Living in the Abundance of God (19 page)
Read Living in the Abundance of God Online
Authors: John Osteen
HE
G
IFTS OF THE
S
PIRIT
A
RE FOR
E
VERY
B
ELIEVER
God wants every man, every woman, and every child to be filled with the Holy Spirit and move on in the gifts, power, and energy of the Holy Spirit!
Consider the following three passages of Scripture from the
Amplified Bible
:
The spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit are “the special endowments of supernatural energy” (1 Corinthians 12:1).
“Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same” (1 Corinthians 12:4).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit” (1 Corinthians 12:7).
You see, the spiritual gifts are special endowments of supernatural energy! They are extraordinary powers that distinguish Christians. Every person receives this manifestation of the Holy Spirit, this spiritual illumination.
As soon as the early church received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, immediately the supernatural began to radiate and emanate from their lives! They began to do the works that Jesus did as He had promised (John 14:12).
You do not have to be an apostle, pastor, or elder to flow in God’s power. Every believer has this same miraculous power available to him.
The Bible says, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17–18).
Jesus left us a pattern for the church today. As soon as these believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately the supernatural began to flow.
There are thousands of people who are held in bondage by the enemy’s power because they have been denied the supernatural power of God. Their hearts cry out for the supernatural. When we deny them the true power of God, they go to the false supernatural—the occult and witchcraft.
Today there is arising an army of God’s people clothed with God’s power that will show this generation the true way to supernatural power. Every child of God should be a channel of the supernatural energy and the divine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
If the spiritual gifts are not operating in your life, you should stir yourself to pray and seek God. The gifts of the Spirit are the weapons of our warfare. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
We are endowed with these gifts that we might fight the good fight of faith and deliver our generation (1 Timothy 6:12). There is no greater thrill than to see God work through your human flesh! It is the most wonderful experience in the world!
ECLARE THE
W
ORD OF
G
OD
When I first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I wanted everything that God would give me. I was so thrilled to find out the truth about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As I began my ministry, I would pray for the gifts of the Spirit. I wanted all nine of them to operate in my life. Somehow, in all my sincerity but also in all my ignorance, I expected a little angel to come down and touch me. From then on, I would have these gifts. Sparks would fly as the angel touched me, and I would be endowed with these wonderful gifts from God!
I didn’t know any better.
As I sought God, He told me to go out and stand before sighing, crying, dying humanity and preach the Word, and He would be there with me. He would confirm the Word with signs following in a flow of the supernatural.
So I decided to have a meeting and rented an auditorium. I was so excited as hundreds of people came. I told them my background and what God had done in my life by His Spirit. I told them that Jesus was the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). I told them that God has given us the power to cast out demons, to lay hands on the sick and see them healed (Mark 16:17–18). I told them that they would see miracles in Jesus’ Name.
People began to line up for prayer. I was astonished! People had believed the Word of God that I preached!
I quieted my spirit before the people. The first person who marched across the stage was a mute man. He had never spoken a word in all his life! I thought to myself,
Oh, God, couldn’t I start with someone with a stomachache?
Of course, this was only a natural thought. The same power that could heal a stomachache could heal this man.
Thank God for the anointing of the Holy Spirit! As I stood there with butterflies in my stomach, I was reminded of the great promises of God.
I did not feel like it, but I acted like God had told me the truth in His Word. Jesus had promised me, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
I prayed for that man in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could hear, but he could not talk. So I put the microphone by his mouth, and I told him to say, “Thank you, Jesus!” He did, and the meeting was on!
In that meeting, we saw such miracles of God, such mighty demonstrations of salvation, divine healing, and deliverance. It was a marvelous thing to behold as Jesus met the needs of the people!
IVE IN THE
P
OWER OF THE
H
OLY
S
PIRIT
You do not have to feel like God’s power is in you. Believe God. You have the Holy Spirit. Go in the Name of Jesus! God expects you to live and move in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are divided to every man, woman, and child as God wills. The manifestation of the gifts is for everyone. There is a divine gift that should be flowing in your life—
in your life!
You have not been left out. You can move in the mighty stream of the supernatural power of God.
It is so thrilling! It is so wonderful to see God work!
Begin to be concerned about humanity. Lay hands on people and minister to people in love. God will begin to manifest what He desires through your life.
If we are the New Testament church, we not only believe in salvation by grace, but we believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit that clothes us with power.
It is not enough for us to be gathered together and sing and praise and laugh and rejoice. We must teach the Word of God and feed God’s people. As they grow, they will be so filled with God’s glory and God’s truth that they will arise. They will go forth and begin to minister to people’s needs in God’s power. The lost will turn to Jesus and be saved.
