Living Water

By David Feddes

Picture this. It’s a hot day, and you’ve been outside for hours, working and sweating,
with nothing to drink. You’ve never been so thirsty in your life. Just then you come to a spring of
clear, cool water, bubbling out of the ground. And what do you do? You spit in it. Then you turn
away and walk over to a place where the ground is dry and bare. You start digging with your
hands. Once you’ve got a bit of a hole dug out, you reach down to the bottom of the hole and
scoop up a handful of dirt. You put the dirt to your mouth and try to drink it.
Something’s wrong with this picture, isn’t it? Who in their right mind would reject fresh
water and try to drink dirt? But, believe it or not, it happens all the time. In the Bible God says,
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and
have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Instead of
drinking freely from the life-giving water of God himself, we choose to be dirt drinkers instead.
All sins really come down to just two, says God: forsaking the Lord, and settling for a
substitute that will never satisfy. We forsake true love and settle for lust. We forsake real
relationship and settle for reality TV. We forsake true peace and settle for booze and
tranquilizers. We forsake eternal riches and settle for money. We forsake infinite glory and settle
for status and style. We forsake the timeless truth of Scripture and settle for experts and
entertainers. We forsake the Lord and settle for idols. We forsake the robe of Christ’s perfection
and settle for the rags of our own pitiful efforts. We forsake the Holy Spirit of the living God and
settle for our own made-up “spirituality.” We forsake the spring of living water and settle for dry
holes that give only dirt to drink. And then we wonder why we’re so thirsty and unhappy.
Jesus once met a woman who was trying to satisfy her inner thirst in all the wrong ways.
This woman went through five different husbands and then moved in with another man without
even bothering to get married. Jesus told this thirsty, dirt-drinking soul that “living water” could
be hers for the asking (John 4:10). He said, “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never
thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life” (John 4:14).
And Jesus didn’t just speak of living water privately to an individual with obvious
problems. He shouted about living water publicly to crowds of respectable, religious people.
Each year the Israelite people had a great feast, celebrating how God had long ago taken their
ancestors through the desert to the promised land and provided the thirsty travelers with water
along the way. “On the last and greatest day of the Feast,” says the Bible, “Jesus stood up and
said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me,
as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant
the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7:37-38).
Are you thirsty? Maybe you’ve been a polite, pious person who goes to all the right
religious gatherings. Or maybe you’ve been pretty wild and wicked. Either way--whether you’re
considered the cream of the crop or the bottom of the barrel (or somewhere in between)--Jesus
has one simple question for you: “Are you thirsty?” Whether you’re trying to satisfy your thirst
with religion and respectability or in wild and wicked ways, the basic question is still this: “Are
you thirsty?”
If you are thirsty, don’t keep digging yourself into a hole and drinking dirt. Instead,
accept Jesus’ invitation and promise. “Here’s my invitation,” says Jesus. “If anyone is thirsty--

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anyone at all--then come to me. Trust in me. Drink the living water of my Holy Spirit. And
here’s my promise: You will be flooded with such an outpouring of life that not only will you be
filled, you will spill over. The fountain of my Spirit will spring up right inside you, flooding you
with so much life and vitality that it will overflow to others.”
In some of the closing words of the Bible’s final book, Revelation 22:17 gives this
invitation: “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of
the water of life.” The water of life is God’s Holy Spirit, whom God poured out on his church on
Pentecost and who satisfies the souls of everyone who trusts in Jesus. At least four things are true
of the water of life: it’s free, life-giving, delightful, and unlimited.

Free
The first thing to know about living water is that it’s free. You don’t have to pay for it.
You don’t have to work for it. You don’t have to qualify for it. You just have to drink it. Jesus
says in John 7, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” You don’t have to bring
anything to Jesus except your thirst. He takes care of the rest, free of charge. You can’t earn or
add to this living water. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift.
Pastor and author John Piper puts it this way: “God is a mountain spring, not a watering
trough. A mountain spring is self-replenishing. It constantly overflows and supplies others. But a
watering trough needs to be filled with a pump or a bucket brigade. So if you want to glorify the
watering trough, you work hard to keep it full and useful. But if you want to glorify the worth of
a spring you do it by getting down on your hands and knees and drinking to your heart’s
satisfaction, until you have the refreshment and strength to go back down into the valley and tell
people what you’ve found” (The Pleasures of God, p. 215).
All too often, we think of religion in terms of what we do for God in order to earn his
favor. But genuine faith focuses, not first of all on anything we do for God, but on what God
freely gives to us. If God were an empty watering trough, needing us to fill him up, it would
make sense to lug buckets of our best works and achievements into his presence. But God isn’t a
watering trough; he’s a mountain spring.
Would you carry a bucket of dirty, lukewarm water up to a fresh, clear spring and dump
that brackish water into it? Would you think you had to spit into a spring to add some liquid to it
in order to earn yourself the right to drink? Of course not. So why carry a bucket of your own
lukewarm, dirty efforts to God as though you’re doing him a big favor? Why spit something of
your own merit into God’s free gift of living water? Don’t go to God with a bucket of brackish
water. Go with your bucket empty. Don’t go to God with a mouthful of spit. Go with your mouth
parched and dry. Don’t bring anything to God except your thirst for him.
“If anyone is thirsty,” says Jesus, “let him come to me and drink.” No merit needed. No
payment required. Just come and drink. Jesus will quench your thirst and fill your bucket out of
the fullness of his Holy Spirit, at no charge. That’s what the Bible calls grace. Scripture says,
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come ... buy
wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isaiah 55:1). God delights to give the living
water of his Spirit as a free gift through Jesus. In fact, he delights so much in giving freely that if
you insist on paying, you can’t have it.
Would Jesus become one of us and live a perfect life on earth and die as a sacrifice and
rise again and ascend to heaven if we could pay for the Holy Spirit and earn eternal life? Of
course not. Jesus paid it all himself. He is our fountain of life. He is the one place where the life

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of God flows into this world and becomes available to us. So don’t try to pay for living water.
Just come to Jesus, drink what he has already paid for, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
“Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of
life” (Revelation 22:17). Living water is free.

Life-Giving
Here’s a second thing about living water: it’s life-giving. If a person goes too long
without something to drink, he or she will end up dead. If a field goes too long without rain or
irrigation, the crop shrivels and dies. Water means life. The living water of the Spirit means life
for the individual soul and life for a society. Without the Holy Spirit, we shrivel and die.
The Bible says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man... and whose heart turns away from
the Lord... He will be like a bush in the wastelands... He will dwell in the parched places of the
desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose
confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the
stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year
of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
When I’m driving or flying in areas that get very little rain, I’m struck by the life-giving
power of water. The desert looks brown and barren for great distances. Then suddenly,
miraculously, the deadness of the desert gives way to the glorious green of crops and orchards.
Why? Because of irrigation from a river, reservoir, or well. A dry, barren wilderness can become
a blooming, flourishing paradise. All it takes is water.
In the same way, a dry, dead soul can become a fruitful paradise of eternal life. All it
takes is living water. Having God’s Holy Spirit in you is a matter of life and death. Scripture
says, “Those who turn away from [God] will be written in the dust because they have forsaken
the Lord, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 17:13). But God also promises in the Bible, “I
will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on
your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a
meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams” (Isaiah 44:3-4).
Your life may seem like a desert, a wasteland of dirt and dryness. The only sign of life is
a cruel cactus here or an ugly scorpion there. That’s what your soul becomes without the Holy
Spirit’s living water, and that’s what a society becomes without living water. It becomes dirty,
dry, hurtful, and ugly. But Jesus can change that. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God
opens his floodgates and fills up a great reservoir of living water. Then, through the channel of
faith, his Spirit comes rushing and splashing into your heart. What was once a parched desert
begins to flourish and blossom with fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit can
make this happen in individuals that are dry and dead, and also in churches and nations that are
dry and dead. Wherever the Holy Spirit goes, there is revival and fresh life. Living water is
indeed life-giving.

Delightful
A third thing to know about living water is that it’s delightful. The Bible says, “There is a
river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God
is within her” (Psalm 46:4-5). The biblical prophet Isaiah says, “With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation... Shout aloud and sing for joy” (Isaiah 12:3,6).

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 Living without God’s Holy Spirit isn’t just sinful; it’s sad. It isn’t just dirty; it’s dreary.
Even when you seem to be having fun, there’s a nagging sense of aimlessness and emptiness.
Oh, you can always watch one more show or go to one more party, but that doesn’t quench your
deepest thirst. Surrounded by fun as far as the eye can see, you’re like someone on a raft in the
middle of the ocean, dying of thirst. You’re surrounded by water, but it is salt water. The more of
it you drink, the thirstier you get. In the same way, if you’re thirsty for true joy and surrounded
by an ocean of pleasure, you can drink in all sorts of fun, but you just get thirstier and sicker and
closer to death.
If joy is what you’re after, come to Jesus. Drink in his Spirit, the fresh water of divine
delight. The Bible says of God, “You give them drink from your river of delights. For with you
is the fountain of life” (Psalm 36:8-9). Jesus says that he wants his joy to be us, that our joy
might be complete (John 15:11).
The Bible tells many stories of people who came to know God in Christ, and one thing
that gets special emphasis is their joy. One such person was the woman I mentioned earlier who
had been through five divorces by the time she met Jesus. She became so excited about Jesus that
she ran and told her whole town about him. Another was an African government official who
came to faith right in the middle of a journey, when someone told him about Jesus. The Bible
says that “he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). And then there was the law enforcement
officer who almost took his own life before he came to know the Lord. But once he believed, “he
was filled with joy” (Act 16:34).
Still today, when people come to Jesus, they discover that they are drinking from a river
of delights. Still today people discover that Jesus was telling the truth when he said, “I came that
they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). As a broadcaster I hear from many
people who tell of their joy in the Lord, and as a speaker in churches and various other places, I
see firsthand the joy that Jesus gives.
I was struck by this afresh during a visit to a prison as a guest speaker. Some of the men
came to the prison chapel simply to get away from their cells, but others truly knew Jesus as their
Savior and enjoyed worshiping the Lord. During a time of singing, one song those prisoners
chose as a favorite was this: “I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me, makes the lame to walk
and the blind to see, opens prison doors, sets the captives free. I’ve got a river of life flowing out
of me. Spring up, O well, within my soul. Spring up, O well, and make me whole. Spring up, O
well, and give to me, that life abundantly.” Even in prison, those men could sing joyfully of
God’s river of life. Living water is delightful.

Unlimited
A fourth and final fact about living water is that it is unlimited. The Spirit of God never
runs dry. He is infinite, overflowing, inexhaustible. The Bible says that God “gives the Spirit
without limit” (John 3:34). How can God do this? Because God has no limit. From all eternity,
God the Father and his Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit are united in an eternal unity of life and
love and joy. Living water is unlimited because it flows from the boundless, bountiful Being of
God, the blessed Trinity.
God is not like us. As John Piper puts it: “We go up and down in our enjoyments. We get
bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another. We are like little geysers
that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara--you look at it and
think: surely this can’t keep going at this force for year after year after year. It seems like it

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would have to rest. Or it seems like some place up stream it would run dry. But, no, it just keeps
surging and crashing and making honeymooners happy century after century. That’s the way
God is about doing us good” (The Pleasures of God, p. 192).
In Ezekiel 47 the Bible paints a marvelous picture of this limitless river of life. The
prophet Ezekiel has a vision in which he sees water streaming from the temple of God. In the
vision he goes downstream a certain distance and then steps into the water. It comes up to his
ankles. He goes a bit further downstream and steps into the water again. This time it comes up to
his knees. The water is getting deeper, even though no other streams are flowing into it or adding
to it. A bit further downstream, Ezekiel again steps into the water, and this time it comes up to
his waist. Still no other stream is adding to it, and yet, when he goes still further along and steps
in again, the water has become a mighty river. It is so deep that the prophet can’t walk across it
or touch bottom. All he can do is swim and splash around in it. That’s what the water of life is
like. The further you go with life in the Holy Spirit, the deeper and better it gets.
In Ezekiel’s vision, this ever-deepening river flows down to the Dead Sea, the lowest,
saltiest, deadest place on earth. And what happens? That salty water becomes fresh. The Dead
Sea becomes alive with all kinds of fish. Fruit trees of all kinds grow on both banks of the river,
and every one of those trees is a tree of life. The leaves never wither. The fruit never fails. Each
month there is a fresh crop of fruit that nourishes and leaves that heal. You may be as low and
dead as the Dead Sea, but no matter how low you’ve sunk, no matter how dead you’ve become,
no matter how barren the world around you might seem, the living water of God’s Spirit changes
everything.
It is free and life-giving and delightful and unlimited. Indeed, this living water is so
unlimited that when you believe in Jesus and receive the Spirit, he doesn’t just give you enough
of the Spirit to quench your own thirst. He causes streams of living water to flow from within
you. When you’re thirsty and you come to Jesus, he doesn’t just fill your cup. He makes your
cup overflow. You can sing, “I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.” The Holy Spirit within
you bubbles over, bringing the life of Jesus to people around you.
Some of you are hearing all this with tremendous joy. You already believe in Jesus and
know the free, life-giving, delightful, unlimited power of his Holy Spirit. Oh, there may be times
when you get discouraged or grumpy, and you become so sour that people might think you were
baptized in lemon juice. But then the Spirit wells up within you, and you realize afresh that
you’ve been baptized into a river of delights.
For others, though, this talk about living water may sound strange. You don’t have a
relationship to Jesus, and you don’t know what it’s like to have his Spirit living in you. Well,
even if you don’t understand everything you’ve just heard, I pray that it has at least made you
thirsty. “Whoever is thirsty,” says Jesus, “let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the
free gift of the water of life.” How do you take this free gift? By believing in Jesus. Trust him as
your Savior and Master and Friend. You don’t have to understand it all right away. You don’t
have to do something in order to qualify. Just believe in Jesus. Ask him to forgive you and to
send his Spirit into your life. Say yes to the Lord’s loving invitation: “If anyone is thirsty, let
him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from
within him.”

