By: Michelle Mihalakis
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The Bible tells us in Luke 9:51-56, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And set messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”
When you love someone and they have a need, their need is your focus. God’s focus was on the city of Jerusalem because He loved her. We sometimes forget that the word spirit is synonymous with the word love.
The Bible tells us in Is. 66:8,”Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”
God requires that we speak His will into existence through prayer. When the church gets down to business with God it emits powerful waves in the spirit realm through a city and beckons the lost. It compels them to come. The whole process of the spiritual birds and bees starts with prayer. God is always looking for someone to pray for the lost. He looks for someone to birth His burden. When Zion, or the church travails, she is birthing the will of God into existence. To travail means to birth, and prayer is the first part of the birthing process. When we pray for the lost the Spirit of God visits them.
After we’ve travailed in prayer for the lost, God will send a messenger to minister to their needs.
In Gen. 1:2, the Bible says, “And the Earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” We know the Bible says that God is a Spirit, but have you ever stopped to think why God is God? The reason is conveyed in 1 John 4:8 where it stays, “God is love.” Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Real love is moving, the way God moved on the waters. So we can say that Loved moved on the face of the waters. The nature of love is that it is stirring. When love moves, something happens.
In the Hebrew language the word moved means to brood over. The Amplified Bible uses the words hovering, brooding, and moving. Webster’s Dictionary defines brood as offspring, progeny, that which is bred or produced. Brood comes from the word breed, which means to give birth to something. The word brooding is also compared to a bridegroom hovering over his bride.
When the Spirit of God was moving, it was birthing; it was bringing forth life. When love moves, it creates something. Wherever you find love, you will find that the recipient will never be the same again. Love stirs the emotion and soul of man. Real love is of the heavenly dimension. Real love demands a response because love, never fails.
The church, God’s messenger must always be moving forward in love for the gospel message to be effective. The messenger must bear the message so closely that we tell the world the truth and no lies. If I wanted to witness the gospel but had lied to the one I am trying to witness to, it is unlikely that that person will accept the gospel. It’s because I wouldn’t be adding up to the message. Love is a carrier. It emotionally and physically communicates a message that is not of this world. Real love creates emotion, and emotion opens the heart of man for the Word of God. The messenger must try to be as profound as the message. The closer we can live and match the message, the greater the chances are that we will win souls.
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