Hi all,
This follows the 2 part teaching on how the trinity of man mirrors the trinity of God, that we are 3 in 1 just as God is 3 in 1.
Background
I was a leader in a church which at that time had according to the local newspaper, about 13,000 people. I was the director of the Bible school, which saw about 700 take classes over the course of a year, so I had many students visit with me about their struggles.
At that time in the charismatic church world, flag wavers and dancers were the 'in' thing. These were people who during worship, would flood the aisles and in front of the platform, and dance. Some seemed to be dancing with invisible partners, others waved flags in 'worship'.
Why I started asking the Father, and what it turned into
Some of the flag wavers and dancers were women who were students at the school. Several had come to my office with very serious personal issues, seeking advice. Nearly every one of them was single or in an unequally yoked marriage, had been through or were going through trauma of some sort, and many were in serious financial difficulty. They were stressed.
Not all were like that, some dancers and flag wavers were just artistic and expressed their love for the Lord in dance and flag waving - nothing wrong with that at all. But they were the minority.
Several of the dancers told me privately they imagined they were dancing with Jesus, and some confided they didn't know if it was Him or their imagination. I knew people danced prompted by the Spirit. And I also knew people danced prompted by their flesh. How to tell the difference?
Just like the once popular 'holy laughter'. I've seen the real laughter flowing out of one's spirit when they had been touched or ministered to by the Lord. And then I'd seen the flesh, mass hysteria, suggestive selling, whatever you want to call it - I'd seen far more flesh than I had laughing of the Spirit and in spirit.
So I asked the Father about it
He said:"I manifest my emotions through the manifestations (gifts) of the Spirit. These people are emotionally raw, their emotions on the surface due to turmoil in their lives past or present, so they are among the first to sense my emotions, where I'm moving in a service."
That made sense. Their emotions were raw so there was a connection to their spirit and the Holy Spirit. Their mind/emotions to His mind/emotions. I was intrigued by the connection between human emotions and the Holy Spirit but I set that aside for the moment. (I've seen many churches substitute emotion for the anointing, thinking they are the same. They are not.)
I went back to His statement that He expresses His emotions through the manifestation of the Spirit. "Can you give me chapter and verse on that Father?" His response was immediate:"Study compassion in the gospels. Every time you see compassion with the Lord, it is followed by a manifestation of the Spirit."
Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1:Jesus had compassion on the multitudes, so anointed the disciples to go forth healing and casting out demons. Ministry gifts manifest.
Matthew 14:14; Jesus moved with compassion towards multitudes, healed their sick. Healing.
Matthew 15:32-39:Jesus had compassion on the 4,000 men (not counting women and children) and multiplied loaves and fish. Gift of miracles.
Matthew 20:29-34:Jesus had compassion on 2 blind men, and healed them. Healing gift.
Mark 1:41:Jesus had compassion on a leper, and healed him. Healing gift.
Mark 5:1-20; Jesus cast out Legion and the man wanted to follow Jesus. Being Gentile that could not be allowed at the time, and the Lord told him to go home and tell everyone how the Lord had compassion on him, and delivered him. Manifestation of healing or miracle gifts/deliverance.
Mark 6:33-35; Jesus had compassion on the multitude, so taught them. Teaching gift manifest.
Mark 6:35-44, Jesus moved with compassion on these same people, to feed 5,000 men (not counting women and children). Gift of miracles.
Luke 7:13-15; Jesus moved with compassion on a widow burying her only son, raised him from the dead. Gift of miracles, or some might say 'faith' or 'special faith' for that situation.
Inexperience in these things of the Spirit...
...can cause a person to be moved with their own compassion, thinking it is the Father's compassion. Because of this error some have given away their food or rent money to a need seen on TV, and then wonder why God isn't providing that money back.
The answer is their compassion is of the soul, emotions. The Father's compassion is felt, sensed, in our spirit and flows up with some force to others, going through our own emotions which remain detached, almost as one observing to the side. You just sense (in your soul/mind) this compassion in your spirit, and are moved to take action. God's compassion doesn't make someone else's troubles your own, it allows a certain detachment so you can keep priorities in order. Another's problems are for Him to take on, not ours.