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Flooded by Love
By David Feddes

Daniel Steele was a philosophy professor. He had the sort of temperament you might
expect from a philosophy professor: level-headed, logical, unemotional. He wasn't the type to get
excited or let feelings run away with him. But guess what? This cool, calculating professor found
himself flooded with love, drenched and overwhelmed by the love of God. Listen to what he
wrote:
Almost every week, and sometimes every day, a pressure of his great love comes down
upon my heart in such measure as to make my brain throb, and my whole being, soul and
body, groans beneath the strain of the almost insupportable plethora of joy. And yet amid
this fullness there is a hunger for more, and amid the consuming flame of love, the
paradoxical cry is ever on my lips, "Burn, burn, O Love, within my heart, burn fiercely
night and day, till all the dross of earthly loves is burned and burned away."
Not exactly the sort of words you'd expect from a rational, unemotional professor. And there's
more. Professor Steele said,
He has unlocked every apartment of my being and filled and flooded them all with the
light of His radiant presence; ...a spot untouched has been reached, and all its flintiness
has been melted in the presence of that universal solvent, "Love divine, all loves
excelling." I now wish that I had a thousand-heart-power to love and a thousand-tongue-
capacity to proclaim Jesus, the One altogether Lovely, the complete Savior.
What happened to this man? What moved Daniel Steele to write of love that made his brain
throb and to praise "the consuming flame of love" and to cry out, "Burn, burn, O Love, within
my heart" and to speak of Jesus as "the One altogether Lovely"?
Well, Professor Steele had been a Christian for 28 years before he had these
overwhelming experiences of love. Throughout those years, he had a genuine but mostly
intellectual faith. As a clear thinker, he saw no evidence to disprove Christianity and plenty to
support it. He believed the Bible's message, and he also believed that Jesus had died for him
personally. But then the Lord he had believed in for so long flooded his heart with love, and he
knew firsthand the reality the Bible describes in Romans 5:5, "God's love has flooded our inmost
heart through the Holy Spirit he has given us" (NEB).

Holy Fire
This sense of being flooded by God's love isn't just for people who are high on emotions
and low on brain power. It's happened to some of the most brilliant people who ever lived.
Thomas Aquinas was the greatest thinker of the Middle Ages, one the most rational
persons who ever lived. Indeed, he was too rationalistic. He tried to fit Christianity into the
philosophical system of Aristotle. Aquinas argued that people usually know God only indirectly,
through applying reason and logic to the facts around them. But after spending much of his life
saying that people have no direct contact with immaterial reality, Aquinas had such an
overwhelming, direct experience of God that he stopped writing. When a friend urged him to
complete his great work, the Summa Theologica, Aquinas answered, "I can do no more; such
things have been revealed to me that all I have written seems as straw."
The Holy Spirit’s love fills as full as a flood, and this divine love blazes as hot as fire. All
our thoughts and efforts go up in smoke in the holy fire of God’s love. Anything unworthy is
consumed by the holy fire, and the good things we do and the best thoughts we think are set

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aflame not to be destroyed but to become sacred burnt offerings, holy sacrifices to the infinite
God of love.
Blaise Pascal was a mathematical and scientific genius. He developed stunning theories
and designed amazing inventions, including the first computing machine. When Pascal died, a
piece of paper was found sewn into his coat pocket. He had worn it close to his heart for years.
On the paper Pascal had written:
The year of grace 1654; Monday, November 23. From about half past ten in the evening
until half past midnight.
Fire
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars.
Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
Forgetfulness of the world and of all but God.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent.”
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
Pascal the genius had felt the fire of God's love, and the experience gave him joy and strength as
long as he lived.
It's clear, then, that a sense of being flooded with love isn't just the giddiness of unstable,
unthinking, overly emotional types. The Holy Spirit can pour out God's love in the hearts of
solid, sensible, smart people. Of course, once he does so, they don't always feel so solid and
sensible and smart. They become like children in their Father's embrace, overwhelmed by his
greatness, thrilled by his love, at a loss for words to describe exactly what the Holy Spirit has
done in them.
It's obviously wrong to think that all testimonies of God's love are just the flighty feelings
of people who are too sappy and mushy to know better. The great thinkers I've mentioned—and
others as well—are proof to the contrary. Once we realize this, however, we might be tempted to
go to the opposite extreme and figure that such experiences are only for the elite, only for super
saints and mystics and religious geniuses and not for ordinary folks. But many ordinary
Christians have experienced a flood of God's love. In fact, the Bible indicates that this ought to
be the expectation and experience of every normal Christian.
In Scripture the apostle Paul says, "God's love has flooded our inmost heart through the
Holy Spirit he has given us." And in another place Paul prays that the Spirit will grant his readers
"power together with all the saints"—all Christians—"to grasp how wide and long and high and
deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled
to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19) Oh, to be flooded with such love
and to know this love which surpasses knowledge and be filled with God's fullness!
Listen to an excerpt from the life of Jonathan Edwards, a man used by God to help lead
the Great Awakening of spiritual life in America in the mid-1700's. Edwards was in the habit of
riding his horse out into the woods to a quiet place. He would then get off the horse and walk
among the trees, praying and meditating. On one such occasion, he says,
I had a view that was for me extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator
between God and man, and His wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and
meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared

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 also great above the heavens. The Person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an
excellency great enough to swallow up all thoughts and conceptions, which continued, as
near as I can judge, about an hour; such as to keep me a greater part of the time in a flood
of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise
how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust and be full of Christ alone; to
love Him with a holy and pure love; to trust in Him; to live upon Him; to serve Him and
to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity.

Beware of Dangers
Now, when we speak of such overwhelming experiences, we need to beware of some
dangers. It's possible to be more interested in "having an experience" than in knowing Jesus. It's
possible to become so eager for spiritual thrills that you ignore God's Word in the Bible and
chase after every oddball phenomenon.
Some folks like a preacher to work them into a frenzy. They let go of their mind and will,
and they hand themselves over to the preacher's power of suggestion. They fall backward when
the preacher extends his hand toward their face. Some even fall into fits of giggling and animal
noises and other bizarre behaviors. Because their behavior is completely unnatural, they think it's
supernatural, produced by the Holy Spirit of God.
But is it truly supernatural? Not likely. It has too little focus on Jesus, too little grounding
in the Bible, too much in common with things that have nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. Some
religious meetings have more in common with the mass hysteria of a rock concert or the mind
manipulation of a hypnotist than with the divine flood and fire of the Holy Spirit. Going out of
your mind with a mob of other frenzied people does not mean you have the mind of Christ.
Falling under the spell of another human does not mean your are being filled with the Holy Spirit
and flooded by God’s love.
Have you ever watched a hypnotist in action? It can be quite a show. He can use
hypnosis to make people stop thinking for themselves. Once you surrender your mind and will to
a hypnotist, he can use his power of suggestion to get you to do almost anything, no matter how
strange or stupid. If he tells you to stand on your head, you try to stand on your head. If he tells
you to dump a plate of spaghetti into the lap of the person next to you, you do it. Does that mean
the Holy Spirit is at work in your heart? No, it means the hypnotist has taken you out of your
right mind.
What if something similar to hypnosis is at work in some religious meetings? It's
dangerous and wrong to be so eager for an unusual experiences that you hand control of your
mind over to another person, whether that person is a hypnotist putting on a show or an
evangelist who can make you fall backward or lie on the floor giggling uncontrollably. Some of
what is advertised as the work of the Holy Spirit may well be a kind of hypnosis, performed by
preachers on willing participants who seek the thrill of losing control of themselves to a man
who acts more like a hypnotist or magician than an ambassador of Jesus Christ.
So we must beware of dangers. Even though such things happen, however, it would be
tragic if we dismissed the true work of the Holy Spirit and the possibility of being flooded with
God's love. Yes, let's avoid weird excesses and phonies, but let's not try to convince ourselves
that so long as we believe correctly, behave properly, and attend church regularly, we've got
everything God is willing to give us on this side of heaven.
The Holy Spirit can give us so much more! The Holy Spirit can put us in touch with the
living Christ and flood us with his life and his love. One author puts it well when he says: "Christ

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is our God. Experience is not our God. Yet we need to experience Christ, meet Christ, touch
Christ, not just believe correct theology about Christ. What we need is not experience without
Christ, nor Christ without experience, but the experience of Christ. We do not all need, or get,
the same experience of Christ. But we all need, and get, the same Christ." The Holy Spirit is the
one who gives genuine, living experience of Christ and his love.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Blessing

On Pentecost almost 2,000 years ago, God the Father honored the completed work of his
Son Jesus by pouring the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ followers in a flood of love and power. What a
great and glorious event that was! The memory of Pentecost ought to be a cause for joy and
celebration, but God doesn't want us to rest content with retelling stories about a long-ago event.
The Lord wants each of his people right here, right now, to be able to say with Scripture, "God's
love has flooded our inmost heart through the Holy Spirit he has given us."
The apostle Paul, who wrote those words, knew this flood of love in his own life, and he
longed for others to be flooded by love as well. Paul prayed that the Holy Spirit would help
Christians to know Jesus better and enlighten the eyes of their heart (Ephesians 1:17-18). How
does this happen? Not by whipping a crowd into a frenzy, not by one human taking over the
mind of another, not by bizarre behaviors totally unconnected with the Bible or the person of
Jesus. It happens when the Holy Spirit makes God's loving promises in Scripture very real and
personal to us, when the Spirit makes the presence of Jesus vivid to us and floods the heart to
overflowing with a sense of the warmth and vastness of God's love in Christ. Paul says,
I pray that out of his glorious riches [God] may strengthen you with power through his
Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the
saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know
this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19).
Now remember, Paul isn't praying that God will do this only for a select, elite handful of
spiritual giants. He's praying for ordinary Christians. Just think of it! Ordinary, imperfect people
being given the strength to have the living Christ at home in them, the love of Christ engulfing
them, the fullness of God flooding their entire being. This is for ordinary Christians, not just for
spiritual giants—but once it happens to an ordinary person, he or she may well become a
spiritual giant!
It's great to read a love story or to hear what other people say about love. But it's even
better actually to love and be loved: to see it in each other's eyes, to tell each other, "I love you,"
to hold each other in a tender embrace, to enjoy giving each other gifts and doing things to make
each other happy—the experience of love registers in your mind, of course, but it also grips your
heart and floods your entire being.
Likewise, it's great to read about God's love in the Bible and to know in your mind, on
the basis of what Jesus has said and done, that he loves you enormously. Your relationship to
him would never reach even that point unless the Holy Spirit were already at work inside you,
giving you faith and a measure of new life. But don't stop there. Seek to know Jesus more
intimately, to sense his presence more powerfully, to embrace a love that surpasses knowledge,
and to be filled with God's fullness.

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Strengthened With Power
Now, if you are to be a home for the Lord Jesus Christ, a place where he dwells in
majesty and power, you will need constant reinforcement and remodeling. Just as a house needs
floors that are strong enough to bear the weight of people and beds and furniture, so your heart
needs the strength to bear the infinite weight of Christ living in you. Only the Holy Spirit of
Christ can give you that capacity and strength. That's why Paul prays that God "will strengthen
you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith."
Our minds and souls and bodies are too weak to bear the full weight of Christ and his
love. The American evangelist Dwight L. Moody testified to this. He said, “God revealed
Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand.”
It was so overwhelming that Moody felt he would be crushed. The presence of Christ, the weight
of a love so wide and long and high and deep, was almost too much to bear. We can only handle
as much of Christ and his love as the Holy Spirit enables and strengthens our hearts to bear.
But whether it's on the streets of New York (as with Moody), or riding in the woods (as
with Edwards) or in a room at night (as with Pascal), or in some other place or circumstance—
the details aren't the important thing—being indwelt by Christ, swallowed up in his love, and
filled with his fullness, is what every Christian should desire and delight in.
This is the source of greatest joy in being a Christian, and it's also the source of power
and effectiveness in making a difference for Christ in this world. Moody was a shoe salesman
and a good, solid Christian worker before being flooded by God's love. But afterward he lived
and spoke with a passion that God used to transform thousands.
Some of us think the key to more effective churches is more activity or better planning.
Such things are okay, but they don't accomplish much if the church is not enthralled with Christ
and flooded by God's love. That's true of congregations, and it's also true at the individual level. I
may think that as a follower of Jesus, I need to get busier and work harder in order to achieve
great things. Well, hard work certainly has its place, but my greatest need is simply to be flooded
with love and filled with God's fullness so that it overflows to others.
Have you ever watched a little child playing with a stick horse? She bounces around the
house, pretending to ride the horse, but actually that stick horse isn't carrying her at all. She is
carrying it. That's what it's like when I try to do God's work in my own power: I busily race here
and there with a stick horse of religious duties and tasks to carry around. What I really need is
the living Holy Spirit, like a splendid horse, to carry me forward in the Lord's great cause.
Don't settle for stick-horse religion. That kind of religion doesn’t carry you; you carry it.
It may be a fun game for a while, but it’s not the reality of the living God. Seek not the stick
horse but living reality. Seek to be carried along by the mighty charger of God's love in Christ.
British pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it well: "The man who knows the love of Christ in his
heart can do more in an hour than the busy type of man can do in a century."
To summarize: in order to most fully delight in God and honor him, and to most
effectively do his work, you and I need God's love to flood our inmost heart through the Holy
Spirit he has given us. We need less and less of ourselves, and more and more of God's fullness
in Christ. May God give each of us the grace to join in the prayer of the pastor and poet who
wrote:
O the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be,
When I let the Savior's pity

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Plead in vain, and proudly answered:
"All of self, and none of Thee!"

