Dear Partner,
The month of October always brings a smile to my face, especially around 10 a.m. on the 9th. That’s the day I met Gloria Jean Neece and fell head over heels in love with her. Six months later, we were married, and six months after that, on Oct. 26, 1962, Gloria gave her life to Jesus. She prayed, “LORD, take my life, and do something with it.” Then, on Nov. 2, I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and He did. The following January, we both received the fullness of the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave us utterance. At that time, Gloria and I were baby Christians. We were, however, oh so eager to learn. Four years later, on Jan. 24, 1967, I enrolled at Oral Roberts University and, as they say, the rest is history.
Throughout the years, we have been asked questions about speaking, or praying, in tongues. The term other tongues simply means “speaking in a language you did not learn.” Receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues is the gateway to the supernatural. Let’s look at Genesis 11:1-9: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And The LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So The LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because The LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did The LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”
The word Babel means “confusion.” As we just read, the “Ancient of Days” confounded the language of the people for a very important reason. Now, through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we got back what was lost by being able to speak the language of the Spirit. Let’s see what The WORD of God has to say about it. Open your Bible to Acts 1:4-5: “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Now look at it in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition: “And while being in their company and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak. For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.” Jesus COMMANDED THEM. Why? Look at verse 8 where He told them, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The word POWER is the Greek word dunamis. The AMPC defines it as “ability, efficiency and might.” Now let’s read Luke 3:16, “ John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Remember now, Luke 1:26-34 says Jesus was born of the Spirit: “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, The LORD is with thee: BLESSED art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and The LORD God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man
Now look at Chapter 4:1, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” What? It says, “being full of the Holy Ghost.” While He was in the wilderness, Jesus used what we know as “the sword of the Spirit” that the Apostle Paul talked about in Ephesians 6:17, and defeated the devil with The WORD of God, saying, “IT IS WRITTEN,” “IT IS WRITTEN,” “IT IS WRITTEN”! We are instructed to do the same thing: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is The WORD of God.” Let’s read Acts 1:8 again: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Remember the phrase “come upon you.” The same power is for us, NOW! Luke 4:18 says the Spirit of The LORD was always in Jesus, but now He had to be anointed by the Spirit of The LORD to preach! So do we: “The Spirit of The LORD is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”
Remember Acts 10:38? I’m sure you do, but let’s read it together beginning with verse 37: “That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” And Acts 2:1-4: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” It happened just like Jesus said it would. He said in John 14:15-17 (AMPC): “If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.” Now look at verse 26 in the AMPC: “But the Comforter (Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.”
Standby power for us, now! Let’s go back in the First Covenant to what the Prophet Joel said (Chapter 2:28) which came to pass after the blood of Jesus fulfilled it in the Second Covenant. In Acts 2:16-21, Peter said: “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of The LORD come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of The LORD shall be saved.” You and I are the “whosoevers” in verse 21! This same Holy Spirit said through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
Then 1 Corinthians 12:1, in the AMPC says, “Now about the spiritual gifts (the special endowments of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to be misinformed.” He is talking about the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit Jesus walked in when He was in His earthly ministry that we see in Luke 4 and Acts 10:38. A manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit is a manifestation of Jesus. These are now available to us. There is a list of nine in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.” Now look at verse 30: “Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” His question, “Do all speak with tongues?” is referring to the ministry gift of tongues, not our personal prayer language. Now look at verse 31, “But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.” The “more excellent way” is Love. These gifts of the Spirit only work by Love who dwells in us. Look at Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
And then Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by Love.” First Corinthians 13:4-8, in the AMPC, talks about this Love: “Love endures long and is patient and kind; Love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s Love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].”
Now look at Chapter 14:1 in the AMPC: “Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] Love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching).” Jesus already said in John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have Love one to another.” That is the New Covenant commandment, and forgiving one another is the key.
Now, back to the importance of speaking with other tongues: According to 1 Corinthians 14:2, we are speaking to our Father: “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” The Weymouth translation, The New Testament in Modern Speech, says, “…he speaks divine secrets.” I like that. As we saw at the beginning of this letter, that’s what was lost at Babel that we now have through the Spirit Himself. In verse 4, we build ourselves up in our spirits by His Spirit: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth [builds up] himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” Let’s close this part of the letter with verses 14-15, 18 from the AMPC: “For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody].” Then what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind and understanding; I will sing with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will sing [intelligently] with my mind and understanding also…. I thank God that I speak in [strange] tongues (languages) more than any of you or all of you put together.”
Now let’s refer again to the words of the Master in Luke 11:9-13: “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” And in Mark 11:22-25, He said: “Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” The Apostle James said in Chapter 1:6: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” Now, back to the book of Acts where we began. The Apostle Peter is closing his message in Chapter 2:36-39. He says: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both LORD and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as The LORD our God shall call.” We are now living in this last verse (v. 39).
In John 3:16, Jesus is the gift to the world: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Holy Spirit is God’s precious gift to the Church: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, BLESSED art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18).
Jesus was referring to the Rock of revealed knowledge. The gates of hell shall NOT prevail against it! That includes your church and mine, your house and mine, if you know and act on James 4:7-8: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
As you sow your BLESSING seed this month, pray over it with your understanding and with your spirit by the Holy Spirit. Then sing over it both ways, building yourself up according to Jude 20-21, 24: “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the Love of God, looking for the mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ unto eternal life…. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”
That’s the process by which we have received direction for this ministry. I learned that from my father in the faith, Oral Roberts. But that’s another lesson for another time! Until then, remember that I pray for you before every meal and every time we fly: “BLESS our Partners according to the 91st Psalm, BEYOND MEASURE, spirit, soul, body, financially and socially. In the Name of Jesus, whose I am and whom I serve.”
God Loves you, we Love you, and Jesus is LORD!
