Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts
I have recently been involved in a "study" (it seemed more a debate and I withdrew for the moment) regarding the gifts/sign-gifts of the Apostles and how they may or may not be valid today. Since withdrawing from that study, I have found much support in scripture to the validity of "miracles" today. Just this morning in 1 Cor where Paul discussed his "thorn" spoke of God's will to heal or not. My understanding has been that healing, along with other signs and gifts is still valid today, but, as with anything of God, is according to his will, and not only of our faith. Paul had faith, to the degree that God took him to the third heaven. Some have tried to pursuade me that all signs, miracles, etc., ended with the apostles.
My request to any who read this is, how are we to respond to those who have been taught and attempt to adhere to these teachings? I say attempt because of the double-speak I experienced, while putting forth scripture to validate that God can, will, and does desire to give healing (other than spiritual via salvation) to some for the purpose of demonstrating his power to the end of the age. I know He has healed today because He has healed or "delivered" me from many affictions, as well as others who have testified. It is on that basis that I stand firm.
The Spirit will render life to our mortal bodies
Thank you Tobie for sharing your testimony. I am espacially touched by the conversion of the Buddist doctor.
For several years, the Lord has been leading me into the recovery of my lungs and health, after setting me free from nicotine. I have been spending many hours a day into this recovery process and it has grown into a life style of health maintenance and all around prevention.
Three years ago, I was looking on the Internet, to find out if there was a congregation of "The local Church" in my city. This is a term used by Watchman Nee to describe the basic reality of the Church planting process, when operated by God, as seen in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
I found one and we were invited, my wife and I, to a bible study, at a Chinese family on the next Tueday.
Once there, we found that the Lord had guided us to someone who was born in Malasya and raised in the oral tradition of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, by his grand-father.
Up until then, I had operated on my own, while the Lord was confirming the pilgrimage with key verses.
One of those is from King Solomon in his proverbs when he says:
"The breath of man is a lamp of the Eternal that reaches all the way to the bottom of the bowel". (word for word translation from the French Louis Second version bible)
A very long inner-outer journey was confirmed by the Lord when I met up with Joseph, who is one very dear Chinese brother, and who is blessed with much of China's 5000 years of good health and hapiness cultivation's intelligence:
http://www.naturalherbalproducts.com/
Tobie, there is a mixture of herbs that Joseph calls "The Regainer", his number 32 in his website, which is offered to releive stroke patients of their worse symptoms and which has proven itself for 4000 years. You might want to try it. If so, let me know and let's watch the Lord operate physical healing of the mind and body in our midst, begin to spread by God's glory, making us one as Christ and the Father are one. John17
This thread offers me an opportunity to present part of the online ministry that I am given to serve the Lord with, as an witness of certain spiritual gifts that we can draw life from, as we open up in the clarity of transparency.
"We have no power against the truth" says Paul!
As an example, the following is a recent letter from Fred, a young man in his early 20s, who lives in Northen Uganda, where children were trained for war as of quite recently:
Hi Benoit
To be honest iwas almost dying ihad seroius attack with the asthim and icould not breath the same time ihave seroius malaria am happy that GOD rescued me and iahve atestomony iwish you understand what imean benoit iwas sick very sick in few days idnt lknowif iwill get out of this breathing problem.
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My answer to Fred:
Dear Fred,
If you were my son at home, I would work with you and all that I know to help you out. There is a limit to people's knowledge about how to heal.
So what I would do if you were in my house and if you could not help yourself because of the fever and trembling, is to seek out with my nails, where are the most sensitive spots around your teeth.
I would go around your mouth and you would tell me, "ouch, ouch".
Once I find out where are sensitive spots, then I find out how to touch them with my nails, so that your eyes tell me "good". That would mean that me and the pain have establish the range of intensity, within which I can operate.
Then I go on, gently rubbing those spots until I hear your breathing get easier.
When your breathing gets easier, the trembling stops and you can start helping yourself, with your hands.
So from there, I would begin to work "WITH YOU" instead of working "AT YOU".
Together, we would explore how to best position and move yourself, for the easing to grow and grow, until your body could heal itself. Eventually, you would leave me, so that you could go on to work with the Lord, in the intimacy with your Creator. The sooner that such intimacy begins, the better.
All the work I would do on you and with you, would be to ease you out of the grip of stress.
Dear young Fred, you MUST LEARN to RELAX and to REST and to STAY in that REST in everything you think or say or do.
You cannot do anything for GOD, because it is all God Who does the work in us. We simply obey.
To obey does not come from our will power.
To obey comes from the law of the Spirit of life that sets us free from the law of sin and of death.
Our will power IS the connection of the law of sin and death.
You and I and everybody must learn to go on, in the passage from the spiritual division of our DNA to the organic experience of spiritual unity.
Our going through this passage happens by hosting the REST of God in His temple, our bodies, at the speed of every breath and inner impulse.
Praying for real, begins by my being aware of my being in God and God being in me.
Only the Holy Spirit can show us, teach us and feed us such Eternal's life so that the power of resurrection gets to conquer death in our existence, one breath at the time, one feeling at the time and one thought at the time.
My prayers are with you dear Fred. Find the rest of God in you...
...signed...
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In case anyone is interested in reading more of this kind of exchange, Fred, myself and Helen from Tanzania have accepted to post our chats of this kind, and to call it:
"Spiritual Hygiene101".
It is kept openly at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A13728035
All comments welcome!
...may all blessings be with us all...
Benoit