Yet He found me: I beheld Him

Bleeding on the accursed tree,
Heard Him pray: "Forgive them, Father!"
And my wistful heart said faintly:
"Some of self, and some of Thee!"

Day by day, His tender mercy,

Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered:
"Less of self, and more of Thee!"

Higher than the highest heaven,

Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, thy love at last hath conquered;
Grant me now my supplication:
"None of self, and all of Thee!"

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Spiritual Gifts
By David Feddes

An elderly minister, a Boy Scout, and a science professor were the only
passengers on a small plane. As they were flying, the engine began making strange
noises. The pilot left the controls and told the passengers, “This plane is going down.
We only have three parachutes, and there are four of us. I must have a parachute, for I
have a wife and small children who need me.” He grabbed a packet, strapped it to his
back, and jumped.
That left three people with only two parachutes. The science professor leaped to
his feet and said, “I absolutely must have a parachute. I am the smartest man in the
world. My work benefits the whole human race. Humanity needs me.” The scientist
grabbed a packet, strapped it to his back, and jumped.
That left the elderly preacher and the Boy Scout. The old pastor looked at the
boy and said, “I’m not eager to die, but I’ve had a full life and I’m ready to meet God.
You’re young, and I want you to go on living. Here, you take the last parachute, and I’ll
go down with the plane.”
The boy replied, “Relax, Reverend. We still have two parachutes left. The
smartest man in the world just jumped out of the plane with my backpack.”
We like that old joke because we don’t like people who think too highly of
themselves. We don’t like someone to brag that he’s the smartest in the world. It’s been
said, “Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one
who has it.” We can’t stand someone who thinks his personality and talents make him
superior to others. Anyone who thinks the world can’t go on without him, that he’s
absolutely indispensable, should recall Charles De Gaulle’s remark: “The graveyards
are full of indispensable men.”

Know Yourself
Some of us think too highly of ourselves, but others have the opposite problem.
We have a low opinion of our talents. We don’t think we have any special gift, any high
purpose. We try to content ourselves with a decent income and simple pleasures. We
have little sense of supernatural gifting or calling. We have little vision for making a
difference in other people’s lives.
This is not what God wants for us. God doesn’t want us to feel empty and
useless. God wants us to experience the power of his Spirit, to receive and recognize
his special gifting, to put those gifts to work for the benefit of others, and to see other
people’s gifts and benefit from them.
In order for this to happen, we must know ourselves. God doesn’t want us to
have too high an opinion of ourselves or too low a view of ourselves. He wants us to
have an accurate view, to see ourselves as we are. In Romans 12:3 the Bible says, “Do
not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
If you think too highly of yourself, you won’t see your need for God’s power; you’ll
be too self-satisfied to aim higher. You won’t see your need for other people’s talents;
you’ll be too self-sufficient to admit you need them.

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 On the other hand, if you think too lowly of yourself, you won’t see the potential
God has given you, and you won’t see how you can bless others and help them to a
higher level of joy and strength. To become who you were meant to be, to make the
most of your life and make a difference in other people’s lives, you must know yourself
as God knows you.
When God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt,
Moses said he couldn’t do it. He did not think he had the necessary gifts for leadership
or speaking. The Lord replied that he is the one who gives every person their abilities or
disabilities and that if he was sending Moses, that meant Moses would be able to do it.
Even then, Moses refused. God became downright angry at Moses for being so
reluctant and for having such a low opinion of his abilities. At last the Lord got Moses to
go with his brother Aaron, and Moses turned out to be a great leader and
communicator.
Jeremiah was a young man with too low an opinion of himself. When God
appointed him as a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah objected, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do
not know how to speak; I am only a child.” God answered, “Do not say, ‘I am only a
child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you”
(Jeremiah 1:5-7). Jeremiah became a mighty prophet for God.
Don’t think less of yourself than God thinks of you. If God has given you gifts,
don’t say you’re not gifted enough to carry out God’s calling.
And if God has forgiven you, transformed you, and called you to work for him,
don’t say you’re too bad to do God’s work. Don’t get trapped in a negative self-image
based on who you used to be. Learn from the apostle Paul. At one time he hated Christ
and killed Christians. But Jesus changed him, filled him with the Holy Spirit, and gave
him gifts and talents to be a missionary and teacher. Paul never denied his evil past: he
called himself the worst of sinners and said he did not deserve to be an apostle. But did
Paul let his sinful past hold him back? No, he worked harder for Jesus than anyone and
said, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Don’t get stuck in guilt
about your sinful past; live in the grace and gifts of God for your present and future.

Receiving the Holy Spirit

Self-knowledge begins with sound, spiritual evaluation. That’s why Scripture
says, “Think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you.” Do you have any faith at all? Do you know Jesus Christ as your
Lord and Savior, or is Jesus just a word but not a living reality for you? Jesus says,
“Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Christ is the only source of life and power.
Do you have living faith and a healthy relationship with him? Be honest. Are you
connected to Christ?
If you answer yes and say that you do believe in God and belong to Jesus,
another question is, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” The Bible tells
of a group of people who heard and accepted some truths about God but were still
missing a lot. When St. Paul met these people, the first question he asked to
understand their condition was, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
It wasn’t normal for followers of Jesus not to receive the Holy Spirit and not even
to know about him, so Paul probed further. He found that these were pre-Christian

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disciples who followed the teachings of John the Baptist but did not know the full gospel.
They had never received Christian baptism. When Paul heard this, he explained:
“[John the Baptist] told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is,
Jesus.”
On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they
spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:1-6)
At last they were experiencing normal, healthy Christianity: the Holy Spirit’s power was
evident in them, and they were making use of spiritual gifts which the Holy Spirit was
giving them.
Not everyone with Holy-Spirit power will speak in tongues or prophesy, but every
Spirit-filled person will experience definite empowerment and receive spiritual gifts
(talents and abilities) for serving God and building up others. The Holy Spirit is not just a
doctrine that informs but a person who empowers and equips. The Bible says, “The
kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). The Holy Spirit
is alive and active. His power enters into your experience. His gifting shines through in
your life.
As Paul asked those people long ago, so let me ask you: Have you received the
Holy Spirit? If you’re not sure how to answer that or if you say, “I’ve never experienced
or heard anything like what you’re talking about,” then let’s get back to even more basic
questions: Do you believe in Jesus as God’s full and final revelation, as the one who
takes away the sins of the world? Have you repented of your sins? Have you been
baptized in his name and into his church? If not, do so. The Bible says, “Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
If you go from unbelief to belief, if you go from ignoring God to wanting to know
him better, it means that the Holy Spirit is already living in you, guiding your mind and
redirecting your desires. Your ability to believe in Jesus and to seek God’s face is a
wonderful gift from God, but there is more, much more. The Holy Spirit also makes you
part of Christ’s body and of his mission in the world. The Holy Spirit strengthens you
with power from Jesus and equips you with abilities from Jesus.
Some people sense this almost from the first moment they come to faith in
Christ; others discover it in an experience that comes later. It doesn’t matter whether the
empowerment comes to you all at once or as a later experience or series of
experiences. What matters is that you become a Spirit-filled person, strong in his
energy, gifted with his abilities. Have you experienced definite empowerment from the
Holy Spirit? Do you sense a presence and power working in you? Have you received
abilities from the Spirit? Are you putting those gifts to work?

Using Your Gifts

As you get a true measure of yourself based on the level of your faith, you also
need to see how your personality and gifts fit into the bigger picture. If you’re a
Christian, you’re not on your own. You’re one part of a larger body. Romans 12 says,
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do
not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and
each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the

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 grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his
faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is
encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him
give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy,
let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:4-8)
In short, whatever gift you have, use it! When you become a Christian, you need the
gifts of other Christians in the church, and they need your gifts.
You might think that the things you're good at aren't as important to the church as
the things other people are good at. You might admire people with a gift for leadership
and think that the church needs their vision and guidance a lot more than it needs you.
You may have a knack for noticing when people feel down, for putting an arm around
them and saying a few words to lift their spirits, but you might think, ”What does that
amount to?” It amounts to a lot! You have the gift of encouragement. If the church were
all leaders and visionaries without any sensitive encouragers, the people would soon
burn out.
You might think that prophecy or miracles or speaking in tongues are far more
supernatural and spiritual than helping someone care for a disabled child or cleaning
house for an overworked mother with young children or doing chores for old people who
aren’t quite strong enough to maintain their house. But if you have gifts of helping and of
mercy, use those gifts, and you will be a bigger blessing than words can describe.
If you’re good at business and investing and making money, you might enjoy
what you do but still wish that you could be as “spiritual” as a preacher or teacher
whose full time job is studying and sharing Biblical truth. But don’t overlook your own
spiritual gift. If you have the ability to produce wealth and a heart to share it, you have
the spiritual gift of contributing, and you can help the needy and finance the work of
missionaries and teachers. Already when Jesus and the apostles were preaching and
doing miracles, they weren’t doing it all on their own. They had generous supporters
who paid their bills and humble helpers who took care of daily needs.
Those are just a few examples. Whatever your gifts might be, do what you’re
good at. Use the talents you have.
Don’t look down on the spiritual gifts God has given you. The Bible says, “The
body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a
hand, I am not part of the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the
body” (1 Corinthians 12:14-15). Imagine a foot moping around and not doing anything
because it’s depressed that it’s not a hand and can’t do what the hand does. The foot
doesn’t put food into the mouth; the hand does. The foot doesn’t grab and lift things; the
hand does. The foot doesn’t write or draw; the hand does. The sad foot feels useless
and moans, “I can’t do what the hand does. I’m just a poor, good-for-nothing foot. I
might as well be cut off; the body doesn’t need me anyway, and I’m not really a part of
it.” Wouldn’t that be silly? Sure, a foot can’t do what a hand does, but who would want to
walk or run places on our hands? Feet are mighty fine things to have.
Now, if it would be ridiculous for a foot to feel worthless because it’s not a hand,
isn’t it just as ridiculous for one member of Christ’s body to feel worthless because he’s
not like a different member? If you're a Christian but you think the church can do just
fine without you, think again. Every part is important. Every part of the body of Christ is
there for a purpose. “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as

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he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there
are many parts, but one body” (1 Corinthians 12:18-20).

Valuing Others’ Gifts

The church body needs you, and you need the church. Your gifts bless others,
and their gifts bless you. It’s wrong to think your gifts are so unimportant that nobody
else needs you, but it’s also wrong to think your gifts are so fabulous that you don’t
need anyone else. As the Bible puts it, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need
you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!'” (1 Corinthians 12:21)
It would be insane for one part of the body to try to live without all the others; it is
equally insane for you to claim to belong to Jesus without being part of a church. Maybe
you’re one of those people who say, “I can have a relationship to God without going to
church.” Well, that’s not what God says. God says in Scripture that if you’re a Christian
at all, you are part of the body of Christ, and you can’t claim to be just fine on your own
without staying connected to the rest of the body.
Do you know of any body part that can go on living without being connected to
the other parts of the body? What if an eye decided to go independent and cut itself out
of the face and tried to prosper on its own? That eye would instantly lose its ability to
see, and it would soon be lifeless and rotten. What if a head said, “I have to do all the
thinking and organizing around here, and I’d be better off without all those other body
parts dragging all. Those feet and all those other parts are just dead weight”? If the
head somehow found a way to separate itself from the body, it would be a dead head.
When any body part is cut off from the body, that part cannot survive. It dies and
decays.
This is just as true of each part in the church body. If you say to the rest of the
body of Christ, "I don't need you—I can do just fine on my own," your soul will die and
decay. To live and thrive, you need to stay connected to the body, and you need what
every other part of the body has to offer.
To meet Christ and receive his salvation, you need someone with the gift of
evangelism. To get the big picture of God’s workings in the world, you need someone
with the gift of teaching. To sort out timeless truth from trashy trends, you need
someone with the gift of discernment. To have a message from God applied to your
situation and your future, you need someone with the gift of prophecy. To keep going
when you feel burned out, you need someone with the gift of encouragement. To make
it through tough times, you need someone with the gift of mercy. To praise God in song,
you need someone with gifts of music. To work together with others, you need someone
with gifts of leadership and administration. To get church repairs and various odds and
ends taken care of, you need someone with gifts of helping and service. The Holy Spirit
provides the church with these gifts and many more, and though you can’t have all the
gifts yourself, you can have access to all of them by being part of a Spirit-filled church
body.
The value of a spiritual gift does not depend on how much it gets noticed. Not all
members of the church are up front during Sunday worship. Not all are leaders in the
council room. But all are gifted by God’s Holy Spirit, including those in the background.
Much of the church’s strength is found in quiet, steady, faithful people who follow the
Lord and use their abilities to benefit others without much fanfare.

