We are seeing some amazing acts of God at New Beginnings Church. Last weekend we had 9 testimonies, including one person being healed completely of terminal cancer. God is so good. Then a few weeks ago we had our amazing Deeper night of worship, and God moved in a mighty way, with several people getting slain in the Spirit. We are also seeing many people get closer to God by experiencing their personal prayer language from the Lord.

 

Today, most Christians in America want to see God move. They want to hear Him. They want to feel His power, but did you know that 90% of all American churches practice what is called cessationism. This is a fancy word that says that the gifts of the Holy Spirit died out with the apostles or when the Bible was finished because we did not need them anymore.

There are many problems with this view. I think the biggest problem is that this allows Christians to be “woe is me” Christians, just waiting to go to Heaven, instead of being more than conquerors as Jesus asked us to be.

 

Second, the cessationism view allows for Christians to have an excuse as to why evil seems to win. Jesus gave us the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we can win, and not just win a close battle, but to defeat the devil in ways that are unmistakable, where people go "Wow, God is awesome"! The gifts allow us to prove that God is moving.

Third, we believe that the devil is still working and doing evil, so why then would God ever stop giving His people and His church gifts and power that are greater than the devil? The answer is, He would not.

 

Many people point to I Corinthains 13:8-10 and say that this is the reason why the gifts are not valid for today. However, it says that when the Perfect One comes, these will cease. Jesus is the Perfect One, and when He comes back, we won’t need any gifts of the Holy Spirit, because He will have won, and we will be with Him.

However, until then, God gave us these gifts to counteract the devil and evil in powerful ways, and we should want to use all the spiritual weapons in our arsenal.

Too many people try and use these gifts to defeat the devil or the evil around us. The devil is already defeated, and if you are a Christian, no evil on this planet has power over you (I John 4:4). We are to use these gifts to rescue people who are on their way to hell, by letting them see what they need to see, proof that God is real, and that God loves them.

To use these gifts, we have to be willing to allow God to use us in His way to do what is best, and that is scary to many, and why many say that the gifts are not for today. The thing is, God will not do anything to harm you, only to better you.

 

I use this phrase in church all the time, "Don’t Knock It Till You Tried It”. Go ahead and say, "God I want to be used. I want to feel you, and I want to do something amazing for you." Reach out and give God a chance.

 

One last thing. This is not just for others. When God moves through you, you will get an experience that is absolutely amazing. It will be something that you will want to feel again and again, a high that will never go away. (2 Timothy 2:6).

 

Do you want more out of your Christian Walk? Guess what, God wants to give you more, and then never stop. So, ask Him for more, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be active in your life, and Don’t Knock It Till You Try It!

 

Remember Jesus loves you, I love you, and you are awesome!