appreciation as hardness of heart? Most certainly and maybe the worst kind. To fail to express appreciation and thankfulness to God for the blessings he has given is a sin. It is a sin because it reveals hardness of heart. To not be amazed and dazzled by how blessed we are to know the Lord; to not pour out gratitude is a worse offense for one who has experienced the grace of God.

Rande Greene

The most important thing we can do is keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus.

“Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, ‘It’s a ghost!’ But Jesus spoke to them at once. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘Take courage. I am here!’ Then Peter called to him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.’ ‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’ When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him. ‘You really are the Son of God!’ they exclaimed.”

– Matthew 14:22-33

John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod. Our Lord clearly loved his cousin and it grieved him to hear of the cruel treatment of John. He withdrew to grieve and to pray. That is a good lesson for us to learn. When we face extreme difficulty and loss we should do as the Lord did. We often concoct strange and less than beneficial remedies for sorrow. Jesus did the right thing. He spent time in prayer.

Rande Greene

Fear keeps us from obeying God. “What if it wasn’t really God speaking to me? If I step out and do this, what if I fail or it turns out badly for me? What if God doesn’t come through for me?” Some of the highest and longest bridges in the U.S. offer special assistance now. They provide a “driving service”. Upon request, one of the bridge’s attendants will get behind the wheel of the car and drive the over the bridge for the timid driver. Michigan has a “Timid Motorist Program”. They help hundreds of drivers a year over the Mackinac Bridge. It is five miles long and rises two hundred feet above the water.

Prayer is the act of allowing Jesus to take the wheel. He helps us and doesn’t chastise us for being fearful. Imagine the fear that gripped Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He has been tempted in all points like us yet he is without sin. He identified with every human emotion, including fear.

Norman Morris Gray

No matter how God chooses to use each one of us we must rest in the fact that we are stones in our Shepherd’s pouch.