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 In a body, some of the most important parts are the ones you never see. Have
you ever seen your heart or your brain, your bones or your liver? These parts are
hidden from public view, but where would you be without them? Your hair is something
you look at and fuss with every day; you never look at your pancreas. Does that make
your hair more important than your pancreas? No, if your hair is messy, it’s no big deal,
but if your pancreas fails, you die. So too, members of the church who aren’t glamorous
may be vital to the life of the body and deserve special honor. “God has combined the
members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it” (1
Corinthians 12:24).

Working Together
The Holy Spirit gives different gifts and personalities to different people, but he
connects them and coordinates them in the power of love. Whenever the New
Testament talks about spiritual gifts, love is always emphasized. Right after Romans 12
talks about gifts, it says, “Love must be sincere… Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (v. 9-10).
Right after 1 Corinthians 12 talks about spiritual gifts comes the greatest chapter
on love ever written, 1 Corinthians 13, which says that if I have amazing spiritual gifts
but not love, “I am nothing… Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (v. 1-
4). When we truly love, we won’t envy others’ gifts and feel ashamed of our own, nor will
we boast about our gifts and despise others. Instead, love moves us to use our gifts to
help others and to enjoy how those we love are blessing us with gifts we don’t have
personally.
The presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of love unite people who would
otherwise fall into bickering and division. A story is told about some tools in a
carpenter’s shop who are having a meeting. Mr. Hammer presides, but some want him
to leave because he’s too noisy. Mr. Hammer replies, “If I have to leave this shop, Mr.
Screw has to go also. You have to turn him around again and again in order for him to
accomplish something.”
Mr. Screw says, “I’ll leave if you want, but Mr. Plane must leave too. He only
works on the surface; he has no depth.”
Mr. Plane speaks up: “Then Mr. Ruler has to leave too. He’s always measuring
folks as though he alone is right.”
Mr. Ruler gripes, “Mr. Sandpaper can’t stay. He’s too rough. He’s always rubbing
people the wrong way.”
Into the middle of this argument walks the Carpenter from Nazareth. He wants to
make a pulpit from which to proclaim his gospel. He uses Hammer, Screw, Plane,
Ruler, Sandpaper, and other tools. At the end of the day, he has made a splendid pulpit.
Then Mr. Saw says, “I saw today that we are all workers together with the Lord.”
We are different tools in the hand of the same Lord. We are different parts of the
same body. Ephesians 4:16 says, “From [Christ] the whole body… grows and builds
itself up in love, as each part does its work.” So let us work together in love, using our
own gifts and delighting in each other’s gifts.
So important is love in the use of spiritual gifts that God repeats it over and over.
So let’s conclude with still another biblical passage where love and spiritual gifts go
together. In 1 Peter 4:8-11, the Word of God says,

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 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use
whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s
grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the
very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God
provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Christ Jesus. To him
be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Originally prepared by David Feddes for Back to God Ministries International. Used with permission.

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Speaking in Tongues
By David Feddes

Millions of people claim to speak in tongues. They feel moved to make sounds
that aren’t part of any language they’ve learned, and they take this as a special blessing
from God’s Holy Spirit. Other people want to speak in tongues but can’t, and they fear
that this means their relationship to God is second-rate at best. Then there are those
want to speak in tongues and think they might be doing it, but they’re not sure. They
babble a bit in their private prayers or when others in their church are making unusual
sounds—but they’re not sure if it’s the real deal. They wonder if they truly have a divine
gift for speaking unlearned languages in praise of God, or if they’re just making noise.
But one thing they’re sure of: speaking in tongues is a top priority, and they’re
desperately eager to do it.
In contrast to those who speak in tongues or wish they could, there are many
who shun the very idea as unhealthy. Non-religious people tend to think that someone
speaking in tongues must be an irrational fanatic or an unbalanced psycho. Some
Christians also take a negative view of tongues. They think unintelligible noises are not
from God at all. They know that in New Testament times the Holy Spirit gave some
people miraculous power to speak other languages on certain occasions, but they think
that time is over. In their opinion, those who claim to speak in tongues today are
babbling from an irrational part of their brain, or else the strange noises come from evil
spirits. Either way, they think, the jabbering is not from God.
What’s the truth about speaking in tongues? Some think it’s the surest sign of the
Holy Spirit’s power. Others think it’s weird babble that comes from mental imbalance or
evil spirits. Both extremes are wrong. It’s wrong to insist that any Christian who doesn’t
speak in tongues must lack Holy Spirit empowerment. It’s also wrong to say all tongue-
speaking is either ditsy or demonic. The truth is that speaking in tongues is one among
a variety of gifts from God’s Holy Spirit. It’s not the most important one, not every Spirit-
filled person gets it, and even some who claim to speak in tongues are just babbling and
fooling themselves. But the Bible plainly shows that speaking in tongues is a gift that
some Christians do receive from the Holy Spirit.
If you’re a Christian who doesn’t speak in tongues, don’t rule out the possibility
that God may give you that gift at some point. But don’t feel frustrated or inferior if God
chooses not to give it to you. Keep in mind that the Spirit gives others gifts too, some of
them more valuable than tongues. Treasure and use any gifts God has already given
you to serve others. If you do have the gift of tongues, use it the way the Bible directs.
Value your gift of tongues, but don’t exaggerate its importance.

The Corinthian Problem

I hear from people in various parts of the world wondering about tongues. A
Nigerian person told me in an email,
This has been disturbing me so much. I've come out in several altar calls
concerning the power of Holy Ghost. Yet nothing seems to happen. When I go to
fellowship, I see some people falling in the power of the Holy Ghost, bursting in
tongues, proclaiming, prophesying and lots of things, but I don't seem to find

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 myself there. I feel as if I'm not worthy to be in their midst. In fact, I'm envying
them. I feel like crying.
If you’re in a group where many people are speaking in tongues or falling to the ground
but you’re not doing those things, you may wonder, “What am I missing? What’s my
problem?” Well, the problem might not be your inability to speak in tongues. The
problem might be the unbiblical teaching you’ve received and the unbiblical pattern of
worship you’re surrounded by.
In some circles, it’s taught that to be spiritually healthy, you must have two
separate experiences. First, you must believe in Jesus and receive him as Savior. At
that point you are born again and made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit. But that’s not
enough. After that first event, says the teaching, you must seek a second blessing, the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. When that happens, you receive a huge power boost, and the
surest sign of this is speaking in tongues. In this teaching, not speaking in tongues
means that you’re at best second-class, a lower-level, carnal Christian who isn’t yet as
spiritual as those Spirit-baptized tongue-speakers. Such teaching tends to make you
feel superior if you speak in tongues and inferior if you don’t.
You can avoid the pitfalls of feeling superior or inferior if you know what the Bible
says and what it doesn’t say. The Bible mentions a few cases where people began to
speak in tongues when they were first filled with the Holy Spirit, but the Bible does not
require a two-stage pattern for all Christians, and the Bible does not say that tongues
are the badge of Spirit baptism which every first-rate Christian should have. On the
contrary, the Bible speaks of other spiritual gifts which rank higher than tongues, and
the Bible says that the highest mark of being Spirit-filled is love, not any particular talent
or ability.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging symbol” (1 Corinthians 13:1). Tongues are a gift that will
pass away when we know God fully, but love lasts forever (13:8-13). So if you want to
measure spiritual maturity and how much the Holy Spirit has flooded you, the measuring
stick is how much you love, not how often you speak in tongues.
In New Testament times, some Christians in the church at Corinth exaggerated
the importance of tongues, often at the expense of love. They made tongues the main
mark of being super-spiritual, and there were many divisions and quarrels in their
congregation. Their wrong thinking led to wrong conduct in worship, and something
similar happens in some churches today. Going overboard on tongues leads to worship
gatherings where large numbers of people speak in tongues all at the same time during
worship services. That sort of thing was happening in the church of Corinth. There was
lots of noise but no clear message that anyone could understand.
The apostle Paul, inspired by God, told the Corinthian Christians to get their
worship in order. Paul said that in public worship, only one person at a time should
speak in a tongue, and then only if someone could interpret the meaning. The tongue-
speaking should be limited to only two or at most three people in a worship service.
They should not speak at the same time or try to shout above the noise of the others but
should speak one at a time, with each waiting his turn. If the tongue-speakers had only
the sounds of an unknown language but no translation or explanation, they were not to
speak in tongues at all during the worship meeting but only in their personal times of

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worship (see 1 Corinthians 14:27-28). That was God’s word of guidance to correct the
noisy free-for-all in Corinth, and that is still God’s word of guidance for the use of
tongues today.

God of Order
It’s all too easy to associate Holy Spirit power with loud sounds and dramatic
action. It might seem that God is more active among people who are making lots of
noise and toppling over than among people who sit quietly and listen to clear teaching.
But that’s not what the Bible says. Paul told the Corinthians, “God is not a God of
disorder but of peace” (14:33).
In public worship, said Paul, a few clear words are worth more than all kinds of
noise that nobody can understand. Did Paul say this because he was an ultra-rational
person who couldn’t speak in tongues and didn’t want anybody else doing it? No, Paul
said he’d be happy if all the Corinthians had the ability to speak in tongues (14:5), and
he said that he himself could speak in tongues with the best of them. Paul wrote, “I
thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather
speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue”
(14:18-19).
Earlier I quoted an email from someone who referred to crowds of people in his
church speaking in tongues and also “falling in the power of the Holy Spirit.” People
falling down during a worship gathering is in a whole different category from speaking in
tongues. The Bible speaks of tongues as one of the spiritual gifts that a Christian might
receive; the Bible never speaks of falling as a special gift. Falling is a sign of weakness,
not a sign of being super-spiritual. Falling or fainting means your body and spirit aren’t
strong enough to handle a certain kind of pressure. Whether it’s the pressure to fall
when a hypnotic leader touches you or the pressure of group hysteria that makes you
fall like so many others in the meeting, or whether it really is the pressure of the mighty
presence of God upon you, falling means you’re too weak to handle something.
In America’s Great Awakening of the mid-1700s, some people collapsed during
meetings as they felt the weight of God’s presence and their own sin. Others fell just
because they got overexcited and fainted. The leaders of the Awakening, such as
Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, didn’t see falling down in church as a bad or
good. They were matter-of-fact about it. Edwards described falling as an occasional
side-effect affecting people of “a weaker frame.” These mighty preachers were
concerned with changing hearts, not with making bodies fall over. They knew that many
who didn’t fall were touched and transformed by the Spirit, while some who did fall
turned out later on to be just as unsaved and unchanged as ever. So if people fell, the
preachers didn’t praise or scold them. They simply helped them regain their senses and
encouraged them to keep seeking God.
In the powerful Korean revivals of the early 1900s which launched Christianity as
a major force in Korea, there were meetings in which people felt overwhelmed and fell
to the ground. How did the preachers in Korea respond? Did they try to make even
more people fall over as some sort of special blessing? No, they helped the fallen back
up and encouraged them with words of God’s forgiveness and transforming power. The

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falling was not important of itself. It was just an occasional side-effect. The leaders
never promoted it; they tried to keep it to a minimum.
If you’ve ever fallen during an experience of God’s presence, don’t be ashamed
of it, but don’t be proud of it, either. Some call this “being slain in the Spirit,” but that
phrase is a human invention, not a divine revelation. Fainting is no grand event. It’s not
important. What matters is whether you love God, trust Jesus, and live by his Spirit.

Fireplace
Liveliness and orderliness are not opposites; they belong together. The
Corinthian church had a problem of liveliness without orderliness, and some churches
today have the same problem. But let’s be honest: many church gatherings suffer from
the opposite problem. They have orderliness without liveliness. These meetings aren’t
so overwhelming that weaker souls can’t handle it and topple over. These worship
services are so sedate and predictable that if anyone fell over, it would be from
boredom or sleepiness. In the Bible Paul had to tell the Corinthians to bring more order
to their wild, noisy worship gatherings, but it’s still better to be too lively than too lifeless.
It’s not good if too many people are losing control, but it’s worse when nobody senses
the Holy Spirit’s power among them. It’s not good if everybody in a church is trying to
speak in tongues or prophesy or display their spiritual gifts at the same time in one huge
hubbub, but it’s worse if nobody in the church ever uses spiritual gifts except one paid
pastor delivering a prepared sermon.
Churches don’t have to choose between order on the one hand or lively
participation with speaking in tongues and other spiritual gifts on the other. The apostle
Paul summarized the matter perfectly when he said, “Do not forbid speaking in tongues.
But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).
Spiritual gifts are not meant to be used in a disorderly way, but they are meant to
be used. The Spirit’s fire is not meant to burn out of control, but it is meant to burn. The
Bible says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). A church is like a
fireplace. It’s made for fire to burn in a controlled way. It’s not meant to be an
uncontrolled explosion of flame, and it’s not meant to be a heap of cold, dead ashes.
The church is meant to be aglow with the well-ordered flame of the Holy Spirit. Then
there will be light and warmth to bless the people and gladden God.
The church needs the Holy Spirit in all his liveliness and orderliness, and so does
each individual. You don’t need to speak in tongues as the sign of being flooded with
the Holy Spirit, but you do need to be flooded by the Holy Spirit. You need to be filled to
overflowing with the life and power of God. Don’t settle for less. Let’s not
overemphasize tongues, but let’s also not underestimate our need for the Holy Spirit. If
you believe in Jesus and belong to him at all, the Holy Spirit is already living and
working in you. You couldn’t have come to Christ without the Spirit. But don’t be
satisfied with that. Seek more.
The teaching about a two-stage experience of first being born again and later
being baptized by the Spirit is mistaken because it forces the Holy Spirit into a rigid
formula which the Bible doesn’t teach. Still, those who teach this are right about at least
one thing: God has much more to give you than what you receive when you first
become a Christian, and you shouldn’t rest content with staying at the same level as

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when you were saved. Seek to grow in grace. Seek for the Spirit to flood you with love,
to fill you with assurance, to equip you with gifts for serving others, to empower you
afresh to meet new challenges and do great things for God. Don’t just ask for one
sensational “baptism of the Spirit” or settle for a so-called “second blessing.” Even if
God gives you a mighty anointing of the Spirit unlike anything you’ve experienced
before, don’t say, “Now I’ve had the experience. Now I’ve arrived!” No, keep seeking
more of God. Pray that the Spirit may fill you again and again and again, that he may
keep pouring into you more and more of the spiritual blessings that Jesus has earned
for you.

