How do you almost receive a gift?

[KeptByTheWord]

There is nowhere in the book of Acts where it mentions people having stammering lips. Nor does it mention anywhere that people "almost" received the Holy Ghost. People believed, and then received.

Could it be that people are seeking the gift instead of the GIVER, and that is why they are not receiving? That is my take on it. It is taught that you will go to hell if you don't receive, and so therefore, the seeker is seeking the gift, instead of the GIVER.

Paul and all the apostles preached Jesus, people believed, and received in an instant. I believe the method of preaching today has caused people to fear, and seek the gift, instead of the GIVER, Jesus. That is why people aren't receiving, because they are looking for just the gift, instead of the whole package of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. They haven't surrendered their life to Him. They just want the gift without surrender.

Seek the Giver and be willing to surrender all, and the gift of the HG will come. If you seek just the gift... that is why you have people seeking the HG for months or years. They have not truly surrendered to Jesus.

JESUS needs to be preached, not "receive ye the HG". Preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus... preach surrender, preach take up your cross and follow Him... when people truly seek HIM with a surrendered heart, the gift of the HG will follow.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by n david

I've prayed for people who have had stammering lips, then became either embarrassed or afraid and did not continue praying until they spoke in tongues. It's not as you described, where God holds off the gift, nor is it something made up.

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

There is nowhere in the book of Acts where it mentions people having stammering lips. Nor does it mention anywhere that people "almost" received the Holy Ghost. People believed, and then received.

Could it be that people are seeking the gift instead of the GIVER, and that is why they are not receiving? That is my take on it. It is taught that you will go to hell if you don't receive, and so therefore, the seeker is seeking the gift, instead of the GIVER.

Paul and all the apostles preached Jesus, people believed, and received in an instant. I believe the method of preaching today has caused people to fear, and seek the gift, instead of the GIVER, Jesus. That is why people aren't receiving, because they are looking for just the gift, instead of the whole package of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. They haven't surrendered their life to Him. They just want the gift without surrender.

Seek the Giver and be willing to surrender all, and the gift of the HG will come. If you seek just the gift... that is why you have people seeking the HG for months or years. They have not truly surrendered to Jesus.

JESUS needs to be preached, not "receive ye the HG". Preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus... preach surrender, preach take up your cross and follow Him... when people truly seek HIM with a surrendered heart, the gift of the HG will follow.

I agree that this is a problem, and it's probably unique to our era. People in the book of Acts didn't have the issue of having a preconceived idea of what they were "supposed" to receive or what was supposed to happen when they received it, so it occurred more authentically and naturally. These days, people are seeking tongues instead of seeking the Spirit.

My personal opinion, though: If someone had stammering lips and they felt they had received the Spirit, I would NOT tell them that they hadn't because they hadn't spoken in [fluent] tongues yet. IMO, it's the follow-up denial of obviously divine experiences which compounds the problem. People KNOW they experienced something, only to have it denied or minimized, and walk away discouraged and wondering what they missed. We are limiting God when we listen for certain formed words that we can then personally validate. Who are we to say that a simple "stammer" was not the Spirit?

To the point of the thread, though, when people say someone "almost" got it, it either refers to them having stammering lips but not speaking in tongues yet, OR it refers to them obviously feeling the presence of God in a very real way but not receiving the Holy Ghost at all.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

My personal opinion, though: If someone had stammering lips and they felt they had received the Spirit, I would NOT tell them that they hadn't because they hadn't spoken in [fluent] tongues yet. IMO, it's the follow-up denial of obviously divine experiences which compounds the problem. People KNOW they experienced something, only to have it denied or minimized, and walk away discouraged and wondering what they missed. We are limiting God when we listen for certain formed words that we can then personally validate. Who are we to say that a simple "stammer" was not the Spirit?

This happened to my daughter when she was around 8 years old. The older women denied she had received the Holy Ghost, even though there was a change in her. A year later she did speak in tongues, to everyone's satisfaction, for about 30 minutes.

[n david]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

This happened to my daughter when she was around 8 years old. The older women denied she had received the Holy Ghost, even though there was a change in her. A year later she did speak in tongues, to everyone's satisfaction, for about 30 minutes.

That's good. Typically my rule is they have to be continuously speaking in tongues for at least a good 5 or 10 minutes straight before I'm convinced they've received the Holy Ghost.































/kidding

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

This happened to my daughter when she was around 8 years old. The older women denied she had received the Holy Ghost, even though there was a change in her. A year later she did speak in tongues, to everyone's satisfaction, for about 30 minutes.

It's great that she eventually spoke to everyone's satisfaction, but it is so annoying when that happens! I wish people would just hush and let the newbie tell everyone what happened to them--without any bystander input!

My husband had a similar experience, only in the reverse--he didn't have stammering lips or speak in tongues, but the youth leader at the time proclaimed loudly that he had received the Holy Ghost when he came up out of the water at baptism. My husband was then too embarrassed to go up for prayer again, because he didn't want to contradict the youth leader. It took quite some time to pray in tongues on his own and to his personal satisfaction.

[Jermyn Davidson]

I want to plainly state that I don't believe that the Bible makes the case for salvation having to do with speaking in tongues.

Even if it did, the Bible states that He would use stammering lips and strange tongues.

So why wouldn't stammering lips be enough to call someone saved?

[seguidordejesus]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

I want to plainly state that I don't believe that the Bible makes the case for salvation having to do with speaking in tongues.

Even if it did, the Bible states that He would use stammering lips and strange tongues.

So why wouldn't stammering lips be enough to call someone saved?

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

I want to plainly state that I don't believe that the Bible makes the case for salvation having to do with speaking in tongues.

Even if it did, the Bible states that He would use stammering lips and strange tongues.

So why wouldn't stammering lips be enough to call someone saved?

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

It's great that she eventually spoke to everyone's satisfaction, but it is so annoying when that happens! I wish people would just hush and let the newbie tell everyone what happened to them--without any bystander input!

My husband had a similar experience, only in the reverse--he didn't have stammering lips or speak in tongues, but the youth leader at the time proclaimed loudly that he had received the Holy Ghost when he came up out of the water at baptism. My husband was then too embarrassed to go up for prayer again, because he didn't want to contradict the youth leader. It took quite some time to pray in tongues on his own and to his personal satisfaction.

Sometimes people are so ridiculous, and, YES, annoying.