Start with this
Years earlier I was a pastor of a small church. I've never been one to just teach something. I always and to this day ask the Father what He wants me to share. I ask, then wait until He tells me directly or puts an emphasis on a subject by the Spirit. That started with me decades ago.
At that time, 1989 to 1992, I noticed the Father's will for any given church service would be focused on one of 3 areas:Word, Worship, or ministry. I could sense it in my spirit when I thought of those 3 elements of each service. I sensed a 'weightier' feel on one part more than the others. It was a deeper sense of His presence emphasizing one part over the others. Not knowing how best to phrase it, I began asking the Father as I prepared for each service:"What are you in the mood for; Word, Worship, or ministry?"
I learned just to throw out the service schedule to follow where the anointing was - word, worship, prayer. If I didn't have a message and the 'mood' was worship, I'd tell the congregation at the start, receive the offering at the start so there would not be interruptions, and we just worshipped. Other times I'd have a definite message so I'd ask the worship team to cut it short, or we'd skip it altogether but for an opening song to gather everyone. Other times the Father wanted ministry, so the worship would be brief but deep, and then I had the congregation pray for each other. People came up to me saying:"I love this church, I never know what is going to happen but it's always anointed."
Within a few days of that conversation with the Father
I had a visitation from the Lord. He went directly to I Corinthians 12:4-7, about this very subject to continue what the Father had been teaching me. We will pick it up there next week.
But consider these things:The Father expresses His emotions through the gifts of the Spirit. As you prepare to go to your church, or start your Bible study, or participate in or lead your house church, first ask:Father, what are you in the mood for? Where will your presence be?
Where He wants to go, where the anointing will be, may not be on what you have planned. You'll sense more 'weight' on one area or another. Follow that. Change the 'schedule' around to give that area the Father is interested in, the focus.
Take a step of faith; Throw out your plans so you can do what you see the Father doing. He will flow directly from the Father through the Spirit to you, the body of Christ. And it will be amazing.
Until next week, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
This follows the 2 part teaching on how the trinity of man mirrors the trinity of God, that we are 3 in 1 just as God is 3 in 1.
Background
I was a leader in a church which at that time had according to the local newspaper, about 13,000 people. I was the director of the Bible school, which saw about 700 take classes over the course of a year, so I had many students visit with me about their struggles.
At that time in the charismatic church world, flag wavers and dancers were the 'in' thing. These were people who during worship, would flood the aisles and in front of the platform, and dance. Some seemed to be dancing with invisible partners, others waved flags in 'worship'.
Why I started asking the Father, and what it turned into
Some of the flag wavers and dancers were women who were students at the school. Several had come to my office with very serious personal issues, seeking advice. Nearly every one of them was single or in an unequally yoked marriage, had been through or were going through trauma of some sort, and many were in serious financial difficulty. They were stressed.
Not all were like that, some dancers and flag wavers were just artistic and expressed their love for the Lord in dance and flag waving - nothing wrong with that at all. But they were the minority.
Several of the dancers told me privately they imagined they were dancing with Jesus, and some confided they didn't know if it was Him or their imagination. I knew people danced prompted by the Spirit. And I also knew people danced prompted by their flesh. How to tell the difference?
Just like the once popular 'holy laughter'. I've seen the real laughter flowing out of one's spirit when they had been touched or ministered to by the Lord. And then I'd seen the flesh, mass hysteria, suggestive selling, whatever you want to call it - I'd seen far more flesh than I had laughing of the Spirit and in spirit.
So I asked the Father about it
He said:"I manifest my emotions through the manifestations (gifts) of the Spirit. These people are emotionally raw, their emotions on the surface due to turmoil in their lives past or present, so they are among the first to sense my emotions, where I'm moving in a service."
That made sense. Their emotions were raw so there was a connection to their spirit and the Holy Spirit. Their mind/emotions to His mind/emotions. I was intrigued by the connection between human emotions and the Holy Spirit but I set that aside for the moment. (I've seen many churches substitute emotion for the anointing, thinking they are the same. They are not.)