Unity in Diversity
Speaking in tongues is one among many gifts of the Holy Spirit. When the Bible
talks about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, it lists a wide variety, including apostles,
prophets, teachers, workers of miracles, gifts of healing, those able to help others, gifts
of administration, “and those speaking in different kinds of tongues” (12:28). Each time
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives a list of spiritual gifts, tongues is mentioned last.
Other books of the Bible list a variety of other gifts and don’t even mention tongues.
That’s not a knock on the gift of tongues. Scripture plainly says, “Do not forbid speaking
in tongues” (14:39). We should not stifle or speak ill of any gift of the Spirit. But neither
should we exaggerate any particular gift as the gift every person should have above all
others, the badge of being a truly Spirit-filled person.
The apostle Paul compares people with different personalities and spiritual gifts
to different parts of a body. An ear should not feel inferior to an eye because the ear
can’t see; that’s not the ear’s job. “If the whole body were an eye, where would the
sense of hearing be?” (12:17). Likewise, someone with a special gift of helping or
administration should not feel inferior to someone with a special gift for healing or
speaking in tongues. All the gifts are valuable, and the church body benefits from the
variety.
The goal is for all parts to work in harmony, not for all parts to be identical. A
healthy body has unity in diversity, and a healthy church has unity in diversity. If you
have a quiet, thoughtful personality, you don’t have to become loud and boisterous to
be spiritually alive. If you have an outgoing, talkative personality, you don’t have to
become a silent scholar to be truly godly. God created us with various personalities. He
doesn’t force everyone into the same mold. The Holy Spirit adorns each unique person
with a unique mix of gifts which can bring blessing to the whole body. Unity is not based
on everyone having the same personality and the same abilities. Unity is based on
everyone belonging to the same Spirit, the same Lord Jesus, the same heavenly
Father. As Paul put it, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are
different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but
the same God works all of them in all men” (12:4-6). If you have a gift of tongues and I
have a gift of teaching, both come from the divine Source. Neither is “more spiritual”
than the other. Neither is more a mark of Spirit-baptism than the other. “For we were all
baptized by one Spirit into one body” (12:13).

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Building Up
Spiritual gifts are not collector’s items just to put in a trophy case and admire.
The gifts are to be used for God’s glory, for your own good, and for the good of others.
With the gift of tongues, the Holy Spirit moves your spirit to speak in a language which
your mind hasn’t learned and doesn’t recognize. Many people testify that speaking in
tongues is a liberating, empowering experience which adds a new dimension to their
praying and praising God. In the Bible Paul wrote, “Anyone who speaks in a tongue
does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries
with his spirit” (14:2). As your spirit voices mysteries that your mind doesn’t grasp, it
can build you up as an individual and enhance your personal praise of God.
But can speaking in tongues build up fellow Christians who don’t speak in
tongues? Yes it can, but only if the Spirit gives someone the gift to know and explain
what the sounds mean. Without interpretation, speaking in tongues is just noise to those
who overhear it. “Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone
know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air” (14:9) You won’t be
helping fellow believers. They can’t gain any truth from what you’re saying and they
can’t say “Amen” in agreement if they can’t make sense of the sounds you’re making.
“You will be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified” (14:9,17)
If someone who isn’t a Christian comes to a meeting and hears someone
speaking in a tongue, followed by a meaningful interpretation, it could be a powerful
sign for the nonbeliever. But if lots of people are speaking in tongues with no
interpretation, it no longer serves as a sign to help persuade nonbelievers of God’s
presence. It only sends a signal that you’re crazy. Paul wrote the Corinthians, “If the
whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not
understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your
mind?” (14:23).
To help nonbelievers know Christ and to help believers grow in Christ, we need
to communicate. We need to convey a clear meaning. Therefore, any spiritual gift which
communicates a clear, understandable word from God is of greater value in public
worship than speaking in tongues with no interpretation. Tongues can build others up
when accompanied by a clear, true meaning. Otherwise, speaking in tongues is for
personal, private outpouring of your spirit as moved by God’s Spirit.
At one point Paul asked the Corinthians, “Do all speak in tongues?” (12:30) He
phrased the question in such a way that the obvious answer was no, not all speak in
tongues. Some do; some don’t. In the long history of the worldwide church, there have
been many mighty servants of God who never spoke in tongues. There have been
many churches abounding in spiritual power where tongues were not spoken. There
have even been periods of history, times of tremendous reformation and revival in the
Holy Spirit, where the gift of tongues did not appear anywhere. That does not mean the
gift was only for the early church or that it became forever defunct or useless. It just
means that God can give it or withhold it whenever and to whomever he pleases.
According to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is like a wind which “blows wherever it
pleases” (John 3:8). The Holy Spirit is not bound by our formulas. He is not bound by
the formula that all Spirit-filled people speak in tongues. He is not bound by the formula
that nobody should speak in tongues. The Spirit gives the gift of tongues as he decides,

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and it must be used as he directs. If you have the gift of tongues, use it to praise God in
private and to be built up in worship and adoration. Use the gift in a gathering of others
only when it will build them up.
If you don’t have the gift of tongues, use whatever gifts you do have to build
others up, and keep seeking whatever additional empowerment and gifts the Spirit may
be pleased to grant you. Seek this not merely for your own status but for the good of
others. “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (14:1).

Originally prepared by David Feddes for Back to God Ministries International. Used with permission.

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Do Miracles Happen Today?
By David Feddes

I was asleep in bed when the telephone rang and woke me up. I opened my eyes
and looked at the clock. It was 5 o’clock in the morning. Oh, oh. If someone was calling
at such an early hour, something must be wrong. The voice on the phone was a doctor
friend who is also a church elder. He was calling from a nearby hospital: “You’d better
come right away. Things don’t look good for John.” My heart sank. The night before,
John had been feeling awful and had gone to the hospital emergency room. I had been
informed of this, but I hadn’t realized his life was on the line. John was a big, strong man
in his forties, with a wife and a teenage son and daughter. The doctor’s voice continued,
“John had to go on life support last night, and the ventilator is breathing for him. It’s not
clear what’s wrong, but his body seems to be shutting down, and nothing seems to help.
The kids were called in during the night, and we’d like you to come too.”
I got up and hurried to the hospital. I drove my car with a sense of dread. John’s
wife met me in the hall. We embraced, and through her tears she told me of his deadly
danger and how she couldn’t bear to lose him. Then the family, the doctor-elder, and I
went into the unit where John lay prone on a bed, attached to various tubes. Together
we prayed and begged the Lord to spare John’s life and make him well. After we
prayed, my sense of dread lifted considerably, and from somewhere inside me came
the thought, “He’s going to be all right.”
That’s not what the doctors were saying, though. And even after we prayed,
nothing much happened. John didn’t move. As the hours passed, others from our
church came to the hospital. We prayed and prayed. But John just lay there. His
kidneys were failing. He couldn’t breathe on his own. The medical team didn’t know the
cause, let alone the cure. They did what they could to keep him alive and gave various
treatments in the hope that something would help. One specialist after another spoke
grimly. After one especially bleak report, John’s wife said, “If John makes it through this,
we know who gets all the glory.”
John did make it. And God did get all the glory.
Throughout that day, John hovered between life and death, his condition so
fragile that the doctors would not even transfer him from the emergency area to the
intensive care unit. They feared that the slightest move would be fatal. John survived
the day and made it through the night. The dawn of the next day was the dawn of joy.
John’s condition improved remarkably. He was able to breathe on his own. He awoke
and was able to talk. By evening he was able to eat. Faces lit up. Friends and family
were smiling and joking. A few days later John left the hospital. Not long after, John was
back in church. How our congregation praised God that Sunday!
God answers prayer. It was not just good medical care that saved my friend’s life.
It was the healing hand of God. The Lord took a situation that seemed hopeless, and
God gave life and health. So if you ask me, “Do miracles happen today?” I could say,
“Yes, of course miracles happen. I’ve seen them.”
Still, the healing I’ve just described is not like the miracles in the Bible. I would be
the last person to detract from that marvelous healing or to deny God glory for what he
did. It was an amazing, joy-inspiring answer to many urgent prayers. But the way God
provided the healing was not exactly like the miracles described in the Bible.

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Immediate Healing
When Jesus did miracles, the healings were immediate, without delay, without
medical treatment, without a process of gradual improvement. In miracle after miracle,
the Bible uses the word immediately to describe the result.
A man with leprosy begged Jesus to heal him. “Jesus reached out his hand and
touched the man [and] said, ‘Be clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was
cured” (Mark 1:41-42). One moment the flesh was rotten; the next it was healthy.
Some men carried a paraplegic friend on a mat to Jesus. “He said to the
paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.” Immediately he stood
up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God” (Luke
5:24-25). One moment his legs had no strength or feeling; the next he was walking and
dancing for joy. No surgery, no physical therapy, just a command from Jesus and
instant health.
A woman was subject to bleeding for twelve years. She spent all her money on
doctors but kept getting worse.
When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched
his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch the hem of his clothes, I will be
healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was
freed from her suffering. (Mark 5:27-29)
A twelve-year-old girl died. Jesus went into the room where her body was lying
and said, “Little girl, get up.” “Immediately the girl stood up and walked around” (Mark
5:42). It took only an instant for a corpse to become an active girl.
A woman was bent over, unable to stand straight. Jesus said to her, “‘Woman,
you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she
straightened up and praised God” (Luke 13:11-13).
A blind man said, “‘Lord, I want to see.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight;
your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus,
praising God” (Luke 18:42-43). One moment, darkness; the next, 20/20 vision. Instant,
total healing with no medical help.
Do you see the difference between those biblical miracles of Jesus and the
healing of my friend John? When a group of us prayed over John and laid our hands on
him, he didn’t even move. Hours passed before he began to improve. Meanwhile,
medical teams were doing their best. Our prayers worked in partnership with medical
help, not apart from it. When John did begin to recover, the speed of his progress
amazed the doctors, but he did not recover in an instant. It took some time. Jesus, on
the other hand, healed people immediately, without any delay. Jesus’ miracles
happened through a word or a touch, without any medical help. Each healing was
complete, not partial or gradual.

Setting Expectations
Do miracles of that sort still happen today? We’re not asking if God still answers
prayer—he does. We’re not asking if God still takes apparently hopeless situations and
makes them turn out amazingly well—he does, and we should praise and thank him
every time that happens. What we’re asking is whether God might do today the kind of

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miracles he did through Jesus: instantaneous, complete healings apart from ordinary
processes.
If we use the word miracle somewhat loosely, then any answer to prayer could
be called a miracle. But what about miracles that go beyond being delightful answers to
prayer and are direct, supernatural demonstrations of God’s power? Should we keep
our minds open to the possibility that such things might happen in our own time? Should
we go even farther and not only allow for the possibility but expect with certainty that a
miracle must happen any time we pray with enough faith?
This is not just an abstract question for scholars to debate. It is urgent and
practical. If someone is paralyzed in an accident, should she try to accept her condition,
or should she first ask God to do a miracle? And if she does ask for a miracle, should
she expect God to heal her paralysis on the spot? Would it wrong for her to think that
God might not do the miracle she prays for? Would it be be lack of faith for her to expect
anything less?
The consequences of an error in either direction would be serious. If she expects
too little, she might miss out on a miracle and a healthy body that could have been hers.
But if she expects too much, if she looks for a miracle where none is promised, then she
may either blame God for not coming through or she may blame herself for not having
enough faith to make the miracle happen.
This is also an urgent question for pastors, teachers, parents, and all who lead
others. When we read about biblical miracles, what should pastors tell hearers? What
should parents tell children? Should we just use the stories to illustrate doctrinal truths
or moral insights, while sending a clear message that we should not expect such
miracles today? That might be the best approach if we’re sure that God never does
such miracles in our own time. But if such miracles could in fact still happen, wouldn’t
pastors and parents be robbing God of glory and shortchanging people of blessings that
might become theirs if only they sought them?
On the other hand, if miracles never happen anymore, then it would be
misleading and cruel to urge people, including children, to seek miracles. It can be
devastating for people, especially for children, to get their hopes up, only to have them
shattered. If miracles never happen, it would be best just to say so and help people
cope with their condition and have reasonable expectations, rather than leading them
down a trail of false hopes.
Do miracles happen today? In studying the Bible, I don’t find anything in
Scripture which says miracles couldn’t still happen. At the same time, I don’t find any
guarantee that miracles must happen in every era and for every person who has
enough faith. Miracles are very special acts of God, and God is not bound by any
human idea of what he cannot do or what he must do. If God wants to make a
paralyzed person walk or heal someone of blindness or even raise someone from the
dead, he can do so. On the other hand, God is free not to do a miracle if that is what his
wisdom decides, no matter how earnestly people of faith pray for a miracle.
I believe that miracles can happen today—but only when God chooses. We can’t
make miracles happen by how much we want one or by how strongly we make
ourselves believe it. Miracles today are not impossible, but neither are miracles
guaranteed in every situation.

