The Work of the Holy Spirit

In the book of 1Kings 21:1-16 (read) we find a very interesting story where Naboth has a vineyard that is close to the palace of King Ahab the husband of Jezebel. Ahab approached Naboth and asked him for his vineyard because of its location and because he saw that it was a good vineyard. It was a vineyard that produced and he wanted it.

1. I Kings 21:2-3 2And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

I love the response Naboth had for the king “The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my Fathers!”
As Christians we are faced with this same scenario in our lives concerning the inheritance we have in Christ. Satan, like Ahab, sees that we have a vineyard that is capable of producing much fruit and it resides close to his palace. He makes the same offers as Ahab as well telling us that he has something better for trade if we are just willing to give it up to him. Satan does not want us productive in the things of God and will do anything to get us to make a trade. The name of Naboth means “fruits”. Satan wants our fruits, the fruits of our vineyard which is the vineyard of the Lord. God forbid us to give up our inheritance! The story of Ahab ends in a tragic one. The king (the leader of Gods people) was under the control of his wife Jezebel (demonic influence) and because of his complacency Jezebel was the destructive force behind the scene to destroy Naboth (fruits) and take his vineyard (productivity).

Many leaders in the church today are like King Ahab. Because they have allowed themselves to be blinded by the demonic influence of the world they don’t teach the baptism or gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then there are those who do teach it but never allow the gifts to be used or operate within the congregational settings. Most don’t because of fear as to what might happen rather than using all of this to teach and train young believers in the working and power of the Holy Spirit. I remember years ago when in a height of worship while tarrying before the Lord there would be tongues and interpretations and visions and prophecies that would come forth orchestrated in such a beautiful and awesome way that it could only have been the working of the Spirit of God. Now, we want to get our songs sung and our messages preached and leave very little room for God to move on His people. We want to be seeker sensitive rather than sensitive to the one who sought us out. If you want to get people saved, healed and set free show them a demonstration of POWER! They will come back I promise.


Prayer
Pray that the Gifts and work of the Holy Spirit be returned to our church services. Pray for our church leaders to walk in wisdom, power and the leading of the Holy Spirit and that we will be sensitive to the move of Gods Spirit on His church. Pray for the restoration of the church and that God will have His way in our lives. Amen!