I personally am Pentecostal and speak in tongues. However I have never maintained that if a believer does not speak in tongues he does not have the Holy Spirit. To me the evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the Spiritùlove, joy, and peace and the remainder of the fruit of the Spirit.

But there is one thing about tongues. Isaiah, referring to tongues, says, "This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest."

Life can be a drag, a labor under a heavy burden. Christ has given us speaking in tongues as a way of entering the life of the Spirit. For the first time we are able to turn aside from our frantic mind and rest in the way of the Spirit of God. This does not mean we lose our common sense or become unaware of our behavior. It just means we can pray along with the Holy Spirit and ignore the ferment of our natural mind.

You don't have to worry about your place or role in the Kingdom of God. It was decided long ago. You can be diligent and press toward that which God has planned for you. Or you can be obstinate, rebellious, or careless and come short of your inheritance. It is up to you.

Neat, huh?

The second factor mentioned in Chapter Four of Hebrews is that of the Sabbath. We enter the Sabbath rest as we cease from our own thoughts, our own words, and our own actions, and look to the Lord for every attitude and action. We are not to seek our own pleasure or our own will, neither are we to plan our own way. We are to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not to our own understanding. In all our ways we are to acknowledge Him and then He will direct our paths.

We enter the Sabbath rest as we cease from our own works and do God's works. All our activities in life, whether in the family, at work, or in the ministry, are dead works if they are not wrought out in prayer with the Lord. We do not arrive at such maturity instantly and we must diligently do whatever is set before us. However our goal must be to move forward each day, pressing into the perfect center of God's will, learning how to commit all our ways to the Lord. There is rest here.

I get the impression that much ministry is conducted blindly. Someone has an idea of what would help God out, or help the world out, and then sets forth to bring the vision to pass. He asks God's help and guidance with his undertaking and then is disappointed when the money does not appear. The next step is to beg people for money to do God's work.

"I am trying to save the world and am living by faith. Please send me your pocketbook."

How would you like to have someone in your employ set out to accomplish a task you had never assigned and then ask you to endorse the project and send you money?

You would tell the individual to wait until you told him what to do. I think it should be this way in the Christian ministry. Before we take a major step I think we should hear from the Lord. How do you feel about that?

It is too easy to get ahead of God!

To be continued.