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Desiring Miracles
Some Bible-believing people think we should not desire or expect miracles today
of the sort described in the Bible. They believe that the biblical miracles really did
happen; they’re not like secular skeptics who deny that miracles are ever possible.
These earnest Christians don’t deny the supernatural signs and wonders recorded in
the Bible; they just deny that such things could happen in our own time. They think
those things were meant for a particular time and purpose. Miracles were signs to
validate the message of the prophets and apostles and to demonstrate that Jesus is
God as well as man. But now that Jesus has revealed God in human form and done
everything necessary for our salvation, and now that God’s written revelation in the
Bible is complete, there is no further purpose for signs and wonders.
Some of the wisest and godliest teachers of the Christian church have held this
view, so let’s not dismiss it too quickly or fail to note what is good in it. This approach is
right to emphasize the uniqueness of Jesus, the special status of the prophets and
apostles whom God used to lay the foundations of the church, and the completeness of
the biblical revelation. It’s wise not to be too impressed by every person who claims to
be a miracle worker, especially those who use miracles for publicity and fundraising.
Also, it’s wise not to believe any supposedly miraculous “word of knowledge” which
goes against the Bible or claims to add something to the Bible. People who believe that
miracles ceased when the Bible was completed are right about many things, but they
may still be wrong to rule out any miracles in our own time. They may be shortchanging
the freedom and power of God.
In the New Testament, Jesus and the twelve apostles were not the only ones
who did miracles. They had powers beyond everyone else, in keeping with their
foundational place in God’s plan, but some other Christians also did miracles. Once
Jesus appointed 72 people and sent them out two by two with orders to heal the sick
and proclaim the kingdom of God (Luke 10:9). After Jesus died and rose and returned
to heaven, miracles continued by the power of the Holy Spirit. “The apostles performed
many miraculous signs and wonders among the people” (Acts 5:12), including some
amazing healings and even a few resurrections from the dead (Acts 9:40; 20:10), but
the apostles weren’t the only ones to do miracles. Stephen was not one of the twelve
apostles, but he was “a man full of God’s grace and power [and] did great wonders and
miraculous signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). Philip was not an apostle but did
“miraculous signs” (Acts 8:7-8). God worked miracles among the Galatian Christians
(Galatians 3:5). The Bible itself shows that miracles were not restricted to Jesus, the
apostles, and biblical writers. Church bodies included “workers of miracles, also those
having gifts of healing” (1 Corinthians 12:28).
God does not say that he limits miracles and healings only to Bible times. The
God who did miracles back then is still the same God today. Even if there haven’t been
many miracles in your own place and time, that is no proof that miracles can’t happen.
Indeed, remembering miracles of long ago may awaken fresh hope for new miracles
and demonstrations of God’s power.
A man named Asaph was living through a hard time in Israel’s history when he
wrote Psalm 77. At times it seemed as though God had given up on his people. Their
situation looked hopeless. How did Asaph respond? First, he looked back in history and
said, “I will remember your miracles of long ago” (Psalm 77:11). Then he reminded

4
himself that the very same God who did those miracles was still alive and well. “What
god is so great as our God?” he marveled. “You are the God who performs miracles”
(Psalm 77:14). Asaph didn’t just believe in a God who performed miracles long ago but
in the God who performs miracles any time he chooses.
The Bible says, “Eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Miracles and
healings are among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so shouldn’t we earnestly desire them
instead of trying to explain away the very possibility of miracles in our time? Miracles
and healings aren’t the only gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Scripture—there are
others, and some rank higher—but miracles and healings are still possible and highly
desirable. Let’s not stifle our desire to see God’s mighty acts. Instead, let’s appeal to the
Lord and say, “You are the God who performs miracles” (Psalm 77:14). Like the early
church, let’s pray, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and
wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:30).

Accepting God’s Will

Some Christians not only desire miracles and think they’re possible, but they
think a miracle must happen every time a person believes strongly enough. They think
that God guarantees miracles to anyone who is on the right track spiritually, and the
only thing that can prevent a miracle is lack of faith. If your church isn’t bursting with
miracles, something is wrong. If you have an illness and don’t get healed, you or
someone close to you must not have enough faith or must be hiding a secret sin that
prevents you from receiving the miracle God would otherwise give you.
I appreciate the emphasis on God’s power and on the fact that he is alive and
active right now. I appreciate the call to be stronger in faith and to expect great things
from God. But too many people, in their zeal for miracles, have gone to extremes that
are unbiblical and harmful.
A man had cancer. He and his loved ones believed in miracles. Even when
treatments failed, they kept praying for God to do a miracle of healing. The miracle
didn’t happen. The man got sicker. Finally he died. He went to his grave blaming
himself. The fact that he didn’t get the miracle must mean he didn’t have enough faith.
The man’s daughter became distressed to the point of mental illness. At first she
blamed herself for blocking God’s healing power. She didn’t know of a particular sin,
and she had believed her hardest in a miracle, but if her dad died, it must mean
somebody was out of tune with God, and she figured it must be her.
I’ve known paralyzed people whose relatives were fanatics for miracles. These
paralyzed people were godly and prayed for healing in faith that God could do it. But
God allowed them to remain paralyzed, so they accepted it as God’s will. They figured
that the ultimate healing would come only when Jesus returned and gave them their
perfect resurrection bodies. I think they were right. There is a time to pray for a miracle,
and there is a time to take no for an answer and make the most of the condition God
has placed you in. But these people had relatives who insisted that they could still walk
again if only they would have enough faith. These relatives kept nagging them to
believe harder or to chase after various faith healers. This is wrong, and it is cruel.
The Bible does not guarantee a miracle for everyone with enough faith. The Bible
does not guarantee immediate healing for everyone who is in tune with God. Even
people who have miracle-working power at certain times may not be able to do a

5
miracle at another time. Consider the apostle Paul. Scripture says, “God did
extraordinary miracles through Paul” (Acts 19:11). Paul healed people of illness, made
cripples walk again, and even resurrected a young man who was killed in a fall from a
window (Acts 20:9-10). But Paul had a problem of his own when he preached in Galatia,
and he couldn’t heal himself (Galatians 4:13-14). Paul had an affliction which he called
“a thorn in my flesh.” Three times he asked God to take it away, but God didn’t. God
gave him grace to cope with it, but he did not get rid of it (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Paul’s friend and fellow pastor, Timothy, had stomach problems and frequent
illnesses that were not healed by any miracle (1 Timothy 5:23). Paul’s friend
Epaphroditus nearly died of an illness, and his recovery came only gradually, not by a
miracle (Phil. 2:26-27). When Paul was traveling, he had to leave his colleague
Trophimus behind due to illness (2 Tim. 4:20). It’s clear from all this that sometimes God
did miracles for Paul, and sometimes he didn’t. And when God didn’t, it was not
because of Paul’s lack of faith or failure to pray, but simply because of God’s choice.
We may believe that God still does miracles today, but let’s not think miracles are
automatic for anyone of great faith.
Let’s also not confuse great faith with psyching ourselves into feeling sure that
what we want is going to happen. Sports psychologists teach athletes to believe in
themselves and to visualize themselves succeeding. A basketball player must picture
himself over and over making the game-winning shot. A gymnast must picture herself
again and again performing a flawless routine and sticking a perfect landing. These
mind tricks can make athletes more successful by avoiding the problems that come
from nerves and lack of confidence. But such visualization and self-psyching is not faith.
Faith is trusting God to do what is best. Faith is being sure of God’s power and wisdom.
If God gives a sense of certainty that a particular miracle is about to happen, that faith
will be fulfilled. But faith is not a mind trick. Faith is not pumping up your own level of
certainty that God is going to fulfill your wishful thinking if only you wish hard enough
and believe firmly enough.
A time is coming when all tears will be wiped away and all hurts will be healed.
Until then, God gives some wonderful healings through gradual means, and he may
even do astonishing miracles that give a foretaste of the final healing. But we are not yet
living in heaven on earth. True faith is convinced of the final outcome, even when it’s not
always sure of the immediate result. True faith trusts in God’s will, even when it’s not
always sure what God’s will is going to be.
For a healthy walk with God and a balanced attitude toward miracles, we should
avoid setting our expectations below what God opens up to us, and we should also
avoid presuming that God has to do miracles on demand if we feel strongly enough
about it. True faith is confidence that God can do anything he chooses, and willingness
to accept whatever he chooses. If we’ve been expecting too little, we must say to the
Lord what the apostles once said: “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). If we think that God
must do any miracle we want to spare us from pain, we must pray as Jesus once
prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

Originally prepared by David Feddes for Back to God Ministries International. Used with permission.

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Revival Power
By David Feddes

David Morgan was an ordinary person. He worked as a carpenter for a number of

years and eventually became a preacher. He was devoted to Jesus, but his education
was limited, and he had less speaking ability than most preachers.
One night David Morgan went to a gathering of fellow Christians. He was deeply
stirred there, but soon it was time to go home and go to bed. Morgan later told a friend,
"I went to bed that night as usual—David Morgan. But when I woke up the next morning,
I realized I was a different man. I felt like a lion, I felt great power."
For the next two years David Morgan preached with astonishing power and
effectiveness. A change swept across churches and communities in Morgan’s
homeland of Wales. Lives were dramatically transformed. Faith in Christ spread like
wildfire. This was the great Welsh revival of 1859. Many other people made an impact,
but the man God used above all others was David Morgan, the ordinary man who
became a lion overnight.
Then, suddenly, the lion became a man again. "One night I went to bed," said
Morgan, "filled with this power that had accompanied me for two years. I woke up the
next morning and found that I was David Morgan once again." He remained a faithful
preacher and Christian for the remaining fifteen years of his life, but he no longer had
that unusual, extraordinary power which had accompanied him during the period of the
revival.

What is Revival?
What is revival? It is what happens when God pours out the life and power of his
Holy Spirit in ways that go beyond his ordinary ways of working. God's Spirit is present
at all times in the life of every Christian and every faithful congregation, but in times of
revival, he makes his presence felt in a direct and extraordinary way. When the Spirit
comes with power on Christians, they don't just believe by faith that God is with them;
they actually sense God's presence right there among them.
In revival a preacher who has faithfully proclaimed the Bible's message for years
without much impact may start speaking with awesome authority. Those who hear him
sense that it’s not just a preacher speaking but the voice of the Lord himself. In revival
church members who have had a hard time praying for more than a minute or two may
suddenly pour out their souls at great length and sense that their prayers are being
prompted by God's own Spirit. In revival people who aren't yet Christians, people who
may have considered the church boring, find that they can no longer ignore the church.
Their attention is gripped by what's happening, and many are moved to repent of their
sins and put their faith in Jesus.
John Livingstone was a solid preacher in the Church of Scotland. He generally
did a good job of studying the Bible and teaching its truth to people. On June 21, 1630,
in a place called Kirk-o'-Shotts, he was preaching a sermon and was nearing the
conclusion. He was planning to end with a brief application, but something took hold of
him, and he went on for another hour. As he spoke, amazing things were happening.
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People were falling to the ground, weeping with sorrow for their sin and crying tears of
joy at God's love. At least five hundred people were converted as a result of that one
sermon. This doesn't mean they raised their hands or came forward at the end. No, their
lives were truly changed and remained changed. They joined the church and remained
part of the church. Never before had a sermon of Livingstone had such an effect, and
never after did his preaching have such power. This doesn't mean his other sermons
were bad or useless. God also works in smaller, hidden ways through many ordinary
sermons. But in revival the Holy Spirit may choose to do more in one day and in one
sermon than the rest of a preacher's entire ministry could accomplish.
Revival is an outpouring of God's Spirit which occurs when God chooses, where
God chooses, for as long as God chooses. The extraordinary work may take place in
one day, or last a few years, or be extended over a span of several decades. Revival
may transform a single congregation or sweep entire nations. It all depends on the Holy
Spirit.
Revival is not something that can be planned and carried out by human methods.
There is a great difference between real revival and revivalism. Revivalism depends on
human methods; revival depends on God's power. Revivalism deliberately works up
people's emotions through music and other means of manipulation, and it pressures
people to make an immediate, visible response. Genuine revival stirs the heart and
moves the emotions, but it is not planned or produced by people; it is something God
does.
Some years ago revival came to Africans in the Congo, and a certain preacher
learned the difference between revival and revivalism. He had been using various
revivalistic methods: telling tear-jerker stories, using music to create a mood, issuing
long altar calls trying to make people come forward in impressive numbers. But he saw
little response and little lasting effect in the lives of the people. Then the Holy Spirit
came in power, and suddenly people came flocking to Christ. The preacher said, "There
I had been preaching for twenty years in that area and pleading with people to decide
for Christ at the end of the meetings, trying to persuade them to come forward and I was
not succeeding. But then this came, this happened and now there was no need to ask
them to come forward." The Holy Spirit can achieve more in one day of true revival than
we can accomplish in twenty years of manipulative, revivalistic methods.
It's a mistake for Christians to be so eager for revival that we try to produce it
through our own efforts, but it's also a mistake to assume that revival is only a thing of
the past or just a matter of unstable people getting emotionally carried away. We should
always be eager for the Holy Spirit to empower us as individuals and for him to make
his mighty presence felt in ways that the church and the surrounding world can't ignore.