I went back to His statement that He expresses His emotions through the manifestation of the Spirit. "Can you give me chapter and verse on that Father?" His response was immediate:"Study compassion in the gospels. Every time you see compassion with the Lord, it is followed by a manifestation of the Spirit."
Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1:Jesus had compassion on the multitudes, so anointed the disciples to go forth healing and casting out demons. Ministry gifts manifest.
Matthew 14:14; Jesus moved with compassion towards multitudes, healed their sick. Healing.
Matthew 15:32-39:Jesus had compassion on the 4,000 men (not counting women and children) and multiplied loaves and fish. Gift of miracles.
Matthew 20:29-34:Jesus had compassion on 2 blind men, and healed them. Healing gift.
Mark 1:41:Jesus had compassion on a leper, and healed him. Healing gift.
Mark 5:1-20; Jesus cast out Legion and the man wanted to follow Jesus. Being Gentile that could not be allowed at the time, and the Lord told him to go home and tell everyone how the Lord had compassion on him, and delivered him. Manifestation of healing or miracle gifts/deliverance.
Mark 6:33-35; Jesus had compassion on the multitude, so taught them. Teaching gift manifest.
Mark 6:35-44, Jesus moved with compassion on these same people, to feed 5,000 men (not counting women and children). Gift of miracles.
Luke 7:13-15; Jesus moved with compassion on a widow burying her only son, raised him from the dead. Gift of miracles, or some might say 'faith' or 'special faith' for that situation.
Inexperience in these things of the Spirit...
...can cause a person to be moved with their own compassion, thinking it is the Father's compassion. Because of this error some have given away their food or rent money to a need seen on TV, and then wonder why God isn't providing that money back.
The answer is their compassion is of the soul, emotions. The Father's compassion is felt, sensed, in our spirit and flows up with some force to others, going through our own emotions which remain detached, almost as one observing to the side. You just sense (in your soul/mind) this compassion in your spirit, and are moved to take action. God's compassion doesn't make someone else's troubles your own, it allows a certain detachment so you can keep priorities in order. Another's problems are for Him to take on, not ours.
Start with this
Years earlier I was a pastor of a small church. I've never been one to just teach something. I always and to this day ask the Father what He wants me to share. I ask, then wait until He tells me directly or puts an emphasis on a subject by the Spirit. That started with me decades ago.
At that time, 1989 to 1992, I noticed the Father's will for any given church service would be focused on one of 3 areas:Word, Worship, or ministry. I could sense it in my spirit when I thought of those 3 elements of each service. I sensed a 'weightier' feel on one part more than the others. It was a deeper sense of His presence emphasizing one part over the others. Not knowing how best to phrase it, I began asking the Father as I prepared for each service:"What are you in the mood for; Word, Worship, or ministry?"
I learned just to throw out the service schedule to follow where the anointing was - word, worship, prayer. If I didn't have a message and the 'mood' was worship, I'd tell the congregation at the start, receive the offering at the start so there would not be interruptions, and we just worshipped. Other times I'd have a definite message so I'd ask the worship team to cut it short, or we'd skip it altogether but for an opening song to gather everyone. Other times the Father wanted ministry, so the worship would be brief but deep, and then I had the congregation pray for each other. People came up to me saying:"I love this church, I never know what is going to happen but it's always anointed."
Within a few days of that conversation with the Father
I had a visitation from the Lord. He went directly to I Corinthians 12:4-7, about this very subject to continue what the Father had been teaching me. We will pick it up there next week.
But consider these things:The Father expresses His emotions through the gifts of the Spirit. As you prepare to go to your church, or start your Bible study, or participate in or lead your house church, first ask:Father, what are you in the mood for? Where will your presence be?
Where He wants to go, where the anointing will be, may not be on what you have planned. You'll sense more 'weight' on one area or another. Follow that. Change the 'schedule' around to give that area the Father is interested in, the focus.
Take a step of faith; Throw out your plans so you can do what you see the Father doing. He will flow directly from the Father through the Spirit to you, the body of Christ. And it will be amazing.
Until next week, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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