You are on a dead-end street if you do not see that after you are clothed with power and speak in tongues, you have just entered into the doorway to a life of the supernatural. This is not just for preachers, but there is power for all of the body of Christ.
THERE IS A DIVINE GIFT
that should be flowing in your life!
HE
F
LOW OF THE
M
IRACULOUS
It is thrilling to see God move supernaturally. I recall preaching in a small country church and recounting the marvelous deliverances of Jesus recorded in Mark 5. Just as I ended that message and closed my Bible, a woman slowly got up and approached me with her crutches. In her own words, Clara Neil McWhirter recounts her own story of the wonderful miracle of God:
In 1954, I had rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, which the doctors diagnosed that there was no cure for either one. I was in severe pain, could not move, and was in bed for three years. The pain was so great I could not stand to be touched. I had to be turned with a sheet and would take several hot baths a day to help relieve some of the pain. I had seven surgeries during this time.
After a time, I was able to get out of bed, but by 1963 I was so crippled I was confined to a wheelchair. I had a big knot on my neck
that prevented me from turning my head and spurs on my heels and crooked fingers and toes. My body would swell so badly at times that I would look twice my weight, which was only 100 pounds.
In 1968, my dear husband became ill with tuberculosis. The doctor said that since I was a nurse, he would consent to my taking my husband home if we would go into strict isolation. So my husband and I and Jesus were confined to our four-room house for eighteen months. No one could come in, and we could not go out. But we were happy. I crawled from room to room, day and night, caring for him. Finally, he recovered, and we got out of isolation.
However, in just a few months he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon. I prayed and cared for him again for two and a half years, then in 1973, he went to be with Jesus.
Through twenty-one years of pain, I never knew what it was not to hurt. I had been in a wheelchair for twelve years. But one week before Pastor Osteen came to my daughter’s church, I had a dream that I was walking down the aisle in a church without my crutches. I was speaking words I did not understand.
I went to church with my daughter, and Pastor Osteen preached the most beautiful sermon about Jesus’ healing power and love and mercy. Just as the sermon ended, a sweet voice spoke in my ear, “Go now.” My daughter was sitting next to me, but she hadn’t said anything. I knew it was Jesus speaking to me.
I picked up my crutches and made my way to Pastor Osteen. I poured my heart out to him. Then he raised his right hand and with his index finger, he gently touched me on the forehead. As he did this, it was as though a bolt of lightning went throughout my entire body. My arms were drawn
above my head by a great force. (My arms had not been above my shoulders for twelve years because of the pain.) My crutches gently fell to the ground as though carried by angels.
Jesus healed me instantly.
Every spur in every part my body—my heels and my spine—and even the big knot on the back of my neck that had prevented me from turning my head instantly disappeared!
Pastor Osteen put the microphone to my mouth and asked me if I had anything to say. Then the most beautiful language poured out of my mouth. Jesus had baptized me with the Holy Spirit, and I spoke with tongues, praising and magnifying Jesus, my Healer!
I returned to the doctor, and he confirmed that I was totally healed. Even the lupus was gone in a moment of time.
Two weeks after I was healed, I traveled through six states, over 6,000 miles, telling of the wonderful miracles that God had performed in my life.
This is but one story among hundreds of the flow of the miraculous. This is the move of the Holy Spirit!
You are not to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, speak a few words in another language, and say, “Well, I have it all. That is all there is to it.” No! No! No!
The fullness of the Holy Spirit is a doorway into the flow of the miraculous power of God.
Isaiah 8:18 states, “Here am I and the children whom the L
ORD
has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the L
ORD
of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.”
Let me encourage you to enter into the full flow of God’s divine power!
It is not enough
FOR US TO BE GATHERED TOGETHER
AND SING AND PRAISE
AND LAUGH AND REJOICE.
J
OEL
T
he Scripture teaches that we shouldn’t look at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are only temporary, but the things that are seen through our eyes of faith are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). One translation says, “The things that are seen are subject to change.” That means your health or finances may not look too good today, but that’s subject to change. Nothing may be going right in your life, but it’s all subject to change
.
If you want to see God restore what’s been stolen from you, get up each morning expecting good things to happen. You need to know that in a moment of time, God could turn it all around. Suddenly you could get your miracle. Suddenly God could bring someone new into your life. Suddenly you could get that promotion. All it takes is one “suddenly.” In a split second, with one touch of God’s favor, everything can change
.
Put your faith out there and remind yourself that God wants to restore good things back to you. Our attitude should be, I’m not going to sit around mourning over what I’ve lost. I may have been knocked down, but I’m going to get back up again in victory. I am going to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and reach out to help others!