Pentecost and Beyond

The church of Jesus Christ burst on the scene in New Testament times on a
wave of powerful outpourings of the Holy Spirit, and many of the church's greatest
advances since then have occurred in special times of blessing from the Holy Spirit. The
first flood of the Holy Spirit among the early Christians came on the day of Pentecost,
ten days after Jesus ascended to heaven. On Pentecost the Spirit came with signs
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people could hear and see: the sound of a rushing wind and the sight of tongues of fire
resting on each of Jesus' followers. The disciples were enabled to praise God and
declare his wonders in other languages.
When the onlookers wondered what was happening, the apostle Peter explained
that this was the outpouring of God's Spirit which had been prophesied long ago and
that Jesus himself was making it happen. Peter declared, "Exalted to the right hand of
God, Jesus has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out
what you now see and hear" (Acts 2:33).
Many in the audience had been skeptical about Christ, and some had taken part
in the killing of Jesus, but now they were cut to heart. They repented of their evil, and
about three thousand people accepted Peter's message and were baptized.
Pentecost was the initial outpouring of the Spirit, but it was not the only
outpouring. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Bible speaks again and again of how the
Holy Spirit filled people afresh to meet special challenges and how the church flourished
and grew by leaps and bounds. As Acts 9:31 puts it, the church "was strengthened; and
encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord." Even
when opposition arose, "the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit"
(13:52).
The only way to understand the events described in the New Testament and the
explosive growth of the early church is to see that these things took place under
extraordinary blessing from the Holy Spirit—and the only way the church can have that
kind of power and vitality today is through fresh outpourings of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit
has done such things in many times and places. We should be eager for him to do them
here and now.
Christian scholar and author J.I. Packer says that revival is marked by "an
awesome sense of the presence of God and the truth of the gospel; a profound
awareness of sin, leading to deep repentance and heartfelt embrace of the glorified,
loving, pardoning Christ; an uninhibited witness to the power and glory of Christ, with a
mighty freedom of speech expressing a mighty freedom of spirit; joy in the Lord, love for
his people, and fear of sinning; and from God's side an intensifying and speeding-up of
the work of grace so that men are struck down by the word and transformed by the
Spirit in short order." There can be personal revival without others being similarly
touched, but usually the word revival is used for a more widespread work of God that
touches many in a church, college campus, community or nation.

Awakening and Anointing

Sometimes it may seem that spiritual life is almost nowhere to be found in a
congregation or student body or country, but then God's Spirit does things beyond all
expectation. At Yale University in the late 1700s, the college church was "almost
extinct," according to one observer. Hardly anyone professed to be a Christian: one
freshman, not a single sophomore, one junior, and just a handful of seniors—that was
all who professed to be Christians. But in 1802 there came a change "with such power
as had never been witnessed within those walls before," said someone who was a
student at the time. "It was like a mighty rushing wind. The whole college was shaken."
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About a third of the students were converted and joined the church, and a significant
number became preachers of the gospel. Something similar happened a few years later
at Princeton, with an even greater portion of the students coming to Christ.
These campus revivals occurred during what historians call the Second Great
Awakening, one of the most widespread, longest lasting revival periods in America and
Canada. The Awakening reached many churches and communities in both nations,
bringing explosive growth to Christian churches for about a quarter century. Evangelist
Francis Asbury called it "our Pentecost."
That's what we need in our time: something we could call "our Pentecost," an
outpouring of the life and power of the Holy Spirit similar to what the Lord did on
Pentecost and in revivals throughout history. When church members are lukewarm,
when those outside the church have no interest in Jesus or the Bible, when campuses
are full of ungodliness and almost empty of faith, when nations are wandering further
and further from God's ways, we need revival. Only a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit
can bring the transformation we need.
One thing that happens in revival, or in periods when God is preparing to send
revival, is that Christian people feel a great lack in their own lives and develop a longing
for more of the life and love of Jesus Christ. They aren't satisfied just to be forgiven and
saved from hell. They want to experience more of God's fullness and holiness right now.
They are grateful for what God has already done for them, but they want more. They
grieve that their spiritual condition is so far from the Spirit-filled Christians in the New
Testament and in the church's times of revival. Such people grieve over their own lack,
and they grieve over the condition of their church and the society around them. Then
they pray that God will renew and revive with fresh showers of his Holy Spirit.
Dwight L. Moody was a Christian man who seemed to be quite effective in telling
others about Christ. Moody led a big Sunday school and spoke to a large congregation.
Whenever he spoke, he noticed two women praying for him. They came up to him after
a service and said, "We have been praying for you." Moody asked, "Why do you not
pray for the people?" They answered, "You need power." "I need power?" Moody said
to himself, "I thought I had power." After all, there were conversions now and then, and
Moody felt pretty good about his effectiveness.
But the women kept praying for him, and, said Moody, "Their earnest talk about
the anointing for special service set me thinking. I asked them to come and we got down
on our knees. They poured out their hearts that I might receive the anointing of the Holy
Ghost and there came a great hunger into my soul, I knew not what it was. I began to
cry as never before, the hunger increased. I really felt that I did not want to live any
longer if I could not have this power for service. I kept on crying all the time that God
would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York, oh what a day, I
cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it. It is almost too sacred an experience to name...I
can only say, God revealed Himself to me and I had such an experience of His love that
I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went out preaching again, the sermons were no
different and I did not present any new truths and yet hundreds were converted."
That's what often happens in revival. Someone develops a burning thirst for God,
and then God satisfies that thirst with fresh blessings from his Holy Spirit. Someone
4
prays for God to display his power and mercy, and God answers those prayers.
Someone who has been faithfully doing God's work keeps on doing it, without changing
his message or methods, and yet God shows his power by bringing results that are
extraordinary. It's not how persuasive or clever the speaker is; it's the action of God
himself. As the apostle Paul wrote in the Bible, "My message and my preaching were
not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power" (1
Corinthians 2:4-5).
This anointing, this demonstration of the Spirit's power in preaching, is one of the
characteristics of revival. Even when revival conditions aren't present, the Lord uses the
preaching of biblical truth and works through people who are faithful to him. But in
revival the preaching of Christ takes on greater power than before, and people are
much more responsive than before.

Manifest Presence
Probably the most striking thing about revival is the overwhelming sense of God's
real, majestic presence among his people. This is what impresses the Christians in the
church, and it's also what changes the unbeliever who visits. As the Bible puts it, that
unbeliever "will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you" (1
Corinthians 14:25).
That's not what happens in most of our churches, is it? We may have well
planned services, impressive music, a gifted preacher, and a nice building, but such
things are not enough to make people "fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is
really among you.'" We may have classes led by smart teachers presenting strong
reasons for believing in God, but intellectual arguments aren't enough to make people
"fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you.'" We may have
support groups that help people in various ways, but such encouragement—good
though it might be—isn't what makes people "fall down and worship God, exclaiming,
'God is really among you.'" Only when God himself pours out his Holy Spirit and makes
people sense his might and majesty, his beauty and holiness, his all-seeing eye and his
fierce opposition to sin, his life and his love—only when the Holy Spirit moves with
revival power do people "fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among
you.'"
Consider the first Great Awakening which occurred in the American colonies
during the mid-1700s. Preacher Jonathan Edwards said that some people from other
places were skeptical when they heard about the revival that was happening in his town
in Northampton. But many strangers who came to the town were amazed and
overwhelmed by God's presence among the people there. Many who visited the town
on business or to see relatives had their consciences gripped by God and were drawn
to salvation in Christ. They returned home rejoicing, and the revival spread to other
towns. Jonathan Edwards wrote, "God has in many respects gone out of, and much
beyond, his usual and ordinary way. The work in this town, and some others about us,
has been extraordinary." That's the word for revival power: extraordinary. A pastor in
another town that experienced revival said "more had been done in one week, then in
seven years before."
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 This doesn't mean that everything is perfect during revival. Sometimes there is
disorder, excess, or error. This was the case among New Testament churches, as the
Bible makes clear in Paul's letters to the Corinthians. There were also problems during
the Great Awakening, and Jonathan Edwards wrote brilliant books to help people
discern the genuine work of God from phony baloney. Wherever God sends revival,
Satan goes on the attack and tries to create problems.
But the reality of such problems doesn't mean the Holy Spirit's extraordinary work
isn't real, or that we should prefer the predictable, boring, and largely ineffective
condition of many churches today. Yes, revival can bring with it new challenges, just as
the church at Corinth had to deal with problems and confusion. But, as J. I. Packer
says, "The Corinthian disorders were due to an uncontrolled overflow of Holy Spirit life.
Many churches today are orderly simply because they are asleep, and with some, one
fears that it is the sleep of death. It is no great thing to have order in a cemetery!"

Needing Revival
Revival may be accompanied by problems due to human failings and Satan's
meddling, but we must not let such things blind us to the value of revival, and we must
not let certain problems hide the fact that churches in New Testament times and
churches in periods of revival through history were experiencing the work of the Holy
Spirit in ways which many of our churches today are not. Many churches have never
had a service where those present were overwhelmed with a sense of God's presence
or where visitors fell to their knees in worship, exclaiming, "God is really among you."
These days many church people are busier arguing over what music to use in
the worship service than praying for the Holy Spirit to do something extraordinary in the
service. They argue whether sermons ought to be intellectual lectures or entertaining
stories, without ever expecting to hear Christ himself speaking with authority through the
preaching of God's Word. They are more concerned that each service goes according
to schedule than for the Holy Spirit to make an unscheduled visit and shake them and
revolutionize their lives.
Many church people, even those who are genuine Christians, have never tasted
what it's like to have a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in genuine revival. They don't
know their Bible well enough or church history well enough to know that most of the
church's great advances have occurred during times of special awakening and
empowerment from God's Holy Spirit. In church life and also in our personal spiritual
life, many of us literally don't know what we're missing. We have little experience of
what the Bible is talking about when it speaks of being filled with the Holy Spirit, or
having our hearts flooded with the love of God through the Holy Spirit, or having the
peace of God which surpasses understanding, or being filled with joy unspeakable and
full of glory. We need to know what happens in revival in order to create a holy
discontent with the status quo and a longing for Christ to bless us and advance his
kingdom by doing immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
Don't underestimate the importance of revival. God works in ordinary times too,
but the extraordinary times have been vital for the health and growth of the church. The
United States and Canada would never have had so many Christians if God had not
6
sent the Great Awakenings and other, more local revivals. That's true of other nations
as well.
Korea had only a few Christians by the year 1900. Korean churches weren’t
growing much, and missionaries to Korea didn’t seem to be accomplishing much. But
then came what missionary William Blair called "Korean Pentecost." A group of
Christians were meeting together for prayer. They all had a sense of being shaken and
of being overwhelmed by the presence and power of Christ through his Holy Spirit. That
led to an explosion of growth in the church in Korea. Today a huge number of
Koreans—millions upon millions—are devoted to Christ.
Similar stories could be told about parts of Africa, Latin America, and China.
Small, struggling groups of Christians have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, and
churches have grown with astonishing speed. A Chinese friend told me about a place in
China where the number of Christians grew from 20 to 3,000 in only three years. Those
Chinese Christians continue to pray for revival power from the Holy Spirit to do even
greater things.
We can't create revival with our own methods. We are called by God to keep
praying and speaking the Word of God faithfully, in season and out of season, when
there's revival and when there isn't. We should be grateful for smaller blessings, even
as we long for extraordinary ones. But knowing from the Bible and history about revival
power, knowing how much the Spirit of God can accomplish in times of special blessing,
knowing what a great change is possible in the life of churches and campuses and
communities and nations when God moves in power, let us honor the Holy Spirit for his
mighty works in the past and call on Christ to send fresh outpourings of his Holy Spirit.

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Guided By God
By David Feddes

All of us face big decisions from time to time. Should I seek a university education? If so,
where? What kind of career should I choose? Should I accept this position with this particular
company? Should I be falling love with this person? Should we get married? Where should we
live? Should we buy this particular house? Should I accept this job transfer? Whenever you face
decisions like these, you know there’s a lot at stake. You want to make the right choice, one you
won’t regret later. You can feel pretty confused and anxious when decision time rolls around.
You’re eager to make the right choice, but you’re not quite sure which is best.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just type your questions into a computer that could tell
you the right decision every time? Better yet, wouldn’t it be great if you had direct, divine
guidance at such times, if God himself gave a clear sign of what to do? In the Bible, there are
stories where God did give guidance through clear, supernatural signs. When I read those stories,
I find them fascinating, but I have to admit that sometimes I also find them frustrating.
When God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and led them toward the promised
land, the Bible says God guided them on their journey by means of a special cloud that hovered
above the tabernacle, the sacred tent. The people could always see the cloud, even at night, when
it glowed like fire. Decision-making was easy; the people just did whatever the cloud did. Any
time the cloud began to move, the people followed it. When it stopped, they stopped and set up
camp. They stayed put for as long as the cloud stayed put, whether for a day or a month or even a
year. And the instant the cloud moved again, whether during the day or in the middle of the
night, they set out immediately and followed it. They knew exactly when God wanted them to
move and where he wanted them to go (Numbers 9:15-23).
Now, that story is fascinating, but it’s also frustrating. I don’t have a cloud like that. Back
when I had to decide where to go to college, there wasn’t any cloud that lifted from above my
parents’ home and moved to the place I was supposed to go. And I suspect you’re in the same
boat. When you’re wondering whether to buy a new home or move to another city, you’ll
probably have to make that decision without a cloud to guide you.
Another Bible story tells how God guided the apostle Paul on one of his missionary
journeys. Paul and his companions wanted to preach in a certain area, but the Holy Spirit
prevented them. They tried to enter another area, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t allow them to.
And then God showed them exactly where to go. “Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia
standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’” (Acts 16:9). Paul and his
friends got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called them to preach
the gospel there. That’s how God led Paul to become the first missionary to bring the good news
of Jesus to Europe. Again, it’s a fascinating story, but it’s also frustrating. When you’re
wondering about a job or career, you’re not likely to have supernatural visions of what God
wants you to do. When you’re trying to decide whether a person is the right one for you to
marry, you probably won’t have a vision of that person in wedding clothes saying, “I’m the one
God wants you to marry.”
God doesn’t promise to provide a cloud or a vision to guide his people in every decision.
But God has promised to guide us. In Psalm 48:14, the Bible says, “This God is our God for ever
and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” So the question isn’t whether God provides
guidance; he does. The question is how. How can I be guided by God? How can I follow his
leading and experience his blessing?

