"And now these three remain: faith, hope
and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians
13:13 NIV)
God's love pours out upon us every day, and He
asks us to shine that same love to other people. This can be manifested
in many different ways. One of them is through the gift of speaking in
tongues.
When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
one of the common manifestations of this is speaking in tongues, a
prayer language that we can use through the Holy Spirit when speaking to
God. Paul refers to this in this manner in 1 Cor. 14:2:
"For anyone who speaks
in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one
understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit." (NIV).
There is, however, another manifestation of speaking in tongues. Peter
was given this gift on the day of Pentecost. He spoke to people from all
over the known world, and they all heard him in their native language! "Utterly
amazed, they asked: 'Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? Then
how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians,
Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both
Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring
the wonders of God in our own tongues!'" (Acts 2: 7-10 NIV)
I was given the first
type of speaking in tongues years ago; but God has also blessed me on
two occasions with the same gift as Peter had on the day of Pentecost.
The first time was in Poland. Now I do not speak any Polish whatsoever;
but when I asked a man for directions, and he answered me in fast-paced
Polish, I understood him. When I got back to my car, I told my family
exactly what he had said and where we should go.
Another time, I was given the gift of
understanding Arabic. There was a student who was a Syrian refugee at my
school. She didn't understand English or French. We had all gathered in
the gym for an awards ceremony, and when I saw this student, I began to
talk to her. She smiled, and we had a little conversation. The
educational assistant assigned to her saw me talking to the girl. She
watched with amazement as the girl laughed with me. She knew the girl
didn't understand English or French, but there she was, understanding
me. The girl was so happy because she felt like she was no longer alone,
thanks to our Heavenly Father.
Since having these two
experiences, I know that I was understanding in speaking through Jesus
Christ and His Spirit alone. He was pouring out His love through me to
that Syrian girl. I didn't have to try to communicate with her, but
God's love poured through me and I had no choice but to try and speak
with her.
We may not completely understand what is happening; but
we can accept it with open arms for our Heavenly Father is guiding us. I
know He will do it again, when the time is right. That's how much He
loves us, that's how much He cares.
Sometimes we are like
children. We don't know what is happening, but when we give it all to
God, He Spirit will guide us. It may not be the gift of tongues that we
are given, but it will always be given in a Spirit of love. Genuine love
is the most important thing: "And now these three remain: faith. hope
and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV)
Remember that without
faith we will go nowhere, and if we have no hope, we will never get to
know Jesus, for He is our hope. These things are vitally important, but,
"the greatest of these is love." May we follow Jesus, our guide. He was
always helping, healing, caring. He never stopped, and He still heals
today. I'm living proof of this: Jesus healed me ftom my Alzheimers.
Doctors cannot heal Alzheimers, but Jesus can!
Walk in the steps of genuine love and you will
never get lost. Jesus is with you, and His love will flow through you.
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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