Laughing in the Spirit

This is another phenomena that is under attack by other Christians and Christian groups. A number of us have had this particular manifestation occur, so we all know, without any shadow of a doubt, that this is truly a real manifestation from the Lord.

In my opinion, this is one of the neatest manifestations that you can receive from the Lord. I never cease to marvel and awe at this manifestation when I actually get the chance to hear it come into manifestation through someone else.

For those of you who have never had this manifestation occur – it is simply either God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit laughing through your spirit. It is God literally laughing through the Holy Spirit, who is already living on the inside of your human spirit.

It is God’s laughter when it occurs, it is not your laughter. When it manifests, it will bubble or erupt right out of your belly area.

How do you know when it is God laughing through your spirit rather than your own natural laughter manifesting? When it comes from God through the Holy Spirit – it is much more intense and powerful than your own natural laughter. When it is coming direct from the Lord, you will literally be laughing as hard as you can for as long as it lasts. It can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 or 15 minutes on a rough average.

If it lasts up to 10-15 minutes, there is a good chance that your stomach muscles will be sore for a day or two following it due to the maximum intensity of the actual laughter itself. There is also an extreme amount of joy that will come with it when it does manifest.

One of my personal friends has had this manifestation occur about 4 or 5 times literally right over the phone while we have been talking. The way that I know it is coming from the Holy Spirit rather than it being her own natural laughter is that when it starts to erupt in her, it is much more stronger and much more intense than her own belly laugh. It also feels much more fuller than her own laughter.

Another clue I have when it is the Holy Spirit rather than her own natural laughter is the tone of it. When it is the Holy Spirit, the laughter has a higher pitch to it than her own natural laughter does. Her normal laughter surprisingly has a lower pitch or tone to it as versus when the laughter is coming in from the Holy Spirit.

With her, since I know what her normal laughter sounds like, I can always easily discern when the laughter is coming in from God or not. And the times that I have heard it erupt right in the middle of one of our phone conversations is really a true blessing because I know it is coming direct from God Himself and I always feel honored and blessed that He would show Himself this way right in the middle of one our phone conversations.

When it does manifest in the middle of one our phone conversations, I have noticed that it can occur for absolutely no reason at all. In this case, I have always felt that God is simply releasing His joy and His laughter into the situation as if He is simply enjoying our company. The other times it will manifest is when one of us says something that seems to hit God’s funny bone. When His laughter then manifests off of a particular statement, I always feel like I get a little bit of insight as to what may make God laugh.

Now here are the attacks that are coming from other Christians who simply do not understand this manifestation.

Arguments Against This Manifestation
Their arguments against this manifestation as being from the Lord are the following:

1.Laughter is not the same thing as joy.
2.Laughter is not one of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit.
3.Laughter is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. Joy is, but not laughter or laughing.
4.God’s laughter is in no way imparted to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
5.“Holy laughter” or “laughing in the Spirit” is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible as an actual, verifiable manifestation.
Now to the argument that I feel will give us the correct angle in which to look at this manifestation from.

Arguments For This Manifestation
1.  All of what they say is true per all of the above arguments. However, where they are missing the boat on in their arguments is the angle they are looking at this manifestation from. They are keying off of the wrong Scripture verses.

The Bible says that God has made man in His image and likeness. We all know that many of our emotions are the same range of emotions that God has. We all have emotions such as love, joy and sadness. And within our emotional structure is the ability to laugh.

If God has many of the same emotions we do since He has made all of us in the image and likeness of Himself, then it is only logical to conclude that God can and does laugh Himself. The Bible is full of stories showing the wide range of God’s emotions being expressed – everything from extreme love, mercy and kindness to furious anger and wrath.

There are also verses showing that God does have extreme joy and the ability to laugh within His personality. So if God does have the actual ability to laugh Himself just like we all do – the 50 million dollar question is – can God manifest His laughter through the Holy Spirit on the inside of us where He is literally laughing through us? Can He actually transmit His laughter through us as an actual manifestation?

I believe the answer is yes, and here is the verse that proves, in my opinion, that this laughing manifestation from the Lord can occur in us through the Holy Spirit.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and MANIFEST MYSELF to him … and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:21-23)

I believe the two words “manifest Myself” are literal interpretation. I believe this verse is telling us that manifestations from God are possible to receive in this life. We all have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. It is through the Holy Spirit that these manifestations from God are being transmitted to us.

2.  So if God can manifest some of His emotions on the inside of us where we can actually feel it – then it is only logical to conclude that God can also manifest His laughter on the inside of us since laughter is simply the release of feeling joy and happiness. And we already know that God has plenty of joy and happiness within His own personality.

Thus the above Scripture verse gives us the appropriate grounds in which to accept these emotional manifestations from the Lord on the inside of us through the Holy Spirit. The Christians who are arguing against this manifestation are keying off of the wrong Scripture verses. Just because laughter is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit does not mean that it is not possible to receive it from the Lord.

For instance, the quality of boldness is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible is full of stories of God’s boldness being manifested through the Holy Spirit onto His people.

Just look of the story of Pentecost itself. The apostles were a timid bunch until they received the Holy Spirit in the upper room on Pentecost. When they came out of that room, they came out with God’s boldness and authority operating through them because they were all now Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered. The boldness of the Holy Spirit was now operating through them because they were going to need His boldness in order to start preaching the Gospel and to get the ball rolling.

However, boldness is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. But there is no question that God can manifest His boldness through anyone should He choose to do so. And when He does decide to manifest His boldness through one of His own, it is an actual manifestation. It is God’s boldness manifesting through you, not your own boldness.

So if God can manifest His emotion of boldness through you, even though it is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, then again, it is only logical to conclude that God can also manifest His other emotions through you such as laughter, even though some of these other emotions such as laughter are not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion
If any of you are ever faced with other Christians who will try and argue that this manifestation is not from the Lord, try giving them the above argument off of the above Scripture verse.

As for myself, I really believe that the above verse from John is the appropriate verse in which to base not only this particular manifestation on, but also any other emotional manifestations that God would like to manifest to us through the Holy Spirit from time to time.

I am going to go ahead and do another article on this topic. The next article will be titled “Groaning in the Spirit” and will also be in the Miscellaneous Section of our site. This is where God will manifest His pain or sadness through you on a particular situation that you may be dealing with or personally involved in. There are some real interesting things that will occur when this particular manifestation comes in on you.

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