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First Things First
In Proverbs 3:5-6, the Bible makes a great promise: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct
your paths” (NKJV). God will direct your paths. He’ll help you make sound decisions and lead
you in a direction that’s good for you. That’s his promise. But the promise applies only if you put
your trust in him. When it comes to decision-making, you can’t expect God to guide you and
make your decisions work out for the best until you first make the most important decision of all:
the decision to trust him. You need to recognize Jesus Christ as your Lord, the one who’s going
to run your life. You need to leave self-centered ways of thinking and accept a new life where
the Lord calls the shots. That’s the first step in discovering God’s guidance.
Remember, the cloud that guided the Israelites didn’t show them the best camping spots
in Egypt; it led them out of Egypt, out of slavery, and in the direction of the promised land.
Likewise, the vision that guided Paul to Macedonia came after he was set free from his old ways
as an enemy of Christ and became a Christian. Paul had to be guided out of his sin and hatred
and into a relationship with Christ before he could be guided anywhere else. And so do we.
Before we make any other decision, we first need to make the decision to trust Christ, to turn
from sin and follow him.
I know young people who say they aren’t quite ready to do that. They know about Jesus,
but they figure they’ll wait till they’re a bit older before they follow him. But how old do you
have to be? If you’re old enough to get drunk, if you’re old enough to have sex, if you’re old
enough to join a gang—if you’re old enough to make decisions that can ruin your life, aren’t you
old enough to make the one decision that can make every part of your life better?
The sooner you turn your life over to Jesus, the better. It’s not very smart to think you can
sow your wild oats and later on pray like crazy for crop failure. Even if you do commit your way
to Christ later—and that becomes less and less likely the longer you wait—the fact that you
waited can do a lot of damage. God can still forgive you, but you’ll have a lot more regrets and
problems and complications to deal with. You may have to deal with bad decisions that turned
into addictions to alcohol or drugs or gambling or work. You may find yourself married to
someone who wants nothing to do with Christ, and that could make it difficult and awkward for
both of you if you finally do decide to follow Jesus after all. You may have chosen a career, only
to discover after coming to Christ that he wants you in a much different career.
So before you make any other decision, put first things first. Who’s going to run your
life, you or Jesus? Decide that before you try to decide anything else. “Trust in the Lord with all
your heart.”

Obey the Bible

Once you’ve done that, the next step in discovering God’s will is to listen to what he
says. As the Bible puts it, “lean not on your own understanding.” Instead of doing whatever
makes sense to you, listen to what God says.
Let me sound an urgent warning here. If you think “lean not on your own understanding”
means you can seek guidance from a psychic hotline or a crystal or a ouija board or tarot cards or
a fortune teller or a horoscope, think again. Those things are demonic, not divine. You may hear
Satan’s voice that way, but you won’t hear God’s. To hear God’s voice and find yourself on
God’s wavelength, the Bible is the place to go. To hear what God says, the first place to turn is

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God’s guidebook, the Bible. In the Bible you’ll discover timeless teaching from God that will
affect some of your biggest decisions.
Take love and marriage, for example. The Bible doesn’t give you the name of the person
you’re supposed to marry, but it does narrow the field. If you’re a Christian and in love with
someone who isn’t, don’t even bother to ask God for some special sign showing whether this is
the person you’re supposed to marry. It’s not. The Bible says very clearly, “Do not be yoked
together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). God’s Word also says a woman “is free to marry
anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:39). Don’t fool yourself.
The Lord never guides Christians to marry non-Christians, just as he never guides anyone to
dump the person they’ve already married in order to go off with someone else. Just because
you’re attracted to someone, just because a relationship “feels right,” doesn’t mean God brought
you together. I’ve talked with people involved in adultery who were absolutely convinced that
God had brought them together, that this was his way of giving them the happiness they
deserved. But that’s just a case of leaning on your own understanding instead of listening to
God’s Word. The Lord says, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14), and he also says,
“I hate divorce” (Malachi 2:16). God never leads you in a direction that contradicts what he says
in the Bible.
Another area where the Bible affects our decisions is career choice. The Bible says to
love your neighbor as yourself and to do everything to God’s glory. You need to apply that to
any job you’re considering. Can you really help people and honor God by selling tobacco or
liquor or working in the gambling business? What about real estate ventures or property rentals
that exploit the poor or sales jobs that force you to misrepresent your product or jobs that force
you to work on the Lord’s Day when you ought to be worshipping? The Bible doesn’t direct you
to a specific job, but it says a lot about the kind of job you should even be willing to consider.
Another example of the Bible’s impact on decision-making is buying a house. Let’s say
you’ve got two choices: a decent house and a dream house. The decent house is one that’s
adequate; it’s one you can afford on your income and still give money to your local church,
missionary work, and helping the needy. The dream house, on the other hand, isn’t just
adequate—it’s splendid; it’s what you’ve always wanted. But to get it, you’ll have to be
mortgaged up to your eyeballs. It will take every spare penny you’ve got. You’ll have no money
left over for the work of the Lord.
What should you do? Well, God says in the book of Malachi that if you stop giving him
what you owe and support your own luxury instead, what you’re really doing is stealing from
God (3:8-9). Likewise, in Haggai 1:4, God speaks against people who lived in expensive
“paneled houses” while neglecting his temple. When it comes to buying houses, the Bible
doesn’t give you an exact address or price range, but it says things you need to know before
deciding what kind of home to purchase.
These are just a few examples of how the Bible affects our decisions. And this isn’t just a
matter of knowing particular verses that apply to particular situations, though that is important.
There’s also the deeper reality that the more you know of the Bible, the more you understand
how God acts and thinks. As you read the Bible each day and go to a church where the Bible is
read and explained every Sunday, your mind is shaped more and more by the mind of Christ.
You have a clearer sense of what Jesus would do in your situation. The Bible says in Romans
12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is.”

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 Another important point: if you want God’s help in making a decision, make sure you’re
following what he’s already shown you in other areas. Let’s say you’re struggling in the choice
of a college or career, and you’d like God’s help in choosing the right one—meanwhile, in your
dating life, you know that God calls for sexual purity, and you’re just not obeying him. Why
should God give you any more guidance if you’re not obeying what you already know? First
follow the leading he’s already provided. Then ask for further guidance. As Proverbs puts it, “In
all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

Special Guidance
Once you trust in the Lord Jesus with all your heart and count on the Bible instead of
leaning on your own understanding, you have made great progress, but you still face decisions
that won’t always be clear-cut. Scripture provides a framework for making decisions; it
eliminates a number of options, but in the end, our choice making still is not easy. No verse in
the Bible tells you exactly whom to marry or what career to pursue or the address of the house
you should buy.
Or consider another major decision that more and more people face: the care of aged and
feeble parents or children with severe disabilities. In the Bible, the Lord says to “honor your
father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12), and God also says, “If anyone does not provide for his
own relatives, especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). But even if you know that, and you sincerely desire what’s best for
your loved ones, you still have to answer the question: what is best? How should you honor and
provide? Should you make the best of it in your own home? Should you place them in an
institution that can provide the needed care, and then visit them frequently? Should you hire a
nurse or special worker to provide extra help? Should you pursue some other option? The Bible
doesn’t say which of these choices will be best for your family.
How does God guide us in decisions like that, where the Bible gives general principles
but doesn’t spell out the details? Does the God who sent clouds or visions to give specific
guidance in the past still give specific guidance today? In answering that question, we need to
avoid two extremes. At one extreme are Christians who expect a sensational, supernatural
leading every time they have to make a choice. These people act as if God speaks to them aloud
every day. They’re fond of saying, “The Lord told me this...” or “The Lord led me to do that.”
God makes every decision for them. At breakfast time, they can hardly decide between oatmeal
or cornflakes unless they have a special leading from the Holy Spirit. They can’t choose between
the blue dress or the red one unless they have a sign from heaven.
At the other extreme are those Christians who expect no specific leading from God at all.
They’re wise enough to know you should study the Bible to make sure you don’t make a choice
that’s sinful, but beyond that, they think all you have to do is consider the various factors in the
situation, weigh the pros and cons, and choose the option that makes the most sense. Use your
head, and never expect any mysterious prompting from God.
Between these extremes there’s a better way. Certainly we should realize that God gave
us a brain for a purpose. He hasn’t promised to do all our thinking for us. But we should also be
open to the possibility of special leadings from the Lord, even if they don’t always match what
seems the most rational choice.

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 In my first years as a college student, I did extremely well in mathematics and computer
science. Meanwhile, I didn’t do as well in my speech class. If I had to decide between being a
mathematician or a preacher, it would be no contest, right? But I knew, I just knew, that God was
calling me to preach the gospel, and I had no sense of peace until switched my course of study
and began preparing for the ministry. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with math or computer
science. Many fine Christians serve God and help others in that kind of work. It’s just that God
had something else in mind for me, and he impressed that upon my inner spirit.
When you face an important decision, by all means use your mind to weigh the various
factors, but also be sure to pray about it, and then be alert for what God’s Holy Spirit may
impress on your spirit. The Lord may have something in mind for you that you’d never figure out
on your own. His Spirit can give you a deep and powerful sense of what he wants you to do. The
Bible says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God... and it will be given to him” (James
1:5).
So when you face a decision, be sure you’re trusting Christ, be sure you’re listening to
the Bible’s guidelines, and then pray for God’s leading. “Lord, I know that people can serve you
in many different careers, but show me the one you’ve got in mind for me.”
“Lord, we’re in love, and we’re both Christians. Now confirm whether we’re meant for
each other and can serve you best by getting married.”
“Lord, I don’t know whether to move or not. Show me the way. Either open the doors of
opportunity, or give me a sense of peace in staying right where I am.”
“Lord, this is a big financial decision. Show us the choice that will best serve you and be
blessed by you.”
“Lord, I love my parents, but they’re getting weak and forgetful. Help us through this
hard time, and show us the best way to honor and care for them.”
God may answer your prayer for guidance in a variety of ways. He may do it through
circumstances: he may close some doors and open others, so that it becomes clear what you
should do. He may speak to you through the suggestions of a friend or a pastor. He may give you
a powerful prompting in your spirit to recognize what he wants. He may guide you in a way that
utterly surprises you.
But however it happens, when you think he’s shown you his will, be sure to pay
attention. And then test your impression to be sure it’s genuine. Not every inner feeling comes
from the Holy Spirit. So check again whether it’s consistent with the teaching of the Bible. Talk
about it with the people your decision might affect. Ask Christian friends about it—people you
trust but who aren’t directly involved in your decision and can be more objective. Remember, the
Spirit doesn’t just work in you as an individual; he works in fellow Christians, and he often
confirms his leading through them. And once you’ve discovered and tested God’s leading, be
sure to thank him. Then do what he says with joy.

Free to Decide
At this point, though, you may find yourself wondering, what about the times I pray
about something but don’t receive a strong leading from God? Well, in such cases, God may well
be leaving it up to you. For example, the Bible says a woman can “marry anyone she chooses” as
long as the man belongs to the Lord. So if you love someone, you’ve prayed about it, and God
hasn’t impressed on you that you shouldn’t get married, you can get married in the confidence
that he is guiding your choice. That’s true of many decisions. Although God sometimes

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impresses on you to choose what you otherwise wouldn’t have chosen, he often simply leaves
the choice up to you. In his wisdom, he already knows what you’ll choose, and he will bless you
in it.
We’ve heard about the detailed guidance God gave the apostle Paul in the vision of a man
from Macedonia, but let’s not forget that in most of Paul’s travels, God didn’t give him a vision
telling him exactly where to go next. Paul simply went from one city to another to another,
preaching wherever he could. He knew he was called to preach the gospel as widely as possible,
and he didn’t wait for special promptings before preaching in another place. That was Paul’s
normal strategy, and God blessed him in it. But then, at a crucial point, God interrupted Paul’s
plans in order to bring him where he otherwise wouldn’t have gone.
Once you’re devoted to God, in touch with the Bible, and praying for wisdom, God may
leave many choices up to you, and if at some point he wants you to pursue a path you wouldn’t
have chosen otherwise, he can make that clear to you as well. So remain open to his leading.
Pray about each important decision. And if no special leading comes, simply trust that the Holy
Spirit is living in you and that he’s at work in the choices you make according to your best,
biblically informed judgment. Pray humbly, “Lord, unless you show me otherwise, this is what
I’m going to choose. I trust it’s in keeping with your will, and I pray that you’ll bless my
decision.” Then make your choice with the confidence that God is with you.
It’s wonderful to know that you’re guided by God, that he is always with you, that his
Spirit lives in you, and that he leads you each step of the way. “Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct your paths.”

Originally prepared by David Feddes for Back to God Ministries International. Used with permission.